Friday, October 27, 2017

Compositions: A Lift Breakdown (Cloze)

Lift Breakdown: Cloze (1)
Fill in each blank with one word only

            Siti was on her way home from her piano lessons. She pressed the lift button on the ground floor. After a short wait, the lift door (1)______________. She got in and punched the button for the 10th floor.
            As the lift was moving up, Siti heard an unusual scraping sound. “Strange, the lift seems to be moving very slowly today,” she thought to (2) __________________. Just as the lift was approaching the 8th floor, it jerked and stopped abruptly. Without warning, the lights in the lift went off. The fan also faded to a halt.
            Siti was stunned at first. Then she became frightened. She pressed the emergency button but did not hear it ring. Pounding on the (3) _____________, she yelled, “Somebody help!” She tried to call her family members for help on her mobile phone but there was no signal.
            “Help, somebody!” Siti cried again. Beads of perspiration were forming on her forehead. She felt breathless and her (4) _____________ was thumping very fast. The lift was becoming extremely stuffy.
            Suddenly, the lift door opened. A serious-looking lift technician led her out by the hand. Fortunately, he had arrived quickly to let her out. Feeling faint, she leaned (5) _____________ a corridor wall and breathed deeply several times before taking the stairs up to her flat.


Lift Breakdown: Cloze (2)
Fill in each blank with one word only.
                  It was pouring as I reached the lift, drenched through. The lift had been out of order this morning but I assumed that it had (1)___________________ fixed. After all there was no “Out of Order” sign on the door.
            Anyway, I live on the fifteenth floor and did not relish the thought of walking all the way up. I pressed the “up” button and to my (2)___________________, the lift doors slid open. I stepped inside, the water in my shoes making a squelching sound.
                  When the lift reached the fifth floor, the lights began to flicker. On reaching the ninth floor, the fan broke down. There was a loud moaning sound and the lights went out as the lift came to a halt at the tenth floor.
                  Initial (3)__________________ made me pound my fists on the lift doors. Then I calmed myself down and pressed the alarm button. But it did not work. A wave of anxiety hit me. I decided to shout for help. When that did not work, I fought down fresh feelings of panic and steeled myself to wait for (4)_____________________ as calmly as I could.
                  I was not going to try any of the foolish things that I had watched on television like climbing to the top of the lift to get it moving. After all, surely someone would notice that the lift was jammed. I repeated this thought in my head several times over to comfort myself.
                  The silence was eerie as I pressed my ear close to the door, hoping to hear sounds of activity outside. Nothing. My heart sank as the minutes ticked by. Beads of (5)________________________ formed on my forehead and my hands became clammy. Suddenly I heard footsteps, then a thud, followed by the sound of metal clashing. The lift sprang to life and I lurched forward as it began to descend.
            The doors opened on the ground floor and I ran out, much to the surprise of the lift technicians. I headed for the staircase, quite happy to climb all the flights of stairs to my flat. I looked at my watch. I had spent forty minutes trapped in the lift but it had seemed like an eternity.

Lift Breakdown: Cloze (3)
Fill in each blank with one word only.
                  It was pouring as I reached the lift, drenched through. The lift had been out of order this morning but I assumed that it had been (1)___________________. After all there was no “Out of Order” sign on the door.
            Anyway, I live on the fifteenth floor and did not relish the thought of walking all the way up. I pressed the “up” button and to my relief, the lift doors slid open. I stepped inside, the (2)__________________ in my shoes making a squelching sound.
                  When the lift reached the fifth floor, the lights began to (3)______________________. On reaching the ninth floor, the fan broke down. There was a loud moaning sound and the lights went out as the lift came to a halt at the tenth floor.
                  Initial panic made me pound my fists on the lift doors. Then I calmed myself down and pressed the alarm button. But it did not work. A wave of anxiety hit me. I decided to shout for help. When that did not work, I fought down fresh feelings of panic and steeled myself to wait for help as calmly as I could. I was not going to try any of the foolish things that I had watched on (4)______________________ like climbing to the top of the lift to get it moving. After all, surely someone would notice that the lift was jammed. I repeated this thought in my head several times over to comfort myself.
                  The silence was eerie as I pressed my ear close to the door, hoping to hear sounds of activity outside. Nothing. My heart sank as the minutes ticked by. Beads of perspiration formed on my forehead and my hands became clammy. Suddenly I heard footsteps, then a thud, followed by the sound of metal clashing. The lift sprang to life and I lurched forward as it began to (5)______________________.
            The doors opened on the ground floor and I ran out, much to the surprise of the lift technicians. I headed for the staircase, quite happy to climb all the flights of stairs to my flat. I looked at my watch. I had spent forty minutes trapped in the lift but it had seemed like an eternity.











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