Interactive Cloze

This is an interactive cloze. After each blank, you will see three options. Click on "H!" to get a hint. Click on "1st L" to see the first letter of the answer.

You can type in an answer in any of the blanks. (The order is not important.) To see if you answered correctly, click on the question mark following the box.

If you answered incorrectly, go back to the hint, which is also an explanation.

NOTE - Make sure to CLOSE the little window that opens before you go on to then next answer!

If you give up, you can click on "ans" to see the answer. Good luck!

The Potato (Part I)

It is well known that Columbus sailed West in 1492. Believing that the

^{(H! ) (1st L ) (Ans )} was round and not flat, he had been

hoping to find a short route to reach India, an area

^{(H! ) (1st L ) (Ans )} was an important source of spices.
Of course, instead of ^{(H! ) (1st L ) (Ans )} India;

he reached the continent of America.

Europeans may not ^{(H! ) (1st L ) (Ans )} . found many spices

there, but they did discover the potato, a vegetable

^{(H! ) (1st L ) (Ans )} by American Indians.

Finished? Great! Go on to part II of the exercise! Potato Cloze Part II

Hint:

After "the", you usually need a noun.
What is it that Columbus thought was round, while most believed it was flat?

First Letter

The first letter is "e".

Answer

The answer is "earth"
(You might have written "world". Not bad, but "earth" is better!)

Hint:

What comes next, "was an important source.." describes the area.
We use relative pronouns (who, whom, etc.) to begin a phrase which describes a noun.

First Letter

The first letter is "w" or "t".

Answer

The answer is "which" or that".

Hint:

After prepositions, like "of", we often use a gerund (V-ing).
Another hint, the word you need is in the text in a different form

First Letter

The first letter is "r" (or "f" or "d".)

Answer

The answer is "reaching" or "finding" or "discovering".

Hint:

After "may", you must have the base form of a verb - but the following verb, "found" is in V-3!. So we are missing some kind of helping verb (in the base form) to complete the verb tense.
Another hint; how do we make a modal into the past tense?

First Letter:

The first letter is "h" .

Answer

The answer is "have"

Hint

The word "by" which comes next suggests a passive. Sometimes we can use V-3 for passive without the helping verb "be". So try a verb in V-3 that is something you can do to a vegetable.

First Letter

The first letter is "g" or "e" or "c".

Answer

The answer is "grown" or "eaten" or "cultivated".
"Discovered" is not correct. They had discovered the potato earlier - "discovered would require past perfect.