In a small town, passengers began sharing bus updates after they realised that official notices did not always explain why a service had changed. The town has several stops without electronic displays, so regular travellers often notice disruptions before they appear on a website. The message board was designed to be simple enough for people using older phones. This made errors easier to spot. At first, the group used a simple message board, where people could report the stops (9) .......... they had seen a bus or whether a stop was temporarily closed. The organisers were careful to present the information as a supplement (10) .......... than a replacement for official updates.
Reports were checked (11) .......... comparing them with one another and with the timetable. This mattered because a single message, (12) .......... might be well intentioned, could still contain a mistake. Over time, the group learned that passengers were more interested in clear explanations (13) .......... in technical detail. They therefore added short notes, such (14) .......... “delayed because of roadworks”, alongside the usual times. The service has made it easier for people to decide (15) .......... to wait or choose another route. It has also given regular users a stronger sense that (16) .......... experiences are useful to other people.
In a small town, passengers began sharing bus updates after they realised that official notices did not always explain why a service had changed. The town has several stops without electronic displays, so regular travellers often notice disruptions before they appear on a website. The message board was designed to be simple enough for people using older phones. This made errors easier to spot. At first, the group used a simple message board, where people could report the stops (9) .......... they had seen a bus or whether a stop was temporarily closed. The organisers were careful to present the information as a supplement (10) .......... than a replacement for official updates.
Reports were checked (11) .......... comparing them with one another and with the timetable. This mattered because a single message, (12) .......... might be well intentioned, could still contain a mistake. Over time, the group learned that passengers were more interested in clear explanations (13) .......... in technical detail. They therefore added short notes, such (14) .......... “delayed because of roadworks”, alongside the usual times. The service has made it easier for people to decide (15) .......... to wait or choose another route. It has also given regular users a stronger sense that (16) .......... experiences are useful to other people.
Question 9
Exam guide & reading text▾
A passenger-led bus information service — Part 2: Open Cloze
"A passenger-led bus information service" targets the Open Cloze (Part 2) of the Cambridge C1 Proficiency exam. Unlike Part 1, no options are provided — you must supply single words (articles, prepositions, auxiliaries, pronouns, conjunctions or discourse markers) that complete the text grammatically and logically. Scan each gap for the grammatical slot it occupies: is it linking clauses, marking reference, or completing a fixed structure? Small words carry heavy weight at C2 level.
In a small town, passengers began sharing bus updates after they realised that official notices did not always explain why a service had changed. The town has several stops without electronic displays, so regular travellers often notice disruptions before they appear on a website. The message board was designed to be simple enough for people using older phones. This made errors easier to spot. At first, the group used a simple message board, where people could report the stops (9) .......... they had seen a bus or whether a stop was temporarily closed. The organisers were careful to present the information as a supplement (10) .......... than a replacement for official updates.
Reports were checked (11) .......... comparing them with one another and with the timetable. This mattered because a single message, (12) .......... might be well intentioned, could still contain a mistake. Over time, the group learned that passengers were more interested in clear explanations (13) .......... in technical detail. They therefore added short notes, such (14) .......... “delayed because of roadworks”, alongside the usual times. The service has made it easier for people to decide (15) .......... to wait or choose another route. It has also given regular users a stronger sense that (16) .......... experiences are useful to other people.