Where did our meeting places go? – C1 English Reading Test

C1 English Reading Test

Choose the sentence (A-G) that fits each gap. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Where did our meeting places go?

There was a time when you could leave home without having a destination. You might drift into a café, stop at the library or sit in the square simply because other people were there. These were not glamorous places. The chairs rarely matched, the coffee was often disappointing and the heating had seen better days. 1 ____

2 ____ Once regarded as an ordinary part of neighbourhood life, they are now treated almost as a luxury. With commercial rents continuing to rise, many independent cafés, bookshops and community centres have disappeared. In their place, we have gained delivery apps, co-working subscriptions and the privilege of paying four pounds for a drink we did not particularly want.

The irony is that we are surrounded by communication tools while finding it increasingly difficult to meet. We can contact someone on the other side of the world in the blink of an eye, yet may not know the name of the person living a stone’s throw away. 3 ____ Having made connection more convenient, technology has also made it easier to avoid the inconvenience of other people.

This may explain the sudden popularity of run clubs, repair cafés, community gardens and evening classes. On the surface, these activities are about exercise, broken kettles, vegetables or pottery. In reality, they are socially acceptable excuses to be among strangers. 4 ____ They can simply turn up carrying a damaged toaster or wearing unsuitable running shoes. Friendship can then enter through the side door, disguised as a shared complaint about sore legs or stubborn screws.

Of course, not every shared space becomes a community. Some trendy cafés are designed less for conversation than for photographing coffee. Music plays loudly, tables are squeezed together, and staff begin wiping your table before you have finished, leaving you in little doubt that your allotted social experience is over. 5 ____ Crowds alone do not create belonging, just as owning a kitchen does not make someone a chef.

Since there is no single solution to loneliness, governments and businesses often reach for measurable answers: more apps, more campaigns, more carefully branded initiatives. Such schemes photograph well and produce reassuring graphs. Whether they produce friendships is another matter. 6 ____ People need ordinary places where they can stay without being hurried, spend little or nothing, and return often enough to become familiar.

Generally speaking, community is not created through grand gestures. It grows through repetition: the same faces, the same jokes, the same person always occupying the best chair. In the long run, these small encounters matter. A neighbourhood without shared spaces may still look complete on a map, but socially, it has lost its living room.

Please wait...

Page 1 of 6

1 Gap 1

A. That sense of familiarity, however, cannot be created overnight.

B. Yet they performed a quiet social function: they gave people somewhere to exist without needing a reason.

C. Nobody has to announce, 'I am lonely and would like some company.'

D. Sociologists sometimes call them 'third places' - spaces that are neither home nor work, but something in between.

E. A place may be full of people and still feel empty.

F. Perhaps the answer has been under our noses all along.

G. Our social lives are permanently available, but often remain trapped behind glass screens.

Page 2 of 6

2 Gap 2

A. That sense of familiarity, however, cannot be created overnight.

B. Yet they performed a quiet social function: they gave people somewhere to exist without needing a reason.

C. Nobody has to announce, 'I am lonely and would like some company.'

D. Sociologists sometimes call them 'third places' - spaces that are neither home nor work, but something in between.

E. A place may be full of people and still feel empty.

F. Perhaps the answer has been under our noses all along.

G. Our social lives are permanently available, but often remain trapped behind glass screens.

Page 3 of 6

3 Gap 3

A. That sense of familiarity, however, cannot be created overnight.

B. Yet they performed a quiet social function: they gave people somewhere to exist without needing a reason.

C. Nobody has to announce, 'I am lonely and would like some company.'

D. Sociologists sometimes call them 'third places' - spaces that are neither home nor work, but something in between.

E. A place may be full of people and still feel empty.

F. Perhaps the answer has been under our noses all along.

G. Our social lives are permanently available, but often remain trapped behind glass screens.

Page 4 of 6

4 Gap 4

A. That sense of familiarity, however, cannot be created overnight.

B. Yet they performed a quiet social function: they gave people somewhere to exist without needing a reason.

C. Nobody has to announce, 'I am lonely and would like some company.'

D. Sociologists sometimes call them 'third places' - spaces that are neither home nor work, but something in between.

E. A place may be full of people and still feel empty.

F. Perhaps the answer has been under our noses all along.

G. Our social lives are permanently available, but often remain trapped behind glass screens.

Page 5 of 6

5 Gap 5

A. That sense of familiarity, however, cannot be created overnight.

B. Yet they performed a quiet social function: they gave people somewhere to exist without needing a reason.

C. Nobody has to announce, 'I am lonely and would like some company.'

D. Sociologists sometimes call them 'third places' - spaces that are neither home nor work, but something in between.

E. A place may be full of people and still feel empty.

F. Perhaps the answer has been under our noses all along.

G. Our social lives are permanently available, but often remain trapped behind glass screens.

Page 6 of 6

6 Gap 6

A. That sense of familiarity, however, cannot be created overnight.

B. Yet they performed a quiet social function: they gave people somewhere to exist without needing a reason.

C. Nobody has to announce, 'I am lonely and would like some company.'

D. Sociologists sometimes call them 'third places' - spaces that are neither home nor work, but something in between.

E. A place may be full of people and still feel empty.

F. Perhaps the answer has been under our noses all along.

G. Our social lives are permanently available, but often remain trapped behind glass screens.

 Loading...

 

Explanation

Register for more Content without ADS!