2.5: Make a gapfill exercise

During the next step I will use an exercise tool that is called VP Cloze Builder. This tool creates a gap fill exercise from a submitted text, by hiding AWL words. So whenever you feel the need to exercise your AWL vocabulary, it is possible to create your own exercise.
For the exercise I created I used "The Economics of English" article, with which I created the following gap fill exercise:

achieve  acknowledgement  adapt  apparently  assignments  assistants  available  called  challenge  challenging  comment  computer  computers  consequently  contrary  corporate  emerged  enhance  eventually  expand  financial  global  individual  initial  instance  investment  job  jobs  media  orientation  require  requires  resources  sector  similar  so  stressful  technically

Posted by : Michael Mandel on November 08 Does India have enough English-speaking workers? Here’s an interesting [1] __________from an Indian columnist , Sucheta Dalal. She writes : The BPO and IT industries today absorb [2] __________much of the smart , [3] __________qualified and eminently employable talent that there is a serious shortage of people for other , not-so-paying , smaller businesses who also need [4] __________skill sets. [5] __________to the bleeding-heart view about BPO employees being stuck in [6] __________and monotonous [7] __________, those earning high call-centre salaries are unwilling to consider less-paying but more [8] ___________employment that [9] __________ aptitude , learning and slower [10] __________growth. She then goes on to say : it is necessary to address an important differentiator that has already [11] __________in the [12] __________market today. It is the earning difference between those who are conversant with the English language and those who aren’t. Salary differences between equally qualified ( non-professional/technical) candidates can be as high as 400 to 500 per cent. In fact , the more fancied [13] __________in airlines , hotels , [14] ___________, banks and [15] __________services only to those who know English , the rest are forced into less fancied [16] __________. Ironically enough , the wide gap in earning starts from [17] __________where literacy levels are less important; for [18] __________, counter staff and waiters. The best [20] __________ with the upmarket shopping malls , multiational fast-food chains and tony restaurants go to those who can speak English along with the mandatory fluency in local languages. The [21] __________market in the services [22] __________is likely to [23] __________furiously as malls , multiplexes , food courts , and large retail chains [24] __________operations across India , moving from the cities to larger towns. This growth will only accelerate if the government [25] __________ permits Foreign Direct [26] __________in the Retail [27] ___________, letting in large retail chains such as Wal-Mart. Unfortunately , there is no concerted effort as yet by the [28] __________ [29] __________, NGOs or even social organisations to help improve their English-speaking skills and confidence levels to prepare for the coming boom. [30] ___________, there is already a serious shortage of employable; human [31] __________in the service [32] __________. My own effort to help a young girl , desperate to improve her English through a formal programme in Mumbai drew a blank. Her big ambition is to land a sales [33] __________ in a smart food or retail chain. I found that the few private tutors [34] __________are astonishingly expensive. On the other hand , I found it much easier to sponsor her for a basic and inexpensive [35] __________course in the use of [36] __________that was run by an NGO [37] __________Pratham. The Chinese [38] __________hired football stadiums to teach the English language and [39] __________employment opportunities. In India , language chauvinism bars frank discussion or an [40] __________that English is now the [41] __________language of commerce. In his Independence Day address in August 2004 , President A. Abdul Kalam talked about the need to [42] __________100 per cent literacy by increasing our education expenditure. The bigger [43] __________ in the coming years will be to [44] __________ our school and college curricula to meet the demands of changing society , [45] __________market and [46] __________aspirations. This will mean inclusion of language skills , [47] __________literacy and vocational training at the school level. That in turn will [48] ___________[49] ____________in finding and employing better trained and better paid teachers to prepare students for a better India. Are we even making a beginning in that direction? http : www. usinessweek. om/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2005/11/the_economics_o. tml

Reflection:
This step could be of great influence to your academic vocabulary, but is not a useful tool to use when revising a text. Therefore, this step did not provide new insights regarding my text.