ZHAW Proficiency XI

(1) _____ could we talk or write about people or objects (2) _____ immediately present. (3) _____ we restricted to discussing objects already present, we would be (4) _____ to make abstract generalisations about the world. 

In 1912, the world's top matehmaticians began to receive letters which were _____ of incredibly complex formulae. 

They came from Madras, in India, (1) _____ a 23-year-old accounts clerk named Srinivasa Ramanujan had seemingly (2) _____ up with hundreds of new soutions to known mathematical problems (3) ____ any form of assistance or training. 

For the most (1) _____ , the professional mathematicians' response was the usual one (2) _____ faced with eccentric letters: they consigned them straight (3) _____ the bin. 

But in 1913, some reached G. H. Hardy, a leading authority in number theory at Cambridge University. He too, initially dismissed the letters (1) _____ the work of an eccentric, but unable to (2) _____ them out of his head, he eventually subjected them to closer scrutiny. 

After a few hours, Hardy arrived (1) ____ the conclusion that what he had (2) ____ him was the work of a mathematical genius, a view confirmed by colleagues with (3) _____ he shared his discovery. 

Before very (1) ____ , Ramanujan had received an invitation to Cambridge and, once there, he soon proved (2) ____ worth. A fruitful collaboration with Hardy (3) _____ in the opening up of vast areas of mathematical research, still being worked on to (4) _____ day. 

For many people, mobile email is a habit they couldn't give up even (1) _____ they wanted to. And (2) ____ should they want to? (3) _____ all, the ability to send and receive emails from a mobile device means they can stay in touch with colleagues, friends and family, whether they're standing in a queue at the supermarket, downing a quick cup of coffee in (4) _____ meetings or killing (5) _____ before a flight. 

It's fair to say that access to email while (1) ____ the move has done much to whet appetites for other kinds of collaborative tools. 

What's (1) _____ , there's a whoe new way of working that has opened up in recent years and, (2) _____ a result, there's a  general expectation that efficiency and productivity don't necessarily take (3) _____ within the four walls of an organisation's physical offices. 

In fiction robots have a personality, (1) _____ reality is disappointingly different. Although sophisticated (2) ____ to assemble cars and assist during complex surgery, modern robots are dumb automatons, (3) _____ of striking up relationships with their human operations. 

However, change is (1) _____ the horizon. Engineers argue that, as robots begin to make (2) _____ a bigger part of society, they will need a way to interact with humans. To this end they will need artificial personalities. 

The big question is this: what does a synthetic companion need to have so that you want to engage (1) ______ it over a long period of time? Phones and computers have already shown the (2) ______ to which people can develop relationships with inanimate electronic objects. 

Looking further (1) _____ , engineers envisage robots helping around the house, integrating with the web to place supermarket orders using email. 

Programming the robot with a human-like persona and (1) ______ it the ability to learn its users' preferences, will help the person feel at ease with it. 

In 1824 when George Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, he replied: "Because it's there." 

It may be that, having been asked the same question several hundred times, Mallory just didn't care any more and this was the first phrase to ____ into his head. 

Then again, for ____ we know, it was simply his way of saying, "Why not?".

This might seem self-evident ____ someone like Mallory. 

You climb Everest because you can. One way to look at people like mountanieers or explorers, or successful ones at any rate, is to see them ____ people who have realised what they are good at. 

When you read their books, more often than (1) _____ they will come across as poeple who are (2) ____ ease with their environment, (3) ____ alien it might seem to an outsider.

Any mention ____ the movie Star Wars instantly triggers the resounding opening bars of the film score, which signals the presence of the enemy. 

But can you call to ____ who wrote the music?

(1) ____ to the legendary film director Orson Wells, music accounts (2) ____ half the work in a movie, mostly (3) ____ the audience even knowing the composer's name. 

The cruellest ____ of it for the composer is that, in a good film, that is how it should be. 

If the art of dressing well is to all intents and purposes to dress i such a way that others do (1)  ____ notice your elegance, the art of a great music score is to fuse so perfectly with what is on the screen that audiences are unconsciously sucked (2) ____ the mood of the movie.

For this reason, even great movie music brings very ____ recognition to composers. 

To survive, language must evolve, yet it is resistant ____ certain forms of change.

Most new words sparkle briefly, ____ at all, and then fade away. 

However, new words are necessary because, as the world changes,  ____ must our vocabulany.