ZHAW Proficiency XII

Over the centuries, ____ have identified many different types, but the most intriguing are those that ____ occur in the natural world.

MATHEMATICS, REPEAT
 

The need to ____ the mysteries of the existence of spirals and helices  
has exercised some of the best scientific brains in the world and opened
the  way to a number of ____ in fields as widely varied as genetics and ____.

RAVEL, BREAK, METEOR
 

The most ____ spirals on earth are also the most unwelcome hurricanes.

SPECTACLE
 

Their ____ power comes from the sun's heat, but they owe their shape to the force caused by the rotation of the earth.

AWE
 

After innumerable years of study, however, Nature's spirals and helices have yet to ____ all their secrets. For example, why, astronomers wonder, are so many galaxies spiral-shaped?

CLOSE
 

One of the most ____ aspects of the science of anthropology comes from its fieldwork.

CHALLENGE
 

Certainly, in its ____ as a profession, anthropology was distinguished by its concentration on so-called ‘primitive societies’ in which social ____ appeared to be fairly limited and social interaction to be conducted almost ____ face-to-face.
 

INFANT, INSTITUTE, EXCLUDE
 

Such societies, it was felt, provided anthropologists with a valuable ____ into the workings of society that contrasted with the many complexities oi more highly developed societies.
 

SEE
 

There was also a sense that the ways of lite represented by these smaller societies were rapidly ____ and that preserving a record oi them was a matter of some urgency.
 

APPEAR
 

The ____ of anthropologists to the first-hand collection of data led them to some of the most ____ places on earth.
 

COMMIT, ACCESS
 

Most often they worked alone. Such lack of contact with other people created feelings oi intense ____ in some anthropologists, especially in the early stages of fieldwork.
 

LONELY
 

Nevertheless, this process of ____ in a totally alien culture continues to attract men and women to anthropology, and is ____
the most effective way of understanding in depth how other people see the world.
 

EMMERSE, DENY
 

The image that we have of science has ____ radical change in the last hundred years.

GO
 

An enormous ____ explosion, together with a number of very real ____ about the environment and ail the moral and political ramifications of economic growth have ____ put science at the centre of public debate.
TECHNOLOGY, ANXIOUS, QUESTION
 

The twentieth century began with a challenge to the ____ that human knowledge was approaching completion.

ASSUME
 

It will come, perhaps, as something of a surprise to all of us to realise that the emergence of this highly ____ process came both from within and outside science.
 

DESTROY
 

New scientific theories ____ reveal the limitations of the old perspective.
 

OVERWHELM
 

We had thought that the world, understood through the medium of rational ____ was, indeed, the real world.
 

BE
 

Now we know that this was no more than a simplification that just happened to work.
Once we realise this, though, we can move in a number of opposing directions. We can reevaluate all knowledge ____ and decide that it is eternally fragmentary and full of a vast number of ____ , or we can be more positive and view these vast explosions of scientific awareness as new challenges still to come and as celebrations of the ____ that the human imagination has so far scaled.
 

PESSIMISM, PERFECTION, HIGH
 

Power napping is an ____ strategy. It involves taking an intense sleep which dramatically improves ____ , makingit especially useful for those with a demanding schedule such as mothers of babies or travellingbusiness ____ .

EFFECT, ALERT, EXECUTE
 

However, the conditions must be right and practice is required to ____  the effects.

MAXIMUM
 

To prevent ____   on awakening, power naps should last about 25 minutes.
 

ORIENTATE
 

Falling asleep so quickly takes practice, but is in fact a habit which is ____  easy to acquire. Initially, it is more important to relax for a while than actually fall asleep, and power-napping is not a good idea if you find it difficult to wake up at the ____  time.
 

COMPARE, DESIGN

Finally, power-napping should not be confused with the kind of dozing that can ____  a sensation of overwhelming sleepiness during the day, which simply represents the ____ experienced in the attempt to compensate for a poor sleep routine.

COMPANY, DESPAIR

Migration is the perilous ___ journey undertaken by many bird species.

SEASON

In the northern hemisphere it is prompted by the ____ of  food.

SCARCE

Migrants are also ____ programmed to respond to the changing length of the day as autumn approaches.

GENE

Nevertheless, in the tropics, where is little variation in the amount of daylight, migration is still a surprisingly common ____.

OCCUR

Many birds will display considerable restlessnss before beginning their journeys. Their ____ to the earth's magnetic field helps them navigate, but inexperienced birds may get things ___ wrong and end up far from their intended destination.

SENSE, SPECTACLE

In the past, the return dates could be predicted with great precision but climate change makes this harder. Although it is ____ for birds to return earlier than their rivals so they can establish territories, getting back too early could have incalculable consequences for their long-term survival.

ADVANTAGE

However, some birds are ____ reducing the distaces they migrate in response to a milder climate.

PROGRESS

Their adaptability in such a short period in ____ terms has greatly suprised scientists.

EVOLVE

Thanks to the ubiquitous use of vanilla as a ____ in ice creams and cakes the world over, its taste is more ____ to the majority of people than the appearance of the plant.

FLAVOUR, RECOGNISE

The plant itself is actually a native of the tropical forests of Central America and is the only variety of orchid to be grown on a commercial scale. lts delicate white flowers open in the early morning and, after pollination by insects or humming birds, a narrow bean-like pod forms and ____ , taking a period of five to seven months to reach ____.
 

RIPE, MATURE

It is this pod which is harvested to provide the food crop we know as vanilla. Despite its American origins, for decades it was only cultivated ____ on the lndian Ocean island of Madagascar, where it was introduced at the end of the nineteenth century.

EXTEND
 

It soon became clear that the vanilla grown there was of a quality ____  in other areas, and the island quickly became one of the world’s major ____.

KNOW, SUPPLY
 

In recent years, however, new ____  have entered the vanilla market and, ____  , Madagascar’s importance has started to slip.
 

COMPETE, CONSEQUENCE
 

Of course, the ____  of new producers means a smaller market share, whilst the development of artificial substitutes is ____  to undermine demand for the real thing.

EMERGE, THREAT

The phenomenon of language change ____ attracts more public notice and more ____  than any other linguistic issue.
 

PROBABLE, DISAPPROVE

There is a widely held belief that change must mean deterioration and decay. Older people observe the casual speech of the young and conclude that standards have fallen ____.

APPRECIATE