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Practice Listening: Fill in the Blanks (Type In) ID: #902 Short Black holes
Instructions ›
You will hear a recording. Type the missing words in each blank.
* Fill in the missing words into the blank fields
The  next  topic  is  going  to  be  black  holes,  and  this  is  a  similar  situation.  Fifteen,  twenty  years  ago  black  holes  were  sort  of  poised    on  the  boundary  between  theoretical  physics  and  science  fiction.  A  boundary  that  is  more    than  you  might  believe.  But  again,  in  the  past  fifteen  years  or  so  this  has  been  converted  into  a  standard  topic  in  observational  .  There  are  dozens,  probably  hundreds  of  objects  we  can  point  to  in  the  sky  and  say,  "yes  those  things  are  black  holes."  And  so  now,  the  current  topic  of  research  is  do  these  things  that  we  are  pretty  sure  are  black  holes  actually  behave  in  the  incredibly  ,  science-fictiony  manner  that  the  theoretical  physicists  have  been  talking  about  for  the  past  thirty  or  forty  years.  So,  to  what  extent  are  these  very  exotic  behaviors  actually    in  real  life?

Result:

AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Correct answer: precariously

Explanation: On the recording you hear "poised precariously on the". You need a word that tells how, so it ends in ly.

Meaning: "precariously" means in an unsafe or unsure position.

Wrong options:

  • precarious: "precarious" is missing the ending. The speaker says "precariously", with "ly" at the end.
Correct answer: porous

Explanation: Listen again to "A boundary that is more porous than". The sentence needs a describing word for the boundary.

Meaning: "porous" means having small holes or gaps that let things through.

Wrong options:

  • porus: It leaves out the "o". Check the letters: "porous". A small spelling mistake loses the mark.
Correct answer: astronomy

Explanation: Here you hear "standard topic in observational astronomy". It comes after "observational", so you need the name of a field of study.

Meaning: "astronomy" means the study of space, stars and planets.

Wrong options:

  • astronony: It has "n" where the word has "m". Write "astronomy". Only the exact spelling gets the mark.
  • astronamy: It has "a" where the word has "o". Write "astronomy". Only the exact spelling gets the mark.
Correct answer: bizarre (also accepted: bizzare)

Explanation: The speaker says "incredibly bizarre, science-fictiony". The word comes after "incredibly", so you need a describing word.

Meaning: "bizarre" means very strange or odd.

Wrong options:

  • bizare: It leaves out the "r". The right spelling is "bizarre". Every letter must be correct to get the mark.
  • bazaar: "bazaar" is a different word. It means a market with many small shops.
Correct answer: manifested

Explanation: You hear "actually manifested in real life". After "actually" you need the word with ed at the end.

Meaning: "manifested" means shown or appeared in real life.

Wrong options:

  • manifest: "manifest" is missing the ending. The speaker says "manifested", with "ed" at the end.

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