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30. STARTING A CONVERSATION
It is often seiid that the British talk about the weather more than any (1)
______people in the world; some extremists claim that they talk about (2)
______ else. But in fact, (3) ______ in countries with far less changeable
climates than Britain’s, the weather is an endless, (4) ______ not VEiried,
source of conversational íodder. This seems (5) ______ natural when you
consider that the weather is one of the few things we all have in (6 )______ .
It aíĩects our senses, and (7 )______ our moods, so directly and, at times, so
intensely that it is natural we (8) talk about it. Aíter several days (9)
sometimes weeks of dark, gloomy weather, a bright day tends to bring
(10) ____ the best in everyone; people recognise the relief in others’
expressions which they feel in themselves, and fĩnd (11)___ hard to resist
commenting on a change (12) ______ is having such an evident (1 3 )_______
on everyone. “Nice day, isn’t it?” is much more than simply a comment on
the State of the weather; it is a comm ent on the hum an State (1 4 )______ , an
acknowledgement that the tenability of our place in the universe relies on
the existence of a community (15)______ human feeling.

31. CHEKHOV
Anton Chekhov was a Russian playvvright and short story writer born in
Taganrog in 1860. In 1879, he became a medical student in Moscow, later
qualiíying (1 )______ a doctor. With a needy family to support, Chekhov (2)
______to writing, contributing short humorous stories and sketches (3 )______
popular newspapers. His major work (4) to come towards the end of his
short life ~ Chekhov died of tuberculosis in 1904 “ his reputation resting chieAy
(5) ______foiir plays, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, The Three Sisters and The
Cherry Orchard, written in 1896, 1899, 1901 and 1904 (6) ______ . All four
works, while gloomy and pessimistic (7) tone, blend a poetic atmosphere
(8) _ a Sỉonpathetic treatment of characters (9) ______ , unable to break
(10) ___ of the vicious circle that they find (11) ______ in, are trapped in
unhilhlling lives which they feel (12) powerless and dispirited to chEinge.
They (13)_____ be regarded as S5rmbolic (14) _ the torpor and stagnation
of late nineteenth centuĩy Czarist Russia. (15) ___ ___ realism is a product of
Chekhov’s scientiííc training and experience as a provincÌEd doctor. They remain
masterpieces of Russian literature.

32. BEWARE OF VITAMINS!

Vitamins are good for our health, aren’t they? Perhaps not. New research
suggests that rather than ward OÍT disease, high doses of certain vitamins
may (1) ______ more harm than good and could even put you in an early
grave. A variety of recent studies suggest that (2) ______ from improving
health, these vitamins, (3) taken in very high doses, may actuídly
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