Directions: Read the passages below and select the best word choices to complete the passages.
Cloze Passage 2



The graph compares the rate of smoking in men and women in Ireland between the years 1960 and 2000. It __6__ that the rate of smoking for both men and women is currently declining and that fewer women have smoked throughout this period.

In 1960, 600 in every 1,000 men were smoking. This number __7__ to 500 by 1974 and continued to diminish more steeply to 250 in 2000. ___8___, the rate of smoking in women in 1960 was very low at only 80 in every 1,000. By 1968, this number increased to 170, and increased again more steeply to 320 in 1977. The rate of female smokers then __9__ at 320 until 1984 at which point the figures began to decline, eventually dropping to 200 by 2000.

In conclusion, we can see that the rate of smoking in men dropped throughout the whole period, but their numbers were always __10__ than the female figures. The rate of smoking in women increased until 1977 but then decreased for the rest of this period.