Cambridge C2 Proficiency (CPE) — All Questions

Whether the fee is refundable remains a ___ point among the lawyers.

• a.mute
• b.null
• c.moot✓
• d.void

'A moot point' is one that is debatable or unresolved. 'Mute' (silent) is a common misspelling/confusion but is incorrect here.

By launching a week early, the firm managed to steal a ___ on its rivals.

• a.march✓
• b.lead
• c.step
• d.gain

The idiom 'steal a march on someone' means to gain an advantage by acting before them. Only 'march' completes the fixed expression.

An ___ gambler, he could never resist the promise of one more bet.

• a.eventual
• b.irritable
• c.intimate
• d.inveterate✓

'Inveterate' describes a deeply established, habitual tendency, especially a bad one: an 'inveterate gambler'. The other adjectives do not convey ingrained habit.

He raised the subject delicately, unsure how best to ___ such a sensitive matter.

• a.breach
• b.broach✓
• c.brooch
• d.breech

To 'broach' a subject means to introduce or bring it up. The homophones 'breach' (break), 'brooch' (jewellery) and 'breech' are all incorrect.

They laboured for hours to fix the leak, but all to no ___.

• a.avail✓
• b.effect
• c.result
• d.end

'To no avail' is a fixed idiom meaning without success. None of the other nouns completes this set phrase.