Fill in the gaps in the text with a suitable word in the correct form or its derivative. Mind there are two extra words.

hem pen; stride on; apprehend; mind-bending; band of men; thatch; high-rank; huddle; triumph; penetrate; advise on; ease; comply with; justice; plot; capture; preserve; fat; foolhardy; support; keep out; keep in; miscreants; clientele; carry out; evolve;supreme; menacing; suffer; incarcerated; traditional; entrust; defunct pile; living symbol; tangible; into the limbo; to appear; step over; in charge of

Dwarfed by the twentieth-century concrete blocks soaring above it, the Tower of London resembles a boy’s toy fort left out on the lawn. Modern progress has (1) _______ it and has (2) ____________, the pace going faster and faster.

Yet the veneer of civilization is thin. Even in this day and age the mention of going to the Tower’ creates an (3) _______in the mind, a faint whiff (4) ____________of that can only be dispelled by a joking allusion to the Axe, or a hope of an early reprieve! Why is this? Can it be that some primitive instinct of (5) ___________has lingered through the centuries, some kind of horrific reminder of the terror that for many was the Tower?

Forget the high-rise blocks and monolithic hotels; return to the time when the houses of London were a mere six or seven feet high, made of wood, (6) ________with straw, (7) _________ within the Roman Wall. But even that afforded little protection. First the Saxons and Wanes at length the Normans came (8) __________and stayed. William the Conqueror needed a strong, secure residence in his capital, needed to defend the City from other attackers.

So secure its strength, so (9) _____________ its walls, that the Tower, the first castle of its kind in Britain, became the very bastion of this country’s destiny. For nearly six hundred years the Royal Families lived there. Remember that the man who had the Tower had the Power, for within its defences was stored the nations armoury, sufficient to equip thousands of troops. The royal court presided there, (10) __________ — or (11) ____________- the monarch’s decisions. The king's courts of (12) _________ had their sessions in the Inner Ward; the state treaties and papers were also held safe there.

All monarchs had rivals, threats to their supremacy. (13) __________ barons and lords, defiant churchmen; even (14) _________ enemies holding promise of (15) ______ ransoms. (16) ___________ indeed to imprison them away in the country, with the risk of their (17) ___________ achieving their escape — and so, as the depth of the moat and the height of the walls of the Tower of London could (18) _______ the enemies of the State, they could equally (19) __________ enemies of the State, making it also a State prison! It was not for the ordinary criminals of the day, the robbers, highwaymen, cutpurses and footpads. Such common (20) ___________ had their own prisons Slit in London, and they met their end swinging from the end of a (21) _______ rope.

       The Tower of London’s (22) ________ were mainly aristocrats and (23) __________ clergy accused of treason or heresy. The dreaded phrase ‘committed to the Tower’ meant if best a death, some being (24) ____________ for up to fifteen years before sentence was (25) __________. At worst it resulted in public execution by the axe, or even being hanged, drawn and quartered.

The Tower of London, then, played a major role in the (26) __________ of the country’s history. On occasions when it was necessary for the monarch to leave the Tower it was vital that during his absence it should be securely held by one absolutely loyal, one who would not betray his king by handing over his power base to rival factions.

This task of (27) ___________ importance was carried out by the Constable of the Tower of London. He was — and is — one of the very few officials who have right of direct access to the Sovereign.

Since 1685 the official actively (28) ____________ the fortress has been the Major of the Tower, the present title being the Major and Resident Governor and Keeper of the Jewel House. Two Deputy governors assist him and he also commands the Body of Yeoman Warders (the latter occasionally (29) __________ the nickname of Beefeaters!). This historic (30) __________, with their Chief Warder and Yeoman Gaoler, have been custodians of Her Majesty’s Tower of London since the^- castle was built. (31) ____________ the guardians of the Crown Jewels at Coronations, they were also (32) __________ with keeping vigilant watch on the state prisoners. They were, and still are, members of the Royal Bodyguard. To those roles has also been added that of being a cicerone: a guide who learns and recounts the enthralling history of the Tower of London.

The Tower, then, far from being a (33) _____________ of stones is very much a (34) __________ of our historic past. Many of the original buildings remain; the State Regalia is on display, together with armour, weapons, even the execution axe, block and instruments of torture.

But is it only the (35) _________ things that have survived? What of the wretches who suffered in the prison towers; have they really vanished (36) ___________ of the past? Or are they ever present, (37) ____________ when least expected?

And will you be the next one to see them?

(from ‘Ghosts of the Tower of London’)

Consolidation