clozure.trainingo2.net
cloZure is a free web tool written by Peter Shanks that generates cloze tests from wikipedia articles.
Try it out with this sample cloze test on... cloze tests :-)
Click on the orange words to fill in the blanks.
The word cloze derives from closure in Gestalt theory . The exercise was first described by W.L. Taylor in 1953.
You might be relieved to know that this was quite a difficult example, with a Gunning-Fog index of 11.84 (i.e. it is estimated you would need 12 years of schooling to comprehend the text). Fortunately cloZure also has articles from the simple English version of the wikipedia, which means you can choose much easier texts if you need to. You can read more bout cloze tests in the Wikipedia entry for Cloze tests
To use cloZure for yourself...
- enter a search term in the search box on the right
- browse through the category listings, or
- drill down through the indexes
Once you've found a topic, click on it and try out an instant cloze test.
The cloze tests created here are all offered under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify any test(s) as long as the resulting work (including additions) remains under this license. It would also be nice if you included a link back to clozure.trainingo2.net in your credits.
Good luck and I hope you find cloZure useful!