Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
Weather influences the lives of everyone. The climate of any country depends on its position on Earth, its distance from the sea and how high it is. In countries which have sea all (23) ___ them, like Britain and New Zealand, winters are mild and summers are cool. There is not a huge change from one season to (24) ___. Countries near the Equator have hot weather all year with some heavy rain, except in deserts where it rains very little. Above the desert there are no clouds in the sky so the heat of the sun can easily warm the ground during the day, (25) __ it gets very cold at night. Strong winds and rain can (26) ___ a lot of damage to buildings and in spite of modern methods of weather forecasting, they can (27) ___ surprise us.
Question 23: A, near B, beside C, through D, around
Question 24: A, another B, later C, other D, next
Question 25: A, or B, but C, and D, so
Question 26: A, happen B, cause C, make D, have
Question 27: A, probably B, also C, still D, too