Read the following text about York’s Shambles and decide what verb forms should be used in gaps 1-10. -- York’s Shambles Is this 900-year-old cobbled passage the prettiest street in Britain? It’s certainly a contender, but its beginnings were far from fetching In a city with one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in northern Europe and the largest railway museum in the world, it might seem strange that so many of the 6.7 million visitors a year to York head straight to a street called Shambles, but that’s until you experience its unique charm, character and history for yourself. Shambles .......... (1. GENERALLY REGARD) as the best-preserved medieval street in Europe. A mention in the Domesday Book means we know that York’s oldest street dates back to at least 1086, although many of its buildings today were created in the late 14th and 15th centuries. The name Shambles has nothing to do with the appearance of the street but is shortened version of the medieval word ’Flesshammel’ – meaning flesh bench – which was apt, as Shambles was the city’s main hub for butchers. Many of the properties came complete with a slaughterhouse at the back .......... (2. PROVIDE) a constant supply of fresh meat, which .......... (3. HANG) outside the shops on the meat hooks that are still present on several of the buildings. Select cuts would also be displayed on the wide window sills, hence the term ’flesh bench’. With the slaughtering of animals in the shops, the disposal of waste was a constant problem – particularly without modern-age drainage. To help, pavements .......... (4. RAISE) at either side to form a gully, and the butchers would wash away the blood and offal, twice a week, down the specially-designed sloped floors of their shops into the street. Unsurprisingly, these incredibly unhygienic conditions led to many outbreaks of cholera as well as a severe case of the Great Plague in the 17th century but it wasn’t until the 20th century that proper drainage channels were installed. It .......... (5. OFTEN SAY) that at some points the street is so narrow you can touch the houses on both sides with your arms outstretched but you’ll have to visit to see if your arms are long enough to reach. It’s true that several of the roofs almost touch. This solved two problems: firstly, the overhanging design of the buildings protected the meat on the window sills and hooks from the sun, and, secondly it prevented excessive weathering of the buildings .......... (6. MAKE) with wattle and daub (a mixture of mud, clay and twigs). The most famous story to survive the annals of history of Shambles is that of Margaret Clitherow, the wife of one of the butchers in the street, who converted to Catholicism during the reign of the fiercely Protestant Queen Elizabeth I. Supported by her Protestant husband, Margaret gave shelter to travelling priests and conducted mass for local Catholics in her home. After .......... (7. WARN AND IMPRISON) for her actions, she was condemned to death by pressing – crushed to death under a weight – at the tollbooth on the Ouse Bridge. A shrine to Margaret, who was canonised in 1970, is located at number 35 Shambles, once thought .......... (8. BE) her home. However, we now know that she lived at number 10 and 11 Shambles. Today, with its variety of cafés and shops, Shambles is a tourist attraction in its own right, as visited as York’s ancient city walls. Instead of the 26 butcher shops you’d have found in 1872, the street is now one of the premier shopping areas in the city, with a wide selection of jewellery and antique shops. There are many distinctive features of the original buildings still .......... (9. FIND) up and down the street – if you can stop long enough in the melee of visitors to take them all in. It might seem ironic that the street called Shambles could be considered Britain’s prettiest street, but .......... (10. SEE) is believing.
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