Multiple-choice cloze
For questions 1-8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
When the city council unveiled its “smart” traffic scheme, the press dutifully hailed it as a long-overdue fix, yet residents soon found themselves caught in a tangle of unintended consequences. Sensors were meant to smooth the morning rush, but the system kept flagging phantom jams, sending drivers on detours that led nowhere and quiet side streets. Officials insisted they were merely a few teething problems, though critics argued the project had been to score political points. Meanwhile, the tech firm behind the rollout was quick to , blaming “user behaviour” while quietly tweaking the algorithm . The whole episode has become a cautionary tale about our readiness to glossy solutions without asking what, exactly, is being —privacy, accountability, or simply common sense. For all the talk of innovation, it turns out that progress can be not by a lack of data, but by an excess of confidence and a shortage of scrutiny.
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