The clue is often elsewhere
Fill the gap hides a word or a short phrase in a passage and asks which choice fits the whole passage. Several choices can fit the sentence with the gap. Only one fits everything else, and the clue that decides it is often in another sentence, before or after the gap.
So read the whole passage before you choose. Then take each choice in turn and look for a sentence that rules it out: a fact it contradicts, a thing it could not do. Keep the choice that nothing rules out.
Spot the swap, the practice's other mode, works the same way round: a word has been changed, and another sentence contradicts it.
1Read the whole passage, past the gap.
2Test each choice against the other sentences.
3Keep the one that nothing rules out.
The long walk
Mia packed a ______ for the long walk. At the top of the hill she unscrewed its lid and drank half the water.
Four things to pack
The choices are a sandwich, a map, a bottle and a hat. Any of them could be packed for a walk, so the first sentence cannot decide.
The second sentence can. She unscrewed its lid and drank the water. A sandwich, a map and a hat have no lid and hold no water, so each is ruled out. The bottle is the only choice left.
The long walk
Mia packed a bottle for the long walk. At the top of the hill she unscrewed its lid and drank half the water.
The corner shop
Two choices fit the first sentence. Read on for the one that decides.
The corner shop
The shop on the corner opens at ______ every morning. Leo arrived at half past eight and waited outside for thirty minutes. When the door opened, he was the first customer.
Try it
Which word fits the whole passage?
- eight
- nine
Show the answer
nine
Right. Half past eight and thirty minutes of waiting make nine, so nine is the only word the second sentence allows.
Enable JavaScript to answer interactively and save your place.
Practice Fill the gap