Fill in the Blanks

The Facts

What You See

A single sentence with one damaged word in it. The letters you are given are always the beginning of the word, and the remaining letters are shown as empty boxes, so you know exactly how many letters are missing. Backspace works. Continue moves you on.

The damaged words are adjectives, adverbs, nouns and verbs — never function words. The sentences are drawn from stories, coursebooks, news, personal writing and conversation, so register varies from one item to the next.

The Method That Works

Twenty seconds is enough for a sequence, not for a hunt. Use the same three steps every time and the item stops being about inspiration.

1. Identify the part of speech first. What comes before the blank usually settles it. After the or a, a noun. After very or quite, an adjective. After will or to, a verb.
2. Count the boxes. The letter count eliminates most candidates instantly. de___ with three missing is delay, not delivery.
3. Read the rest of the sentence for the semantic clue. These sentences almost always contain a synonym, an antonym or a collocation that fixes the meaning.

Why Collocation Matters More Than Vocabulary

A surprising number of these items are not testing whether you know a word, but whether you know which word goes with the words around it. Keep a detailed rec____ is record because keep a record is a fixed phrase, not because record is difficult.

• Learn verbs with their objects: make a decision, reach a conclusion, raise a concern.
• Learn adjectives with their nouns: serious delay, detailed record, heavy rain.
• Learn nouns with their prepositions: a delay in, an increase in, a reason for.

Common Mistakes

• Typing a word that fits the meaning but not the letter count. Check the boxes before you commit.
• Getting the word right and the spelling wrong. This scores zero, which makes spelling drills as valuable as vocabulary drills.
• Forgetting the word form. She kept a detailed record needs the noun, not recorded.
• Reading the sentence twice. Twenty seconds does not survive it. Read once, classify, count, type.

How to Practise

1. Take any article, cover the second half of ten content words, and restore them under a twenty-second clock each.
2. Keep a misspelling list and retest it weekly. On this test spelling errors are wrong answers, not style points.
3. Drill word families: analyse, analysis, analytical, analyst. One family covers several possible blanks.
4. Practise the sets on the Reading samples page with the answer key closed.