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B2 First open cloze: Part 2 grammar gap practice

B2Reading & Use of English40 questionsUpdated

The B2 First open cloze gives you a short text with gaps and no options at all: you write one word in each gap. Almost every answer is a grammar word, so the task is less about vocabulary than about noticing what structure a sentence has started and now needs to finish. Forty original items follow.

What this task tests

  • Auxiliary and modal verbs inside perfect, passive, conditional and inverted structures.
  • Relative pronouns and the words that introduce clauses: which, whose, where, when, that.
  • Articles, quantifiers and pronouns, including the empty subjects it and there.
  • Prepositions inside fixed phrases such as in spite of, as well as, by means of, in order to.
  • Comparative and correlative patterns: the more, as soon as, no sooner, not only, such a.
  • Negative and limiting adverbials that force inversion: rarely, hardly, never.
  • Conjunctions of time, reason and contrast used across sentence boundaries.
  • Reference words that point backwards or forwards in the text: this, those, one, so.
  • Verb patterns after common verbs, where the gap is the preposition the verb demands.
  • Careful reading, because the gap is often decided by a word two lines earlier.

How to do it

  1. Step 1:

    Read the title and the whole text first

    The open cloze is one continuous text and later sentences often explain earlier ones. Reading it through prevents the classic error of writing a word that contradicts the next line.

  2. Step 2:

    Decide what kind of word the gap needs before you think of a word

    Ask whether the gap is a verb slot, a linker, a preposition, a pronoun or a quantifier. Naming the category first narrows the field from the whole language to about ten candidates.

  3. Step 3:

    Look left and right for half a structure

    Gaps sit inside patterns. If you see ‘not only’ earlier, look for ‘but’; if you see a comparative, look for ‘than’; if you see ‘been’, the gap before it is probably have, has or had.

  4. Step 4:

    Check the subject and the time reference for verb gaps

    An auxiliary gap is decided twice: once by the subject, which gives has or have, and once by the time words in the sentence, which choose between present perfect and past perfect.

  5. Step 5:

    Write one word only, and a real one

    Contractions are counted as two words and are not accepted. If your answer is ‘didn’t’, the gap wants either did or not, and only the surrounding words tell you which.

  6. Step 6:

    Prefer the small, common word

    The answer is nearly always one of about fifty function words. If you have written a three-syllable noun, check again: the open cloze rarely asks for topic vocabulary.

  7. Step 7:

    Use the punctuation

    A comma before a gap often signals a non-defining relative clause, which rules out ‘that’. A semicolon or full stop before a gap points to a sentence linker.

  8. Step 8:

    Do the easy gaps first and circle the rest

    Two or three gaps in every text are harder than the others. Filling the easy ones first gives you more context for the hard ones and protects your timing.

  9. Step 9:

    Reread the completed text at normal speed

    Leave two minutes at the end. Wrong answers in this part usually sound wrong when the text is read as continuous prose rather than gap by gap.

  10. Step 10:

    Check your spelling before you move on

    A correct word spelled wrongly scores nothing, and the words tested here are ones you already know, so this is the cheapest mark on the paper to protect.

Mistakes that cost marks

  • Not thisIn spite the rain, the match continued.

    ThisIn spite of the rain, the match continued.

    In spite is always followed by of. Only despite goes straight to the noun.

  • Not thisShe is the woman which lives next door.

    ThisShe is the woman who lives next door.

    Which refers to things and who refers to people. Relative pronouns are tested in almost every open cloze.

  • Not thisIt was such a difficult that nobody finished.

    ThisIt was so difficult that nobody finished.

    Such takes a noun phrase, as in such a difficult test; so takes a bare adjective.

  • Not thisHe isn’t here since Monday.

    ThisHe hasn’t been here since Monday.

    Since with an unfinished period needs the present perfect, so the gap wants an auxiliary rather than a present tense.

  • Not thisNo sooner we had left than it started to rain.

    ThisNo sooner had we left than it started to rain.

    A negative adverbial at the front of the clause forces inversion of subject and auxiliary.

  • Not thisThe town where I grew up in has changed.

    ThisThe town where I grew up has changed.

    Where already contains the meaning of in which, so the extra preposition is wrong.

  • Not thisI look forward to hear from you.

    ThisI look forward to hearing from you.

    The ‘to’ in look forward to is a preposition, not part of an infinitive, so it takes an -ing form.

Language this task keeps reusing

in spite of
despite; used before a noun or an -ing form
as well as
in addition to
as soon as
immediately after
in order to
with the purpose of
whose
relative word showing possession
no matter how
however much; it makes no difference
the more ... the more
pattern linking two changes that happen together
by means of
using a particular method
no sooner ... than
used to say one event followed another immediately
not only ... but also
pattern adding a second, stronger point
such a ... that
pattern showing an extreme quality and its result
on the whole
generally; considering everything
it is high time
used with a past form to say something is overdue
would rather
prefer; followed by a bare infinitive or a past form

Practice: open cloze

40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.

1Complete with one word.

In spitethe traffic, we arrived ten minutes early.
The report, ___ was published in June, has already been withdrawn.

3Complete with one word before a past-time clause.

She has lived in Lisbonshe finished university.

4Complete with one word before the adjective.

It wascold that the lake froze right across.
The village, ___ streets are too narrow for cars, attracts thousands of walkers.
Decide whether each statement about the open cloze is true or false.
  • Only one word may be written in each gap.
  • A contraction such as ‘hasn’t’ is accepted because it is written as one word.
  • Most answers are grammar words rather than topic vocabulary.
3 to go

7Complete with one word after a ‘no sooner’ clause.

No sooner had the doors openedthe hall was full.
___ well you prepare, some interview questions will still surprise you.

9Complete with one word meaning ‘not before’.

The museum is closed for repairs and will not reopenMarch.

10A gap comes directly before the word ‘been’. Explain how you decide what to write.

Keep going

30 more questions on this page

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Frequently asked questions

Can a gap in the open cloze be a vocabulary word?

Occasionally, but it will be part of a fixed phrase such as ‘by means of’ or ‘on the whole’. Pure topic vocabulary is tested elsewhere, so if your answer is a rare noun you are probably wrong.

Are both spellings accepted if a word has two forms?

Standard British and American spellings are both accepted, so ‘whilst’ and ‘while’ or ‘organise’ and ‘organize’ cause no problem. The spelling still has to be correct.

How many marks is Part 2 worth?

One mark per gap, the same as Part 1. It is quick once you know the patterns, so it is a good place to bank marks and save time for the longer reading texts.

Can two different words be right for the same gap?

Sometimes, and the mark scheme allows for it. If your word fits the grammar and the meaning exactly, do not change it just because a friend wrote something else.

Which structures are worth revising first?

Relative clauses, perfect auxiliaries, correlative pairs such as not only ... but also, and the ten or so prepositions that fixed phrases keep reusing. Those four groups cover most gaps.

Should I write in capitals?

On paper, write clearly in whichever form the answer sheet asks for and keep capitals consistent. An answer that the examiner cannot read is treated as wrong, so legibility matters as much as accuracy.