Summary completion and sentence completion are the tasks where candidates know the answer and still lose the mark. The usual causes are the word limit, a changed word form and a spelling that was not copied from the passage. This page trains the mechanics of the gap — part of speech, grammar, word count — and gives you forty original items.
One word, two words, three words: the limit changes from task to task. Write the figure at the top of the set and check every answer against it.
Read it before you fill anything in. The sense of the paragraph rules out half the possible answers on its own.
Noun, verb, adjective or number. If an article or a plural verb sits beside the gap, the grammar is already telling you what shape the answer takes.
Locate where the summary starts in the passage using a name or an unusual noun, then work through in order.
The answer must come from the passage exactly as printed, including its ending. Changing 'polluted' to 'pollution' turns a right answer into a wrong one.
Hyphenated items normally count as one word and a number written in figures counts as one. If your answer needs three words and the limit is two, it is the wrong answer.
With a box of options, the extra words are distractors from the same part of the passage. Cross each one off as you use it.
Read the completed sentence aloud in your head. If it does not work grammatically, the answer is wrong, however well it fits the meaning.
Copy several answers at once and check the numbers as you go, rather than jumping back and forth between paper and answer sheet.
Not thisWriting 'the local council' when the limit is two words.
ThisWriting 'local council'.
Articles count towards the limit; an over-length answer is marked wrong even when the meaning is right.
Not thisWriting 'pollution' when the passage says 'polluted'.
ThisWriting 'polluted'.
Completion answers must be copied in the exact form the passage uses; only the word list tasks let you choose a form.
Not thisWriting a singular noun where the sentence has a plural verb.
ThisMatching number: 'the samples were stored'.
Grammar in the printed sentence tells you which form the passage used, and it is a free check.
Not thisWriting 'a new technique' after a printed 'a'.
ThisWriting 'new technique'.
If the article is already on the page, repeating it makes the sentence ungrammatical and the answer wrong.
Not thisInventing a word that fits the meaning but does not appear in the passage.
ThisUsing the passage's own word.
Unless a word list is given, only words from the passage are accepted.
Not thisSpelling an answer as you remember it rather than as it is printed.
ThisCopying letter by letter.
A misspelled answer is marked wrong in Reading even when the examiner can see what you meant.
Not thisSearching the whole passage for every gap.
ThisFinding where the summary begins and then working forward.
Summary answers run in passage order, so the search narrows with each gap you fill.
Not thisLeaving a gap empty because nothing in the passage looked right.
ThisWriting the most plausible word of the right part of speech.
A blank cannot score, and an informed guess sometimes does.
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 the sentence.
3Complete the sentence.
6Complete the sentence.
7Why is it worth writing the word limit at the top of the question set?
One good answer
Because the limit changes between tasks and the commonest way to lose an easy mark is to write a correct answer that is one word too long; having the number in front of you makes the check automatic.
9Complete the sentence.
11Complete the sentence.
13Complete the sentence.
15The sentence reads: 'Researchers collected data from ______ between 1998 and 2004.' What do you predict about the answer?
One good answer
It is a noun, almost certainly plural or a place name, since it follows 'from' and names a source of data; the dates will help me find the right lines quickly.
17Complete the sentence.
19Complete the sentence.
21Complete the sentence.
23Complete the sentence.
24Explain why changing 'analyse' to 'analysis' loses the mark on a sentence completion task.
One good answer
Because the answer has to be copied in the exact form the passage prints; the marker checks the word as written, and a changed word form is treated as a different word.
26Complete the sentence.
29Complete the sentence.
31Complete the sentence.
32Give three checks you run on every completion answer before transferring it.
One good answer
Is it within the word limit, is it spelled exactly as the passage spells it, and does the finished sentence work grammatically with the words already printed around the gap.
34Complete the sentence.
36Complete the sentence.
39Complete the sentence.
40Summarise your working method for summary completion in one sentence.
One good answer
Note the word limit, read the summary through, predict the part of speech for each gap, locate the section of the passage the summary covers, then work forward filling gaps with words copied exactly and checking length, spelling and grammar as you go.
Note
Pick Two Activity is an independent tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, the British Council, IDP, ETS, Duolingo or any other exam board. Exam names are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to describe the exam you are preparing for. Every question on this page is original practice written by us: we do not provide, copy or reproduce official exam papers.
A number written in figures, such as 1998, normally counts as one item, and instructions often say 'and/or a number' to make that explicit. A number written out as words counts as the words it contains.
One. Items such as long-term or twentieth-century are treated as a single word, which is useful when the limit is tight.
Yes. Capitals are accepted in Reading and often make handwriting easier to read, but the spelling still has to be right.
Check the grammar first, then the word limit. One of the two will usually break a rule, and if both survive, choose the one the passage prints closest to the other information in that sentence of the summary.
Nearly always, which is why you should locate the first gap carefully and then work forward. The exception is a summary drawn from a box of words, where the order still helps but the matching is looser.
Work through in order, but do not stall. If a gap resists for more than about forty seconds, leave it, fill the next one, and come back — the later answer will narrow the search.