TOEIC Part 6 looks like Part 5 with a text wrapped around it, and that difference is the whole task. Several gaps can only be settled by a sentence you have not read yet: a tense fixed by a date in the next line, a linking word that depends on the contrast before it, and one item per text that asks you to insert a complete sentence. This page trains you to read the text, not the gap.
They tell you who is writing to whom and why. A memo announcing a closure and an email chasing a payment take different tenses and different vocabulary at every gap.
Some gaps are pure Part 5: an adverb before an adjective, a preposition in a fixed phrase. Take those in seconds and leave the text-dependent ones for a second pass.
A gapped verb is usually settled by a time expression somewhere else in the paragraph: *beginning Monday*, *last quarter*, *as of the first*. Find it before comparing verb forms.
The connector describes the relationship between two sentences, so one of them is never enough. Ask whether the second adds, contrasts, concludes or gives an alternative.
It is the only item that needs the whole text, and by the time you have answered the other three you have read the whole text anyway.
Most wrong insertions are plausible after the previous line but leave the next one dangling. Reading forward one sentence eliminates them quickly.
If the next sentence begins *They will be replaced*, the inserted sentence must introduce a plural noun. Reference words are the cheapest check available.
One pass with the gaps answered as you meet them, then one short check. Two full readings of four texts is time taken directly from the multi-passage sets.
When two options fit the grammar, choose the one that matches the document's politeness level. A customer email prefers *we would be happy to*, a staff memo *please note*.
Not thisChoosing a tense from the gapped sentence alone.
ThisChoosing it from the time reference elsewhere in the text.
Part 6 puts the evidence in a different sentence deliberately. Treating each gap as a standalone item is the single biggest difference from Part 5.
Not thisUsing *however* where the second sentence adds rather than contrasts.
ThisUsing *in addition* or *also*.
Candidates learn *however* as a general connector. It marks contrast only, and the test punishes the loose use.
Not thisInserting a sentence that fits the line before it but not the line after.
ThisChecking both neighbours.
Every wrong option is designed to fit one side. The correct sentence is the one that leaves neither neighbour stranded.
Not thisReading the whole text four times, once per gap.
ThisOne pass answering as you go, then a short check.
Part 6 is short but there are several texts, and repeated reading is where the minutes for the double passages disappear.
Not thisIgnoring the greeting when choosing register.
ThisMatching the wording to *Dear Ms Petrov* or *To all staff*.
The opening line sets the politeness level, and two grammatically correct options are often separated only by tone.
Not thisChoosing a pronoun without checking what it refers to.
ThisFinding the noun first.
*It* and *they* gaps are decided by a noun one or two sentences earlier, which is exactly where candidates stop looking.
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 a two-word phrase meaning *until that is finished*.
3Complete with the word used for a file sent with an email.
5Complete with one word meaning *starting now*.
8Complete with the noun in a formal closing phrase.
10Complete with one verb in the formula *Please ___ that*.
12Complete with the noun in a standard closing formula.
14Explain why the sentence-insertion item is best left until the other three gaps in the text have been answered.
One good answer
It is the only item that depends on the whole text, and answering the other gaps means you have already read the whole text once. Doing it first forces a second reading you do not have time for.
15Complete with one conjunction introducing a condition.
17Complete with the present form of *be* that agrees with the plural subject.
20Complete with one conjunction used with *between*.
22Complete with the present perfect of *receive*.
24Complete with one preposition before *the day*.
26Complete with the preposition meaning *no later than*.
28A text reads: "The north entrance will be closed for repaving. ______ They will resume normal operation on Monday." Explain what the inserted sentence must contain and why.
One good answer
It must introduce a plural noun that *they* can refer to, such as the doors or the loading bays. The pronoun in the following sentence is the evidence, so the insertion has to supply its antecedent.
29Complete with one preposition after *look forward*.
31Complete with one word meaning *and also covering*.
34Complete with the passive present of *require*.
36Complete with one word introducing an indirect yes/no question.
37Explain in one or two sentences how you decide between *however* and *in addition* at a Part 6 gap.
One good answer
Read the sentence before and the sentence after the gap. If the second contradicts or limits the first, use *however*; if it adds another point of the same kind, use *in addition*.
40A memo dated March 2 reads: "Beginning next Monday, the shuttle ______ every twenty minutes." Explain which tense is needed and where the evidence is.
One good answer
A future form such as *will run* is needed, and the evidence is *beginning next Monday* rather than anything in the gapped clause itself. Part 6 puts the time reference outside the sentence on purpose.
Note
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The evidence can be outside the gapped sentence. Tense, pronouns and connectors are decided by the surrounding text, which is why reading the document matters more than examining the slot.
Four, one of which asks you to insert a whole sentence. Treat the other three as quick items and give the insertion the remaining time.
Workplace documents: emails, memos, notices, letters, advertisements and instructions. Knowing their standard formulas makes several gaps predictable.
Read the opening lines to establish who and why, then read on and answer as you meet each gap. A full advance reading followed by a second pass is usually too slow.
Practise checking the line after the gap rather than the line before. Reference words — they, this change, those dates — are what separate the correct sentence from the near miss.