This is Part 6 of the B1 Reading paper: a short text with 6 gaps and no options to choose from. You write exactly one word in each gap, and the example (0) at the start shows how it works.
Most answers are grammar words: articles, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, pronouns, relative words, linkers and quantifiers. Others complete fixed phrases such as 'in spite of' or 'as long as', so this part checks how well you know the structure of English.
First, decide what kind of word is missing. A singular noun with nothing before it may need 'a' or 'the'; a verb without a subject may need 'it' or 'there'; two clauses with no link may need 'which', 'while' or 'although'.
Every answer is a single word. Contractions such as 'don't' or 'we've' count as two words, so they're never correct, while 'cannot', written as one word, is fine. If only a contraction seems to fit, look at the sentence again.
You only get the mark if the word is spelled correctly, although punctuation slips don't matter. Take extra care with pairs that learners often mix up: 'their' and 'there', 'than' and 'then', 'whose' and 'who's', 'its' and 'it's'.
Some gaps depend on ideas further back or further on. A linker like 'however' or 'therefore' depends on the previous sentence, and a pronoun must match a noun that may be several lines back. Read around the gap, not just beside it.
Many gaps sit inside expressions that never change: 'as soon as', 'in addition to', 'no matter how', 'by no means', 'on behalf of'. When you recognise part of a familiar phrase, the missing word is usually its other half.
Occasionally more than one word fits, and every correct word is accepted. Even so, write just one. In the exam, putting two alternatives in the same gap loses the mark if either of them is wrong.