TRUCOS Y CONSEJOSMissing Paragraphs

  • 6 gaps
  • 7 options, 1 extra
  • 2 marks each
  • About 12 minutes

This is Part 6 of Reading and Use of English: six sentences have been removed from a text, and you put each one back in the right gap. There are seven options, so one is extra and fits nowhere.

It tests how well you understand the structure of a text: how the story or argument develops, and how each part links to its neighbours through reference words, linking words and topic.

Read the main text first

Before looking at the options, read the main text from start to finish. You need its overall line, the order of events or the steps of the argument, because a gap is sometimes explained by a whole paragraph rather than a single sentence.

Link in both directions

Look at the end of the text before the gap and the start of the text after it. The missing part has to connect both ways: it picks up the idea that closes the previous section and leads into the one that follows.

Chase every reference word

Mark names, places and reference words such as 'this', 'these', 'such', 'the latter', 'he', 'there' or 'at that time'. A 'this' at the start of an option needs a clear partner just before the gap; without one, it doesn't belong there.

Track linkers and time

Notice linkers and time expressions in the options and in the text: 'however', 'even so', 'as a result', 'later', 'by then', 'eventually'. They show whether a part contrasts, continues or moves things on, and they must fit the order of events.

Summarise to see the flow

Each paragraph usually develops one main point. Sum up each one in a few words, then see which missing part bridges the gap between two of them. Repeated vocabulary and synonyms of key words are strong signs you're right.

Watch the spare option

The extra option shares the topic and often the vocabulary of the text, so it always looks possible. If an option seems to fit two gaps, or a gap seems to take two options, test the reference and grammar links again before deciding.

Strategy

  1. 1Read the main text from start to finish to understand its structure and main line.
  2. 2Read all the options and note what each one is about, plus any names, reference words or linkers.
  3. 3For each gap, study the lines just before and after it and predict what the missing part must do.
  4. 4Fill the clearest gaps first, where the reference links are strongest.
  5. 5Check every choice in both directions: it must follow on from the text before and lead into the text after.
  6. 6Return to the harder gaps with fewer options left, and test each remaining one.
  7. 7Read the finished text right through to check it flows, and confirm why the extra option fits nowhere.
Practica Missing Paragraphs70 exámenes para practicar. El primero es gratis.