This test item is better known as a ‘Fill in the Blank’ exercise. A test-taker has to choose words from the right side of the page to ‘fill in’ the blank areas in a sentence. Usually, this exercise is presented in the form of a paragraph with several sentences that have blanks. There may be up to 5 blanks to fill in and you may have to do up to 6 of these exercises in the time allotted– it depends on when the algorithm or grading engine is ‘satisfied’.

Praxis: Click your cursor on the word you have chosen to fill in the gap in a sentence from the right side of the computer page.

Time: 7:00 or 8 minutes.

TIPS:

Read the entire passage first then read an individual sentence and from the ‘context’ – the topic and your background knowledge (schemata), make an educated guess as to which word is correct to complete the sentence.

You can fill in the words in in the paragraph in any order (i.e., fill in the 4^th blank if it is the most obvious for you, then do the 2^nd blank – the order you fill in the blanks does not matter, but to finish as many paragraphs as the exam offers (3 – 6 paragraphs in 7-8 minutes).

For example:

7 or 8 minutes

6:44

Quit Test

 

PassageNot all of the Hawaiian Islands are popular tourist spots. In fact, one of them is (1)_____________ and (2) ________ to tourists. That is the island of Kahoolawe, the smallest of the Hawaiian Islands. Many years ago, this island was covered with vegetation: today it is (3)_______ and (4)___________. Nevertheless, businessmen flock to the area seeking ways to (5) _____ this island.

Select the best option for each missing word  1. Drop-down choices   2. Drop-down choices   3. Drop-down choices   4. Drop-down choices   5 Drop-down choices

 

 

Next

 

You must know: Vocabulary, Paraphrase, and Paragraphing with Support sentences and examples/ detail.

Essentially, this task asks the test-taker to fill in the blanks in a paragraph with a word from a drop-down menu to the far right of the page. There are several things to be wary of when working on this task.

Procedure

1. ALWAYS READ TO THE END OF THE CLAUSE OR SENTENCE; NEVER STOP AT THE BLANK AND CHOOSE! You need the full context of the sentence to answer correctly, but many people incorrectly stop at the blank and choose.
2. Check: after you choose a word, read the sentence to see if it is grammatically correct – some words are decoys that ‘sound’ okay but are not the correct ‘form’ of a word.
3. Know your parts of speech (i.e. do not place a noun in front of another noun when an adjective is needed. This is sometimes the easiest way to place a word because only one of the choices is ‘an adjective’ let’s say! Try to recognize the part of speech of each word offered.
4. Know your syntax (i.e. statements usually run Subject + Verb + Object).

‘Me go home’ is not correct in terms of syntax because an object pronoun (Me) is used after the verb not before it as a Subject. ‘Mark, give me the book.’ This is common sense, but pronouns sometimes get confused.

5. Choose the correct word to fill in the blank.
6. Paragraphing (i.e., the paragraph given will have a topic sentence, so try to recognize it. This can help choose the correct word by context)

For example: *This is a similar exercise below but without the dropdown boxes to the right.

Click on the appropriate number to the right of the page to access the drop-down list of choices. Select the appropriate answer choice for each blank.

 

Researchers have engineered a low-cost plastic material that could become the basis for clothing that cools the wearer, reducing the need for _________1. energy-consuming / energy-engrossing / energy-absorbing / energy-devouring air conditioning. Describing their work in Science, the researchers suggest that this new family of fabrics could become the basis for 2. costumes/garments/outfits/attires __________that keep people cool in hot climates without air conditioning. “If you can cool the person rather than the building where they work or live, that will save energy,” said Yu Xiao, an associate professor at Stanford. This new material works by allowing the body to 3. remove / discharge / dismiss / eject _________ heat in two ways that would make the wearer feel nearly 4 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than if they wore cotton clothing. The material cools by letting perspiration 4. _____ evaporate/vaporize/volatilize/condense through the material, something ordinary fabrics already do. But the Stanford material provides a second, revolutionary cooling mechanism: allowing heat that the body emits as infrared radiation to pass through the plastic textile.

 

Abate, T. (2016, September 1). Engineers develop a plastic clothing material that cools the skin. Retrieved January 21, 2023, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160901151933.htm

 

In the example above, the background schemata refer to engineering, perhaps chemical engineering, and there is an explicit reference to ‘Science’ magazine (real world) Notice, too, that all the options at 1. have ‘ing’ or present participle/gerund endings. Here energy-engrossing and energy-devouring can be eliminated immediately because the former does not answer the context (reducing); rather, it means ‘to get your attention’, and the latter is an opinion as a personification (to give human qualities to an inanimate object). The final two, energy-absorbing and energy-consuming, are close in meaning, but by way of collocation, energy-absorbing becomes the correct answer (words that are used more frequently in a particular order than others with similar meanings). Of course, test-takers are well read to notice collocations.

At 2., three of the four choices have a specific purpose (attire, costumes, outfits) where only ‘garments’ remains neutral to fit the context of a ‘new family of fabrics’.

Only one word can fit the blank precisely.

At 3., eject and dismiss are immediately eliminated as the body does not eject; unless it is a crude reduction referring to a type of sickness or as another personification, nor dismiss because the body does not order itself to do anything! Therefore, the better choice between remove and discharge is ‘discharge’ because this the scientific term commonly used to describe the process of transferring heat into the atmosphere, whereas ‘remove’ contains the context of ‘lifting’ something and then removing it.

Scientific words over a slightly more inappropriate word

At 4., perspiration is closer to water than a chemical that ‘vaporizes’ or ‘volatilize’(s) at room temperature. Thus, both words can be eliminated on the basis of context – yes, perspiration can be argued to be a chemical reaction and react, in certain circumstances, not unlike a vapor or volatilize, but you have to use common sense as well. We have all sweat/perspire and the cooling feeling we feel on our skin is not of a hastened chemical reaction. On the contrary, this is why condense is eliminated because we feel warmer when perspiration is ‘wet’ on our skin. The correct response is ‘evaporate’ as it is akin to the water cycle.

Common sense

NOTE: With Complete the Sentences, there are 2 areas of inquiry that are part of the machinations you must go through to get the correct answer:

 

1. The precise meanings of the words

 

2. The context that the words are used in

 

Note*: Read through the entire passage before attempting to fill in the blanks.