By practicing these techniques, you can turn a challenging cloze passage into an easy exercise in logical analysis.
Authors often repeat ideas using different words.
Never fill in blanks during your first reading. Read the entire passage from start to finish without stopping. This pass helps you identify the topic, the author’s tone, and the chronological timeline of the text. Missing this step leads to choosing words that make sense for a single sentence but contradict the entire paragraph. 2. Clue Hunting (Before and After)
The clue is “prove he was correct.” The word needed means to show something is true. Answer: test or validate (or simply prove itself, but be careful of repetition). conquer comprehension cloze techniques pdf
Look for used earlier in the paragraph to describe the same situation. 3. Fit and Fill (Grammar Check)
Never fill in the blanks on your first read. Read the entire passage from start to finish without stopping.
This relies on a common phrasal verb collocation. To "pick up" means to acquire a skill or habit casually. By practicing these techniques, you can turn a
If the word after the blank is a noun starting with a vowel, you might need "an." 4. Logic and Connectors Pay close attention to transition words.
Read two to three sentences after the blank. Often, the author will explain or rephrase the missing concept later in the paragraph. 3. Part-of-Speech (POS) Identification
Strategies for Taking Cloze Reading Tests - Gallaudet University Read the entire passage from start to finish
English is full of "word partnerships"—words that naturally go together. If you see one word, the blank often requires its partner.
Is the passage written in the past, present, or future tense? This dictates your verb forms.
You can find detailed strategy guides and practice sheets in PDF format from sources like Scribd or educational resource sites. Let me know so I can tailor the advice!
The passage's grammar provides a solid framework for your answers. Examining the sentence structure will tell you exactly what part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) is required for the blank. This is the first and most important clue. Questions to ask: