FILL IN THE BLANKS-Tips & Tricks by Ajay Sharma
Accent Coaching Institute Hisar
Contact No. : 9671639776, 95410-79129
Ajay Sharma Sir is a well-known name among young students who is One of the youngest and Best Faculty of English in Hisar (Haryana) For All type of competitive Exams. He is known for his Amazing Teaching Techniques so students & he also call himself
“An Amazing Angreji Adhyapak At Accent Hisar”
His Teaching Techniques are Fabulous(…Has been awarded for Best Teacher Award on 5 Sept. 2016)………
He teaches students using his Amazing Techniques based on left brain……which…
Improves your memory
Enhances your imagination
Retrieves important information
Sensory stimulation
Every Competitive exam contains questions of Fill in the blanks/Vocabulary Usage. To solve these types of questions, one should have a good vocabulary and also should understand the context. In this article, I will give some helpful tips to solve these types of questions.
How to Solve ???? ‘Fill in the Blank’ Questions
STEP 1: Read the statement carefully and first, try to fill the missing word without looking at the options
STEP 2: Choose the word from the options that best replaces the word that you had thought of initially
STEP 3: Read the sentence again by replacing the blank with the option that you have chosen
NOTE: You must ensure that the word you have inserted in the blank, enables you to read the sentence smoothly and correctly
STEP 4: Read the sentence one last time to ensure that there are no grammatical errors in the sentence. Also check whether the sentence actually makes sense or not, once you have placed the option you think is correct in place of the blank.
Type of Questions that you will encounter:
Type 1(a): Single Blanks In this type, you have to fill in one word that has been left.These questions test the knowledge of grammar where you just have to fill in the preposition.
Example: We met ………the park.
A.in B.at
C.on D.to
Here, the correct answer is B i.e at.
Type 1(b): Single blanks but vocabulary is checked here.
Example:
The villagers ___ the death of their leader by keeping all the shops closed.
A. announced
B. protested
C. mourned
D. consoled
Here, the correct answer is C i.e mourned. Which word would fit in here? Now according to the question, shops were closed by villagers on the death of their leader which shows their feeling of sadness. Now turn to the choices, looking forward to the words. It can’t be words like announced and protested. So, the appropriate answer would be mourned that means to show great sadness.
Type 2: Double Blanks This type is a bit hard, as two words need to be filled simultaneously.
Example:
You ……….. have thanked him for his …………. help.
A.must………negligible
B.would…….needful
C.should……timely
D.better…….immense
E.often………great
Here,the correct answer is C, i.e should and timely. The options must,would, should, better, often all are modal verbs and-and can be a possibility. But keeping in mind the second blank,we will select the option accordingly. Now, understanding the context of the question, the word ‘thanked’ clearly indicates which word should come in the second blank. Negligible cannot be a possibility so we will kick it out. Now, Option E cannot be considered, as its first option. Similarly, the option D and B cannot be considered. So, the left out option is C.
Type 3: Paragraph Completion/Cloze test In this type, a paragraph is given with several missing words. Here, you just need to keep the entire paragraph in mind while filling each blank.
TIPS FOR CLOZE TEST
Points to Remember:
1. Questions on ‘fill in the blank’ are frequently asked in all banking exams. To be able to solve such questions correctly, you must have a very good vocabulary.
2. It is very important that you read the sentence in the question very carefully. In most of the cases, clues about the type of information needed to fill the gap — a person’s name, a date or a fact — can be derived from a good understanding of the meaning of the sentence itself.
3. You should keep a close watch at grammar clues, for instance, if the article, “an” comes before the blank, then it implies that the answer must begin with a vowel. Such grammatical clues can be of great help in deciding the answers.
4. You must recognise the logical structure of a sentence and pay attention to what the question requires.
5. It is necessary that you understand the context of the sentence. While closely reading the sentence and the options given in the question, you must try to determine the tone of the missing word — whether the required word is positive or negative in the meaning it implies
6. In certain fill in the blank questions, you are required to fill more than one blank. In such cases, you should use the method of elimination by simultaneously checking which of the options best satisfies both the entries.
7. In certain questions, your knowledge and understanding of common idioms and phrases in the English Language may be tested. Hence, be sure to have a good skill set of such phrases.
8. Ensure that the meaning of the sentence is intact. Once you have placed the likely option, do check that the sentence gives out a plausible meaning.
9. In case you are confused between two or more options, you can also apply the hit & trial method – one by one place each of the likely options in place of the missing word in the sentence. The option which credits maximum meaning to the sentence should be the correct answer.
10. Do not spend a lot of time on one question. If you are unable to spot the correct answer, despite repeated efforts, leave the question and move forward.
I hope these tips will help you to solve “Fill In The Blanks” Questions……… Ajay Sharma