What it tests
Sentence logic and grammar across the join: tense, subject–verb link, linking words and meaning.
In the exam: part XIII, 4 tasks.
Step by step
- Read each beginning and predict how it could continue.
- Look at the last word of the beginning: a comma, but, because, a preposition — each needs a certain kind of ending.
- Check grammar across the join: tense, subject, pronouns.
- Check the meaning of the full sentence.
- Leave the extra ending unused.
Watch out for
- An ending that is grammatically possible but illogical.
- Pronouns that don't match (he after a plural subject).
- Endings that repeat the beginning's information.
Example
The writer Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Japan, … — 1) after they finish high school. 2) but his family emigrated to Britain when he was five.
2) — but contrasts Japan with Britain, and his refers to the writer.