What it tests
Grammar and vocabulary in a single sentence: tenses, relative words, conjunctions, comparisons, prepositions, articles and word choice.
In the exam: part III, 11 tasks.
Step by step
- Read the whole sentence and find the gap's job: is it a verb, a linking word, a pronoun, a preposition?
- Look at the four options together — what differs between them tells you the grammar point.
- Find the signal words (time expressions, if, wish, although, a noun before the gap…).
- Eliminate options that break the grammar first, then choose by meaning.
- Put your answer in and read the full sentence once more.
Watch out for
- Two options that both seem possible — usually one breaks a rule elsewhere in the sentence.
- Choosing by what “sounds familiar” instead of checking the structure.
- Forgetting agreement: he has / they have, each … is.
Example
The portion of a mountain ____ trees cannot grow is called the tree line. a) there b) that c) so d) where
d) where — the gap begins a relative clause about a place (a portion of a mountain), and “trees cannot grow” already has a subject, so we need where.