e· ExamHubENGLISH WORKBOOK TRAINER
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SECTION 02 · Gaps in a connected text

Cloze test

Choose a separate exercise.

40 exercises
Exercise 4Book 3 · Section 2 · 4 / 40
Before you practise

Rules, examples, common traps and a checklist for this section.

Study this section
How to solve: Cloze testA connected text with numbered gaps; choose a, b, c or d for each gap.

What it tests

Grammar in context: tenses and their sequence, modal verbs, linking words, verb patterns and fixed phrases.

In the exam: part II, 17 tasks.

Step by step

  1. Read the whole paragraph first — the time frame (past, present, future) is often set by the sentences around the gap.
  2. Look at what comes right before and after the gap: a subject, an auxiliary, a preposition, “to”…
  3. Decide what kind of word fits (verb form, linking word, preposition) before looking at the options.
  4. Check time signals: ago, since, by the time, already, while, tomorrow.
  5. Read the sentence again with your answer — it must sound complete and logical.

Watch out for

  • Choosing a tense from the sentence alone when the paragraph is clearly in the past.
  • Mixing up similar forms: had done / has done / did, to do / doing.
  • Linking words with opposite meaning: because / although, so / but.

Example

By the time we arrived, the film (1)____. a) has started b) had started c) starts d) was starting

b) had started — “by the time we arrived” marks a past moment; the film started before it, so we need the past perfect.

Exercise 4
EXERCISE TEXT

Young Canadian writers often 1 to the famous humorist S. Leacock to ask him to tell them the secret of his success, so that they 2 become famous, too. Most of these young people had little or no talent, but all of them had high hopes. In answer to their question, Leacock 3 tell them: “It isn't at all difficult to write funny stories. All you need is a pen and paper; you sit down and write whatever comes into your head.” And when the future author 4 with him, he continued, “Yes, it isn't difficult to write. The only difficulty is to make something come into your head.”

Gap 1
Gap 2
Gap 3
Gap 4