Read the whole text first and skip the gaps; if there is a little word, find what it points back to and which way it turns; if not, follow the meaning and the argument; check the extra option last.
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Gap-Fill: Arguments
Methods in this video
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- 1
Follow the argument
When to use it: The gap has no small word and the sentences around it are the writer arguing a point (a view and its reasons).
- First work out which side the writer is on.
- With no small word, follow the argument: view, reason, result.
- The gap holds the missing step of the argument.
- 2
It can point to a whole idea
When to use it: An option has such, these or this plus a noun, but the sentence before the gap does not use the same word.
- The noun after such or these often sums up a whole sentence before it.
- If the meaning fits, it works; the same word does not have to appear.
- 3
Watch the writer's side
When to use it: The sentence left over is on topic, but it does not sound like the writer's view.
- Note which side the writer is on at the top of your scratch paper.
- The sentence left over that is on topic but on the wrong side is the extra.
- Do not go by But or shared words; check which side it takes.
Practise exam-style questions with these methods
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