Reading for the ELTS: Sentence completion

 

Reading for the ELTS: Sentence completion

There are some IELTS reading questions that need you to complete the missing sentences. Filling in those blanks with words directly from the reading text is recommended. Additionally, you have a word limit, for instance: "Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORDS ..." 

The question paper for this kind of questions, known as sentence completion questions, might seem as follows:

Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 28–30 on your answer sheet.

14. Scientists now believe that the shapes of atoms are similar to microscopic ................................. .

Useful information about sentence completion questions:

• You should complete statements that paraphrase sentences from the text.
• You're given a word limit.
• Questions follow the order of the text.

So you are given sentences, which you have to complete. Those sentences are not exactly taken from the text: they are paraphrased. But they keep the initial meaning.

Key words from questions may be your pointers: they'll help you to find the passage that contains the answer. But to find the answer, you should understand the meaning of the question and find the sentence with the same meaning in the text. So you should look for meaning, not separate words.

Note that if you are asked to complete sentence with no more than two words, you can write one or two words.

To understand the theory better, see an an example now.

Answering strategy:

1. Read the text.
2. Use key words to find the needed paragraph.
3. Make sure you understand the question statement and search for sentence with similar meaning.
4. Once you've found the answer, check if it fits into the statement grammatically and doesn't exceed the word limit.
5. Repeat this strategy with other questions.

If you prefer, you can read the text by passages.

Tips:

• Make sure that your answer doesn't exceed the word limit.
• Make sure that your answer fits into the sentence grammatically.
• The order of questions can help you. Answer for question 4 will be between answers for questions 3 and 5 in the text.
• If text introduces new terms, some answers are likely to be among them.