Sentence completion is the most learnable question type in the paper, and the one most often answered by feel. Candidates read the sentence, sense a general meaning, then choose the option that "sounds right" — which is precisely how distractors are designed to win.
The sentence gives you more help than it appears to. The connective words in it — although, because, moreover — tell you the direction the blank must move, before you have any idea which word belongs there. Read those words first and half the options eliminate themselves.
A blank is a hole with a sign next to it. Your job is to read the sign before choosing the filling.
With two blanks, work on the more constrained one first. Usually one blank sits next to a signal word and the other does not; solving the constrained blank often removes two or three options outright.
The signal words, grouped by what they promise.
| Group | Words | What the blank must do |
|---|---|---|
| Contrast | although, though, even though, however, nevertheless, nonetheless, yet, but, despite, in spite of, whereas, ironically | Move against the other clause — the two halves disagree |
| Cause and effect | because, since, therefore, thus, hence, consequently, as a result, accordingly | Move with the other clause — one half explains the other |
| Addition | and, moreover, furthermore, besides, in addition, similarly, likewise | Continue in the same direction as what came before |
| Example | for instance, for example, such as, namely | Be a specific instance of the general claim |
| Condition | if, unless, provided that, as long as | Hold only under the stated condition |
Watch the near-miss pairs.Because of and in spite of look similar and mean opposite things: one gives a reason, the other gives an obstacle that did not prevent the result. Since can mean either "because" or "from the time that", so check which reading the sentence supports.
Punctuation is a signal too. A colon means "here is the explanation of what I just said". A semicolon joins two grammatically complete, related clauses, usually restating or contrasting. A dash marks an aside that often redefines the word before it.
The charge test. If a sentence describes a failure, a delay or a loss, the blank is negative even if you do not know the options. Strike out every clearly positive option before you compare meanings. This costs nothing and frequently leaves two candidates.
Although the committee's report was ___ , its recommendations were ___: almost none of them could be put into practice.
Find the signals. Although promises contrast: the two halves must disagree. The colon then explains the second half — recommendations that could not be put into practice are impractical, so the second blank is fixed before you look at anything else.
The second blank is negative and tells you the first blank must be positive and opposing. The report was the opposite of impractical in its own right, so the first blank is about being thorough, complete or well researched. Options offering "superficial" or "careless" in the first blank are eliminated by the contrast signal alone, because they would agree with the second half instead of opposing it.
The answer's shape, then, is: thorough and impractical. Notice that you reached it without needing to know that "impractical" is the more precise of several negative options — the although plus the colon did most of the work.
The medicine was effective, ___ its side effects made it unsuitable for long-term use.
Although the theory is ___ , it has never been ___ by experiment.
The road was flooded; consequently, the convoy was ___ to a longer route.
Without looking back: what does although promise about a sentence, and how should you use a colon when you meet one?
The answer is: although promises contrast, so the two halves must disagree in direction. A colon introduces the explanation or definition of what came immediately before it.
Fill in the blanks from memory:
The word signals contrast, while signals a cause. A introduces the explanation of the clause before it.
Two blanks, and one of them is far more constrained than the other. Decide the direction of each before thinking about any vocabulary: The proposal was widely ___ at first, but as its costs became clear, support began to ___ .
Find the signals. But signals contrast between the two halves, and as its costs became clear tells you the second half describes something getting worse. So the second blank must be negative and must describe a decrease: support declined, faded, eroded.
Now the first blank. Because the second half tells you support fell, the first half must tell you it was high to begin with. The first blank must therefore be positive and about being received — welcomed, applauded, supported. The word widely before the blank also rules out options that are about intensity rather than breadth.
The order matters. If you started with the first blank you would have had four plausible positive words and no way to choose. Solving the second blank first turns the first into a one-option decision, which is the whole technique: find the blank the sentence has already decided for you.
Sentence completion works below the level of the sentence, using the connectives inside it. The next lesson rises to the whole paragraph, where the missing unit is a sentence and the signals are the writer's structure rather than a single word.