IELTS Reading Sentence Completion: tips and strategy

Fill gaps with words from the passage.

Reading

IELTS Reading sentence completion asks you to fill a gap in a sentence using words copied from the passage, within a strict word limit. It tests whether you can match a paraphrased sentence to the exact place in the text and lift the right words without changing them. Marks are usually lost to answers that are correct in meaning but too long, misspelt or in a different form.

What you see on screen

Type words from the passage into gapped sentences, respecting a limit like NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS. The gap sentences paraphrase the original text.

How it is marked

One mark per gap, and spelling must be exact to score. Exceeding the word limit voids even a correct answer.

How long to spend

Aim for about one minute per gap and keep the whole passage to roughly 20 minutes. Because these questions generally follow the order of the passage, an answer you cannot find is probably between the previous and next answers; if a quick check of that stretch fails, leave it and return at the end.

Strategy

Note the word limit and count what you type, including small words like 'a' or 'the'.
Predict the gap's grammar, noun, verb, or number, before searching; it narrows what fits.
Gap sentences paraphrase the passage, so search by meaning rather than exact wording.
Copy the passage's exact spelling; changing word form or adding plurals costs the mark.

Traps that cost marks

Copying more words than allowed scores zero even when the key answer word is included.
Writing a synonym from memory instead of the precise word the passage uses.

Worked example

Before automatic lamps were installed, keepers at the Carrick Point lighthouse recorded every shift in a leather-bound logbook. Entries were brief: the weather, the state of the lamp and any vessels sighted. Historians value these books less for dramatic rescues, which were rare, than for their steady record of fog. Because keepers had to sound a warning horn whenever visibility fell, they noted the start and end of each foggy spell to the minute. Researchers now compare these hand-written records with modern satellite data to see whether coastal fog has become less frequent.

Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. 1 Historians find the logbooks useful mainly because they give a regular record of .......... 2 Keepers had to use a .......... when it became difficult to see. 3 Today, researchers check the logbook entries against ..........

Answer: 1 fog, 2 warning horn, 3 satellite data

For gap 1 the tempting answer is 'dramatic rescues', which sits in the same sentence, but the passage says historians value the books less for rescues than for their record of fog. Gap 2 paraphrases 'whenever visibility fell', and 'warning horn' fits the article 'a'. For gap 3, 'modern satellite data' is three words and breaks the limit, so it would be marked wrong even though it contains the answer.

An original example written for this guide, not taken from a published test.

Questions candidates ask

Does spelling count in IELTS Reading?: Yes. In any task where you type words from the passage, the answer must be spelled correctly to earn the mark. Because the words are in front of you, copy them letter by letter rather than from memory. British and American spellings are both accepted, but a spelling that is simply wrong, or a singular written as a plural, is marked incorrect.
Can I write IELTS Reading answers in capital letters?: Yes. Answers are not marked down for being in upper case, lower case or a mix of the two, so 'Fog', 'fog' and 'FOG' are treated the same. On the computer-delivered test you type your answers, so there is no need to use capitals for clarity. Spend the checking time on spelling and word count instead, as those are what cost marks.
Do sentence completion answers have to be grammatically correct?: Yes. The completed sentence should read correctly, and the answer words must appear in the passage in the same form. If the gap follows 'a', a plural noun is unlikely to fit; if it follows 'to', a base verb is likely. If the grammar of your answer does not fit the sentence, you have probably found the wrong part of the passage or copied the wrong word.

Now try it under exam conditions.

Practise Sentence Completion questions

Strategy

Note the word limit and count what you type, including small words like 'a' or 'the'.

Predict the gap's grammar, noun, verb, or number, before searching; it narrows what fits.

Gap sentences paraphrase the passage, so search by meaning rather than exact wording.

Copy the passage's exact spelling; changing word form or adding plurals costs the mark.

Worked example

Answer: 1 fog, 2 warning horn, 3 satellite data

An original example written for this guide, not taken from a published test.

Questions candidates ask

Does spelling count in IELTS Reading?

Yes. In any task where you type words from the passage, the answer must be spelled correctly to earn the mark. Because the words are in front of you, copy them letter by letter rather than from memory. British and American spellings are both accepted, but a spelling that is simply wrong, or a singular written as a plural, is marked incorrect.

Can I write IELTS Reading answers in capital letters?

Yes. Answers are not marked down for being in upper case, lower case or a mix of the two, so 'Fog', 'fog' and 'FOG' are treated the same. On the computer-delivered test you type your answers, so there is no need to use capitals for clarity. Spend the checking time on spelling and word count instead, as those are what cost marks.

Do sentence completion answers have to be grammatically correct?

Yes. The completed sentence should read correctly, and the answer words must appear in the passage in the same form. If the gap follows 'a', a plural noun is unlikely to fit; if it follows 'to', a base verb is likely. If the grammar of your answer does not fit the sentence, you have probably found the wrong part of the passage or copied the wrong word.