Tips to solve cloze test quickly

🔺 🔺Tips to solve cloze test quickly🔻🔻
✔A Cloze reading test is an exercise where the candidates are provided with a passage which has certain words missing from it. It follows logically that to ace such an assessment, candidates must have a strong command over English language, along with a flair for grammar and a good vocabulary. More importantly, it is important to understand the flow and context of the passage. While the Cloze Test for IBPS PO is considered by many to be the toughest question type in the paper.

✔A cloze test also known as Fill in the blanks is a Sentence Completion Test where you are given with a passage having some blanks. Actually it’s a combination of fill in the blanks and comprehension. Options are provided for each of the blanks and you have to complete these with words provided in the options.

This test analyses your understanding of the passage, i.e. reading comprehension, at the same time assesses your vocabulary and grammatical skills.

✔The best thing about a cloze test is that, it is a highly scoring part of the English Language section and if you master it, you can easily fetch good marks. Another good part about it is that on an average, one question of cloze passage will take less than 30 seconds to solve, against 1-1.2 minutes for reading comprehension. All you are expected to have is good command over the English language and a flare of grammar, along with good vocabulary. While cloze tests are considered to be toughest by many, we are providing some simple and handy tips and tricks.

Since almost all the exams like IBPS PO, SBI PO, CAT etc. throughout the year, use the cloze test to assess the English proficiency level of their candidates. So if you are appearing for any such exam, you should have a clear sense of how and what to prepare. Following are some tips that you should keep in your mind:

🔹Here is a small example:
Disregarding the news about impending bad weather, I decided to go out without a/an _______and ended up getting wet. I resolved thereafter to always take note of the weather ______.

The correct answers in the above scenario would be ‘an umbrella’ or ‘a raincoat’ for the first blank and ‘report’ or ‘forecast’ for the second.

✔Since many exams now administer the Cloze test to assess the level of English proficiency of their candidates, it is imperative that if you are appearing for such an exam, you have a clear sense of how and what to prepare. Here are some tips that could be of help-

✔Read Slowly –
The first step to solve any cloze test question is to read it slowly and understand what it is about. It will help you to develop an idea about the topic. That is why, read the passage slowly at least twice. It will help you understand the theme of the passage. Once the theme of the text is clear, everything is downhill from there. After doing this, you can choose the best possible word out of the given choices.

✔Read Thoroughly–
Read the passage provided very thoroughly to form an idea about the topic. Read slowly and gain an understanding of the text. Once the theme of the text is somewhat clear, your job becomes easier. You can then go on to think of the appropriate words that suit the situation being described and proceed to filling in the blanks.

Link the Sentences Together- Remember that it is a passage with sentences that are connected to each other. Do not make the mistake of treating each sentence like an individual one and filling in the blanks accordingly. Try to come up with logical connections that link up the sentences together and your job will automatically become easier.

✔Link the Sentences Together-
The second thing you should keep in your mind is that it is not a set of individual statements, but a passage with sentences that are connected to each other. So attempt the questions keeping this in mind, otherwise there will be a very high chance of committing some silly mistakes. There will definitely be some logical connection between the sentences. Just try to understand that connection, your chances of selecting the write option will become high.

Let us take an example.
Greenhouse gases are only ______ of the story when it comes to global warming. Changes to one part of the climate system can cause additional changes to the way the planet absorbs or reflects energy.

A. part
B. Whole
C. Issue
In the above example, we can see from the next sentence that first sentence is talking about only a part of the story. So the correct option should be ‘part’

✔The Type of Word to Fill in– Now look at the blanks carefully and assess the kind of words you have to fill in. Which part of speech would it be? Would it be a noun, a pronoun, a verb, a preposition, a conjunction or an article? For example-

▶A noun– I forgot to carry my ____ to school. I therefore had to share with my friend.
The logical answer here would be a book or tiffin.
▶An article– He ate ____ papaya and threw ___ seeds away.
Articles are usually the easiest to answer. Fill in ‘a’ and ‘an’ where talking about general facts and ‘the’ when using it before something specific. Here, the answer is ‘the’ or ‘his’ in the first case and ‘the’ or ‘its’ in the second.

▶A verb– _____ for half an hour left me breathless. The idea of being breathless connotes something strenuous like ‘exercising’ or ‘running’.

In this way, think of the appropriate word to fill in.
✔Eliminate Options–
Well this is the most crucial point. Often we have seen that candidate comes across a situation where he is unable to find the correct option. In such a scenario, first read all the options carefully. Out of these eliminate the choice that is least likely to be correct. This process is called Process of Elimination (POE).You can try this by fitting each option one by one in the sentence. Then check the consistency of these options not only with respect to the given sentence but also in context of the entire passage. Review the options again. In this way you can easily eliminate 2-3 options. There is always a great chance of spotting an answer by eliminating all the doubtful options.

Example.
My father waved me goodbye and the bus ______. The man sitting next to me was an engineeer and was going to Kannur, to participate in a workshop
A. Going
B. Arrived
C. started
Let us check the options one by one.
‘Going’ does not fit.
‘Arrived’ does not make sense as good bye is never done when someone arrives.
‘Started’ is thus the apt word.
✔Go with Frequently Used Words/ Phrases-
Sometimes it happens that, you are confused and unable to decide as to which of the given options to choose. In such a case, try to see the options again. If you see any word/phrase which is more often used than others, then you may go with that option. It could be a verb, an article, a preposition and so on. If your grammar is strong, it will help you a lot.

Example-
Can I have a ____ word with you?
A. fast
B. quick
C. prompt
All three options are having the nearly same meaning. So which one to decide? In English language, certain words are used more frequently. Like “hardly ever” the words ‘quick’ and ‘word’ are also used together frequently. So answer should be ‘quick’

✔Sometimes in English, some words are used more frequently with some others. Like ‘bad habit’, ‘hardly ever’, ‘happy ending’, ‘take a seat’, ‘make room’ etc. In the same way, the words ‘quick’ and ‘word’ are used together frequently. So ‘quick’ should be your answer in this case.

✔Check Tone –
Understand the Tone of Passage
Try to think like you are the author of that passage. Understand the tone of the passage. Only then, try to answer the questions based on the author’s perspective. Key is to remain neutral and not letting your opinion and prior knowledge of the topic hamper the theme of the passage. Passages are written in particular tone. They could be narrative, critical, humorous etc. Pick the words that fit in with the tone of the entire passage.

Example-
Humpty ____ down the hill, bumping along like a quarter in a tumbling dryer.
A. fell
B. tumbled
C. dropped
We can see that the tone is humorous. So we should choose an option which is humorous. In this both ‘tumbled’ and ‘fell’ are conveying the meaning but “tumble’ is more humorous. So our answer is ‘tumbled’

✔Develop linguistic skills by Reading
This is a general tip. It will help you in all the topics that are asked in the English language section. You can and must read as much as possible. If you read more, you will have a good vocabulary, better knowledge of the nitty gritties of the language. Both of these things will help you a lot in the long run.

✔Build up Your Language Skills– In terms of the general preparation you can do, read, read and read as much as you can. The more you read, the better sense you will have of what word goes where. It will also help build up your vocabulary. Both these things will go a long way in helping you ace the Cloze Test.

✔Practice makes a man perfect
Last but definitely not the least, practice as much as you can. There is no substitute for hard work and practice. Practice at least 4-5 passages every day. Attempt the passage in which your accuracy is less than others. After attempting the questions, devote some time in analysing the questions.

This was all about tips and tricks to solve cloze test. So try the above tips and tricks on the cloze test questions.
BEST OF LUCK!!