Theory
- Keep an eye on the grammar hints that are posed by the sentence. Often one or two options can be eliminated by using this trick. Generally, the articles and prepositions around the blank help to eliminate a few options.
- Generally, the words that need to be filled are verbs, adjectives or adverbs. If you know that the blank must contain a verb, then identify the subject in the sentence and figure out whether it is singular or plural. The verb that comes in the blank must match to the singularity or plurality of the subject.
- Understanding the meaning of the sentence is an important aspect of answering FIBs. Generally, one or two of the options have words that are exactly opposite in meaning to the word that should come in the blank. Such options can be eliminated if you understand the meaning of the sentence.
- Recognizing the tone of the sentence is another important point to keep in mind. The words to be filled in the blanks must be of the same tone as that of the sentence. Keep an eye out for the words such as however, but, if etc that change the course of the sentence. In this case, the word that comes in the blank must match to the tone of the part of the sentence that the blank is present in.
Tips
Preparation:
- In order to answer the questions of the fill in the blanks type, try to improve your vocabulary by reading as much as possible from diverse topics. If you don’t understand any word, always look it up in the dictionary immediately.
- Having a good knowledge of idioms and phrases helps in this type of questions. If a question is based on idioms and phrases, there is no shortcut to answering such questions. One has to know the actual meaning of the idiom, as the literal meaning of the words that form the idiom is often significantly different from the actual meaning of the idiom. The best way to learn idioms and phrases is to practice them daily. Make it a point to read 3-5 idioms every day.
Solved Example
Question for Cheatsheet: Fill in the Blanks
Try yourself:Directions: In the following questions, a sentence is given with two blanks. You have to find the pair of words from the given options that fit both the blanks in the given order and make the sentence grammatically and contextually correct.
Congress leaders stress that this manifesto ________ the needs and ________ of the marginalised sections of society.
Explanation
First word of all the options could fit the first blank grammatically as well as contextually, but the second word makes a difference here.
In option A, ‘inspirations’ seems contextually incorrect. In option B, ‘requirements’ is redundant as it means the same as “needs”.
In option C, ‘aspirations’ absolutely fits the context as well grammar. Aspiration is different from ‘need’ in a way that “need“ refers to the necessities of an individual whereas ‘aspiration” is more about luxurious desires of an individual.
Hence option C is correct.
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Question for Cheatsheet: Fill in the Blanks
Try yourself:Directions: In the question given below there are two statements, each statement consists of two blanks. You have to choose the option which provides the correct set of words that fits both the blanks in both the statements appropriately and in the same order making them meaningful and grammatically correct.
I. The Programme ________ is radical because the exercise envisages a serious reimagination of government and governance, and ________ cooperative federalism.
II. The book turned movie boasts of an ingeniously ________ production and ________ the original work, at times even surpassing it.
Explanation
In the first blank, the only options that fit in are option B and D- conceived and conceptualized. However, satire meaning spoof does not make sense in either of the statements as the second blank. Deepens on the other hand is a perfect fit.
Hence, option B is the best fit here.
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Question for Cheatsheet: Fill in the Blanks
Try yourself:Direction: In each of the questions given below, a paragraph is given which has some blanks and those blanks have to be filled with the same word out of five words given below it. You have to choose that same word as your answer and fill up the blanks with that appropriate word.
You should not make any ____________ remark against your colleagues since they are with you through thick and thin. If they also revert with any ____________ comment you may not be able to tolerate it at your end. Therefore, it is in your own best interests that you should refrain from making ____________ comment on anybody.
Explanation
Here we are talking about the fact that we should not make any statement that hurts or belittles anybody. This will not feel good if that same thing happens to you since you will feel very bad for that.
That is why the author is of the opinion that you should not indulge in doing something that will hurt you back.
Among the given words here we can see that docile implies pliable and pliant whereas eccentric means strange and abnormal. Both these words are not correct as per the given context and they should be eliminated. There is only one word that makes sense in this context for all the three given blanks and that is derogatory meaning sarcastic and critical. This will make the given paragraph grammatically and contextually meaningful.
This makes Option C the correct choice among the given options.
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Question for Cheatsheet: Fill in the Blanks
Try yourself:Direction: In the questions given below a sentence is given with two blanks in each. Corresponding to each question two columns are given with three words in each column. Which combination of words from the two columns will perfectly fit into the blanks to make the sentence contextually correct and meaningful?
A patient has the right to know all the rates charged for specific services in a hospital, hospitals should boldly ____________ the cost of procedures in local and English language and patients should pay the fees agreed upon and never ______________ to violence.
Explanation
If we go through the context of the given sentence it is regarding the right of the patients and the way in which they should behave in the hospitals. There should be an agreement between the hospital authorities and the patients and afterwards no party should turn violent.
Among the given words, we can see that from the first column, display can be placed in the first blank whereas from the second column, the correct word that can be placed in the second blank is resort. So, B-D is a correct combination of the two words to be placed in the blanks. There is no other combination of words that will make the given sentence grammatically and contextually correct.
This makes Option C the correct choice among the given options.
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Question for Cheatsheet: Fill in the Blanks
Try yourself:Direction: Each question below has one blank, which is indicating that something has been omitted. Find out which option can be used to fill up the blank in the sentence in the same sequence to make it meaningfully complete.
There has been _____________ interest among retail investors in ETF, thanks to the underperformance of the actively-managed large-cap equity funds.
Explanation
According to the context of the sentence we are saying that the large cap funds have not been able to perform properly in the recent times and that is why the retail investors must have been interested in the ETF segment. Obviously the retail participation must have seen an increase as per the second part of the given sentence. Therefore among the given words we can use increased to fill the blank in the sentence to make it meaningful and correct. Other words fail to imply the intended meaning and that is why they are eliminated.
This makes Option B the correct choice among the given options.
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