Tips to Solve Cloze Test with Practice Questions | English for CLAT

In the reading comprehension section of entrance exams, there are various kinds of questions asked. Out of which, one of them being the ‘most suited’ word or phrase in the blank given in the passage i.e. the Cloze Test.

What is Cloze Test?

A Cloze test is an exercise where the candidate is provided with a paragraph. The paragraph has missing words or blanks which have to be filled.

• Sometimes the blanks will have a word in the brackets accompanying them. And the candidate will be asked to pick a word meaning similar to the word in the brackets. 
• Here we will see all types of Cloze test questions. Not to mention, the Cloze test is a very important section. And so questions are duly expected from it in the examination.

Types of Cloze Test Questions

• Questions of Long passages with missing words: The first type of questions are long passages with missing words. You have to complete the passage with the help of words that will be present at the end. Moreover, each blank in the passage is marked with a number or a symbol or an alphabet. Following the passage, the options corresponding to the number or symbol will be present.
• Questions with blank in the passage accompanied by a word in brackets: On the other hand, in the second type of question, each blank in the passage is accompanied by a word in brackets. You have to find out if the word needs to be replaced or not with the given options. Besides only one of the options replaces the blank appropriately. Otherwise, the blank will ‘require no change’. So, you have to choose the option that will fit in the blank. In case, there is no correction, then mark option(e) as your answer.

Tips and Tricks to Solve the Cloze Test

To ensure that a candidate does not lose marks in the cloze test passage, given below are a few tips to solve the test-based questions:

• Overview of the Passage: Take a quick glance at the passage to know what the topic deals with as this will help you apprehend which of the given options most suitably fits in the blank.
• Look for Contextually Correct Options: The options provided under the cloze test may seem to be similar in meaning, which makes selecting the appropriate option even tougher. Thus, look for an option that aptly fits with the context of the passage.
• Eliminate Options in case confused: If you are unable to reach an answer, try eliminating the options which seem to be incorrect. This will lessen your options and may help you to arrive at the correct answer easily.
• Link the Sentences while answering: The cloze test is a passage based on a particular topic. So, if you are unable to find the answer, try linking the sentences with each other to simplify the context of the passage.
• Understand the tone of the passage: Once a candidate understands the tone of the passage, selecting the appropriate option becomes easier.

Approach to Solve Cloze Test Questions

You must keep in mind the five key approaches given below while solving any Cloze Test:

• Read the passage: Go through the passage once and highlight the keywords to get an idea of the topic.
• Analyze the theme of the passage: Once you highlight the keywords, it becomes easier to understand the theme of the paragraph.
• Be mindful of the supporting/contradicting connectors: Connectors play a key role in choosing the correct word. Supporting connectors indicate that the context of the two statements or clauses is similar, it helps you to select a word that brings out the desired meaning. Contradicting connectors show that the context of the two statements or clauses is of opposite or contrasting nature and the word chosen as the answer should correspond with the same.

Supporting connectors: and, like, likewise, similarly
Contradicting connectors: but, however, unlike, although, though

• Eliminate Options: Once you have analyzed the context of the entire paragraph and the connectors of the specific question, eliminate the options which do not abide by them.
• Choose the correct contextual meaning: A word may have multiple meanings; hence it is important to understand the contextual usage of the word.
  E.g.: Let’s take the word ‘cell’. The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of life. The cell is the basic unit of a battery. The cell is used to refer to cell phones. The cell is also used to refer to a prison. A container is also called a cell.

Points to Remember

• Always make it a point that the word/phrase you are choosing is on the line of the respective sentence and the passage as a whole.
• Try to assess what kind of a word is required to fill the blank i.e. an adjective or a noun or a verb. This would make negating the options and choosing the right option easier.
• Make sure that the tense of such phrase and word is appropriate.
• If you think that there are two correct answers, choose the one that is more in the context of the passage.
• Read the sentence with the chosen phrase/ word to see if sounds correct.
• Vocabulary cannot be built in a day.

Examples of Cloze Test

Now, let us see a few examples of cloze test questions.

Example 1:
Directions: Read the following text and complete it using the words given in the options.
I do remember it. And I’m grateful. But I can’t help feeling that a woman capable of taking other people’s lives and juggling with them as if they were rubber balls, as she did with ours, is likely at any moment to break out in a new place. So, my gratitude to her is the sort of (1) ______ [hat tip] you would feel toward a cyclone if you were walking home late for dinner and it caught you up and deposited you on your doorstep. Moreover, your Aunt Lora is a human (2) _____[storm]. No, on the whole, she’s more like an earthquake. As she has a habit of splitting up and altering the face of the world whenever she feels like it, and I’m too well satisfied with my world at present to (3) _____[enjoy] the idea of having it changed.”
Little by little the garrison of the studio had been (4) _______ [small slice] down. Except for Steve, the community had no regular members outside the family itself. As Hank was generally out of town. And Bailey paid one more visit, then seemed to consider that he could now absent himself altogether. And the members of Kirk’s bachelor circle stayed away to a man.
Q.1.
(a) Tippy
(b) Gratitude
(c) Excellence.
(d) Battle.
Ans: (b) Gratitude 

Q.2.
(a) Cyclone
(b) giant
(c) Chin
(d) Hunter
Ans: (a) Cyclone 

Q.3.
(a) Good
(b) relish
(c) delicious
(d) Happy
Ans: (b) Relish

Q.4.
(a) slice
(b) whittled
(c) Cut
(d) levelled
Ans: (b) Whittles 

Example 2:

Directions: Read the following text and complete it using the words given in the options.
He was a manly man, free from any strong (1) [mother] ________ strain, and he had loved his dark-eyed, dainty bright-coloured, and active little wife with a real vein of passion in his sentiment. But he had always felt (he had never allowed himself to think of it) that the promptitude of their family was a little (2) [insensitive]_______ of her, and in a sense an intrusion. He had, however, planned brilliant careers for his two sons, and, with a certain human amount of warping and delay, they were pursuing these. One was in the Indian Civil Service and one in the rapidly developing motor business. The daughters, he had hoped, would be their mother’s care.
Q 1.
(a) maternal
(b) Paternal
(c) Mother
(d) Childish
Ans: (a) Maternal

Q 2.
(a) tactful
(b) indelicate
(c) insensitive
(d) non-proportionate
Ans: (b) Indelicate 

Example 3: 

Direction: Given below is a passage divided into VI segments. Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
The UK is the world’s fifth-largest economy, it contains many areas of immense wealth, its capital is a leading centre of global finance, its entrepreneurs are innovative and agile, and despite the current political turmoil, it has a system of government that rightly remains the envy of much of the world. (I) It thus seems patently unjust and __(A)__ to British values that so many people are living in poverty. (II) This is obvious (1) to anyone who opens their eyes to see the deep (2) growth in food banks and the queues waiting outside them, the people sleeping rough in the streets, the growth of homelessness, the sense of immense (3) despair that leads even the Government to appoint a Minister for suicide prevention (4) and civil society to report on levels of loneliness and isolation. (III) And local __(B)__, especially in England, which performs vital roles in providing a real social safety net have been gutted by a series of government policies. (IV) Libraries have closed in record numbers, community and youth centres have been shrunk and are underfunded, public spaces and buildings including parks and recreation centres have been sold off. (V) While the labour and housing markets provide the crucial __(C)__, the focus of this report is on the contribution made by social security and related policies. (VI)

1. The first sentence (I) of the passage has been divided into four parts in the given options. There may or may not be an error in one of the parts. Choose the part which has an error in it as your answer. If there is no error, then choose option (E), “No error” as your answer. 
(a) The UK is the world’s fifth-largest economy, it contains
(b) any areas of immense wealth, its capital is a leading centre of global finance,
(c) its entrepreneurs are innovative and agile, and
(d) despite the current political turmoil, it has a system of government that rightly remains the envy of much of the world
(e) No error
Ans: (c)
Solution: The error lies in the third part of the sentence. “Entrepreneurs” is a noun and signifies a group of people. People can be “innovative” and not “innovation”. Thus, option C is the correct answer.

2. Which of the following word given in the options should fill the blank marked as (A) in the second segment (II) of the passage, to make it grammatically and contextually meaningful? Note that the word should also fill both the blanks of the following two sentences to make them contextually meaningful. (i) _________ to the popular myth, the majority of accidents are not caused by speeding or drunkenness. (ii) The villagers expressed regret that their habitations lacked road connectivity and other basic amenities ________ to the government’s tall claims.
(a) Complying
(b) Contrary
(c) Complimentary
(d) Cursory
(e) Commissioning
Ans: (b)
Solution: Complimentary- approving
Cursory- casual
Commissioning- authorizing
In the given question, we need to find a word that fits into all three blanks. In the given passage, the sentence under concern is followed by one which appreciates the economy of the UK. From the second sentence, it can be gathered that the situation of poverty is considered unjust for a prosperous nation like the U.K. The word in the blank must signify that the condition is considered something with reference to British values. Certainly, poverty will be considered a blot on the legacy of the nation. Thus, “contrary”, which means “in contrast to” is the best-fit word for the blank. “Complying” and “complimentary” would convey a meaning opposite to what is required. The words given in the last two options will convey an appropriate sense. “Contrary” fits in both the blanks of the given two sentences. In the first, it means that what is usually believed with reference to accidents does not actually hold true. In the second sentence, it means that opposed to the government’s promises, the habitations of the villagers lacked road connectivity and other basic amenities.

3. The third segment (III) in the given passage has four words given in bold. Of these, the positions of the two words may be incorrect and need to be exchanged to make the sentence correct. Find the two words which need to be exchanged.
(a) 1-2
(b) 1-3
(c) 1-4
(d) 3-4
(e) 2-3
Ans: (e)
Solution: “Deep, as well as “immense”,” are adjectives. In the given sentence, it must be assured that these adjectives modify the correct noun. Though the term “immense despair” may sound right, the term “deep growth” is incorrect. Thus, the positions of the two adjectives must be altered to make the sentence correct. “Immense growth” and “deep despair” are correct terms. So, option E is the correct answer.

4. With respect to the context of the passage, which of the following can be inferred from the italicized sentence mentioned in the fifth segment (V) of the passage?
(a) The closure of the various institutions of society will gradually have an adverse effect on the physical health of growing children.
(b) Public welfare institutions have been shut down, thus causing a setback to the social health of the citizens.
(c) In order to revive these institutions in the future, the government will have to invest a lot of capital and promote schemes to encourage people to social participate.
(d) The closure of the institutions indicates that Britain is undergoing an economic crisis.
(e) None of these
Ans: (b)
Solution: Note that we have to draw an inference from the concerned sentence while keeping the context of the passage in mind. The sentence preceding the concerned sentence states that local authorities in England, which perform vital roles in providing a real social safety net, have been removed by a series of government policies. This implies that the social fabric has been adversely affected by the removal of certain local authorities. The concerned sentence further states how institutions that are necessary for the social and recreational growth of an individual, have been shut down. This implies that the course of action will adversely affect the social health of the people. Thus, option B is the correct answer. The statement mentioned in option A carries a very narrow sense and cannot be inferred from the sentence. Statement C is out of context as the passage puts forth the problem and does not discuss how the institutions can be revived. Statement D is also not an appropriate inference as the author does not intertwine the problem with an economic crisis, but sees it as a failure of the government.

5. Which of the following word given in the options should fill the blank marked as (C) in the sixth segment (VI) of the passage, to make it grammatically and contextually meaningful. Note that the word should also fill both the blanks of the following two sentences to make them contextually meaningful.
(i) Settled into a ________ of wooded hills, was the little log cabin.
(ii) The conference begins this week against a _______ of unmitigated gloom.
(a) Backdrop
(b) Surrounding
(c) Precursor
(d) Profusion
(e) Both A and B
Ans: (a)
Solution: Backdrop- the setting or background for a scene, event, or situation; lie behind or beyond; serve as a background to Precursor- a person or thing that comes before another of the same kind, the predecessor Profusion- an abundance or large quantity of something Let us look at the first sentence given above. It indicates that the hills acted as a part of the surrounding where the little log cabin was situated. So, “background” can fit here the best. “Surrounding” is quite inappropriate here. The second sentence implies that the “unmitigated gloom” acts as the pretext, in reference to which the conference begins. A similar meaning is conveyed by segment VI of the passage. It implies that though the labour and housing markets provide a background to the issue, the focus of the report is on the contribution made by social security and related policies. Thus, option A is the correct answer.