Cloze Test

Amongst the most popular topic for English for competitive exams, a Cloze Test aims to assess the test-taker’s ability to understand sentence structure, and parts of speech as well as fill in the omitted words. It is one of the most frequently asked topics in SSC CGL as well as bank exams. So, to help you prepare for this topic in the best manner, we have collated the basics of what a cloze test is, how to practice this topic, important exam tips as well as solved questions that you must refer to!

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What is Cloze Test?

A Cloze Test is an assessment in which some words are deleted/missing from the passage and participants have to fill that blank with the right word from the given choices. The cloze test evaluates the understanding of the comprehension, vocabulary & grammatical skills of the test-taker. Students have to eliminate the wrong words & select the correct one to form a full sentence. In the questions for ‘fill in the blanks’ only a word or two are missing from a sentence but on the other hand, in a cloze test words a missing from a passage.

Check Out: English for Bank Exams

Variations in Cloze Test

A Cloze Test has two variations which are as follows:

1. The first variation comprises a passage given and the test-taker has to fill in the blanks from the words given. Participants have to simply eliminate the wrong ones and select the correct ones to form a sentence that is correct grammatically.
2. The new pattern of the cloze test requires participants to decide if the word needs to be replaced or not. A passage will be given with the blanks, a group of words are given in brackets, and the student has to decide whether that word needs to be changed/replaced or not.

Must Read: Omission Exercises

Important Tips for Cloze Test

Here are some important tips & tricks that will help you to score well on the Cloze test.

1. Read the passage carefully: You must start by reading the whole passage carefully & thoroughly. It will help you to understand the theme of the passage which will further assist you in connecting the dots while answering questions.
2. Linking the sentences: While filling in the blanks, you must remember that every sentence or phrase is linked to each other. This will help you to simplify the passage and avoid any grammatical errors.
3. Check if your answer makes sense: Try filling in the blanks guessing different answers and then read the sentences to check if they make sense. When you are going through the passage you can also choose the correct word in your mind first before ticking in the answer sheet. Read that sentence with the correct word at least twice.
4. Tone: There are different writing tones like narrative, critical, sarcastic, and humorous. Before finalising the word, you must always check if that word goes with the tone of the sentence or not.
5. Eliminate wrong choices: Selecting the right word sometimes can be difficult because some words are so closely related to each other that participants may feel both are correct. In this situation, you can apply the elimination method. Eliminate the words that you feel are most suited & then choose the correct one.
6. Keywords: Sometimes a single word can mean two different things. In this situation, it is important to look at the other keywords in the passage. It will help you to find the correct word that is best suited to the sentence.

Cloze Test Exercises

Here is a practice question from the SBI PO exam 2013 that you can solve to test your understanding of the cloze test:

There is a considerable amount of research about the factors that make a company innovate. So, is it possible to create an environment _____(1) for innovation? This is a particularly pertinent _____(2) for India today. Massive problems in health, education, etc., _____(3) be solved using a conventional approach, but _____(4) creative and innovative solutions that can ensure radical change and ______(5).

1. a) stimuli
   b) conducive
   c) incentive
   d) facilitated
   e) impetus

2. a) objective
   b) controversy
   c) doubt
   d) issue
   e) inference

3. a) cannot
   b) possibly
   c) should
   d) never
   e) must

4. a) necessary
   b) apply
   c) need
   d) consider
   e) requires

5. a) quantity
   b) advantages
   c) increase
   d) chaos
   e) growth

Answers:

1. (b)
2. (d)
3. (a)
4. (c) 
5. (e)

Check Out: Sentence Correction for Competitive Exams

FAQs

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