Cloze Test

What the question looks like

A passage of 120-200 words has 5-6 numbered blanks. For each blank you choose the word that fits best from five options. In recent SBI papers, some cloze tests also ask whether the bold word in each blank is correct or needs to be replaced. The theme is usually banking, the economy, the environment or a social issue.

Step-by-step approach

1. Read the whole passage once without filling anything (40-50 seconds). Work out the topic and the direction of the argument: is the author praising, warning or contrasting?
2. Fill the easy blanks first. Blanks decided by grammar alone (tense, agreement, preposition) can be filled in seconds.
3. For each blank, test the options in this order:
   • Grammar: part of speech, tense, singular/plural, the form a verb takes after to, modals or prepositions.
   • Collocation: which word naturally goes with the words around it (raise awareness, bridge a gap, pose a threat).
   • Logic: does the word agree with the tone of the sentence and with contrast or cause words like but, although, because, therefore?
4. Re-read the completed passage to make sure it flows.

Rules that decide most blanks

• After to (infinitive), modals (can, will, should) and tends to: base form of the verb (tends to decline, not declined).
• After prepositions (in, of, by, without): a noun or the -ing form (go a long way in building trust).
• Subject-verb agreement: younger customers enjoy, farmland relies.
• Contrast words (but, yet, although, however) mean the blank must take the opposite direction of the first idea.
• Fixed pairs: rely on, depend on, consist of, vulnerable to, immune to, access to.

Worked example

"A weak monsoon can ______ farm incomes and push up food prices." Options: boost, enhance, depress, stabilise, multiply. The second half (push up food prices) shows a harmful effect, and can needs a base verb. Only depress gives a harmful meaning. Boost and enhance are grammatical but reverse the logic.

Common traps

• Choosing a word because it "sounds advanced": the simplest word that fits grammar and logic is usually right.
• Look-alike words: access/assess/excess, affect/effect, adopt/adapt, eligible/illegible.
• Missing the idea in the next sentence. Often the clue for blank 3 sits in sentence 4.
• Two options that both seem right: check the preposition after the blank. Relied on is correct; trusted on is not.