These eight items practise the four skills from gapped text and information transfer. Try each one, write a reason in a few words, then open the answer.
Part A: Links and continuity
1. What does “They” refer to? “Farah’s parents bought her a keyboard and a stand. They were kept in the store room until Saturday.”
Answer
“They” refers to the keyboard and the stand, the two things bought. Parents are the subject of the first sentence, but “were kept in the store room” needs objects. Swapping in “Farah’s parents” gives a sentence that makes no sense.
2. Choose the sentence for the gap. “The river overflowed at midnight. [GAP] By morning the road was open again.”
- A: “Water covered the low road near the bridge.”
- B: “Rivers are important for farming.”
Answer
Option A. It continues the flood event and gives a reason the road was closed, which the next sentence reverses. Option B is true but moves the topic to farming.
3. “Kiran missed the first bus. That made him late for the quiz.” What does “That” refer to?
Answer
“That” refers to the whole event of missing the first bus, not one noun. Ask what could make someone late: the event, not “bus” alone.
4. Which option keeps the topic line? “Mei Ling started a recycling box in her class. [GAP] Within a month, three other classes copied the idea.”
- A: “She collected used paper and plastic bottles every Friday.”
- B: “Plastic takes a long time to break down.”
Answer
Option A. It keeps Mei Ling as the subject and shows the box in action, which explains why others copied it. Option B is about plastic in general and breaks the topic line.
Part B: Information transfer
5. Source: “Tickets cost RM8 for students, but only those who show a school card. Others pay RM12.”
Fill in: Students: ___. Others: ___.
Answer
Students: RM8 with a school card. Others: RM12. The condition “only those who show a school card” must stay, because without it every student would be promised RM8.
6. Source: “Registration closes before 5 p.m. on Thursday. Late forms are not accepted.”
A student notes: “Register by 5 p.m. Thursday, late forms accepted.” Identify the error.
Answer
The second half contradicts the source. “Late forms are not accepted” became “late forms accepted”.
Also check “before 5 p.m.”: the deadline is earlier than 5 p.m., so “by 5 p.m.” is a close but weaker match. A faithful note reads “Register before 5 p.m. Thursday; no late forms.”
Part C: Distractors
7. “The football team trained every morning for a month. [GAP] Therefore, they won the match with two goals to spare.”
- A: “Their fitness improved and they could run for the whole game.”
- B: “Football is the most popular sport in the world.”
- C: “The other team trained every morning too.”
Answer
Option A. It gives the cause that “Therefore” needs.
Option B is too strong and off topic. Option C repeats the training idea but weakens the result, because equal training does not explain winning by two goals.
8. “Nora sent the application on Monday. [GAP] However, she still had to wait three weeks for a reply.”
- A: “She expected an answer within two days.”
- B: “She had written the application carefully.”
- C: “The office was closed on Sundays.”
Answer
Option A. “However” needs an expectation that the wait contradicts, and two days against three weeks creates that contrast.
Option B is neutral and sets up no contrast. Option C is true but irrelevant, because the wait is about weeks, not one Sunday.
If you got these wrong
- Items 1 to 3: revisit following sentence links and pronoun references.
- Item 4: revisit recognising topic continuity across gaps.
- Items 5 and 6: revisit transferring information without changing meaning.
- Items 7 and 8: revisit checking distractors against the whole passage.
Log each missed item in a mistake log, and build your next set with the timed practice session builder.
To go through your errors with a teacher, see online one-to-one English tuition.