Fill in the Blanks Tips and Tricks for IBPS, SBI, SSC, RRB, RBI, Railway, LIC,IAS,SSB Exams
The English Language section of the SBI PO exam and IBPS PO consists of questions such as reading comprehension, cloze test, para -jumbles, spotting the error and fill in the blanks.Here is a short study-guide to help you crack questions on “fill in the blank“, along with a set of practice questions in the end.
How to Solve ‘Fill in the Blank’ Questions
STEP 1: Read the statement carefully and first, try to fill the missing word without looking at the options
STEP 2: Choose the word from the options that best replaces the word that you had thought of initially
STEP 3: Read the sentence again by replacing the blank with the option that you have chosen
NOTE: You must ensure that the word you have inserted in the blank, enables you to read the sentence smoothly and correctly
STEP 4: Read the sentence one last time to ensure that there are no grammatical errors in the sentence. Also check whether the sentence actually makes sense or not, once you have placed the option you think is correct in place of the blank.
Points to Remember
1. Questions on ‘fill in the blank’ are frequently asked in all banking exams. To be able to solve such questions correctly, you must have a very good vocabulary.
2. It is very important that you read the sentence in the question very carefully. In most of the cases, clues about the type of information needed to fill the gap — a person’s name, a date or a fact — can be derived by a good understanding of the meaning of the sentence itself.
3. You should keep a close watch at grammar clues, for instance, if the article, “an” comes before the blank, then it implies that the answer must begin with a vowel. Such grammatical clues can be of great help in deciding the answers.
4. You must recognise the logical structure of a sentence and pay attention to what the question requires.
5. It is necessary that you understand the context of the sentence. While closely reading the sentence and the options given in the question, you must try to determine the tone of the missing word — whether the required word is positive or negative in the meaning it implies
6. In certain fill in the blank questions, you are required to fill more than one blank. In such cases you should use the method of elimination by simultaneously checking which of the options best satisfies both the entries.
7. In certain questions your knowledge and understanding of common idioms and phrases in English Language may be tested. Hence, be sure to have a good skill set of such phrases.
8. Ensure that the meaning of the sentence is intact. Once you have placed the likely option, do check that the sentence gives out a plausible meaning.
9. In case you are confused between two or more options, you can also apply the hit & trial method – one by one place each of the likely options in place of the missing word in the sentence. The option which credits maximum meaning to the sentence should be the correct answer.
10. Do not spend a lot of time on one question. If you are unable to spot the correct answer, despite repeated efforts, leave the question and move forward.
‘Fill in the Blank’ Questions for Practice
Direction to solve: Each question below has two blanks. There are five pairs of words below each sentence. Each pair is numbered. Choose the pair of words which can be filled up in the blanks in the sentence in the same order so as to complete the sentence meaningfully.
1. The ______ playing of loud music has led the angry residents of this vicinity to file a police complaint and move court against the organizer’s lack of for ___________ the people’s need for a peaceful neighbour-hood.
(1) peaceful, thought
(2) abrupt, hope
(3) incessant, consideration
(4) fashionable, friendliness
(5) intermittent, interpretation
2. The ___________ of the chronic balance of payments deficit which has ___________ the Finance Ministry under three Prime Ministers is very real.
(1) temptation, reviled
(2) understanding. menaced
(3) impact, underestimated
(4) obligation, blessed
(5) dilemma, plagued
3. Britain for the present, is deeply ___________ in economic troubles, and the economic future, heavily ___________ looks uncertain.
(1) engrossed, responsive
(2) ingrained, skeptical
(3) saturate, enveloped
(4) mired, mortgaged
(5) restrained, participative
4. Our Constitution was based on the belief that the free___________ of ideas, people and cultures is essential to the___________ of a democratic society.
(1) selection, concurrence
(2) interchange, preservation
(3) reversal. Upholding
(4) dissemination congruence
(5) distinction, design
5. As this country has become more ___________ industrial and internationalized, it has She all Western democracies, experienced a necessary increase in the ___________ of the executive.
(1) urbanized, role
(2) objective, wealth
(3) synthesized, efficiency
(4) civilized, convenience
(5) concretized, vision
6. More is ……… of conditions of the tribal’s in Maharashtra than ……… conditions of those in the other parts of the country.
(1) certain ………the
(2) known ……… of
(3) aware ……… of
(4) favourable………those
(5) uncertain……… all
7. Although ……… is not a very desirable feeling, we need a certain amount of it to ………
(1) anxiety……… exist
(2) grief ………enjoy
(3) impatience……… preach
(4) anger ……… define
(5) jealousy……… bad
8. Although he is a ……… person, he occasionally loses his ………
(1) quiet……… power
(2) cheerful ……… grief
(3) balanced ……… temper
(4) thoughtful……… anxiety
(5) generous……… wealth
9. In a ……… tone, the leader made a powerful ……… to the
(1) realistic ……… zeal
(2) lower ……… conviction
(3) loud ……… argument
(4) soft ……… appeal
(5) pitch……… statement
10. The tunnel was so ……… and congested, that we became ………
(1) long ……… enthusiastic
(2) deep ……… cautious
(3) dark……… frightened
(4) crowded……… isolated
(5) sharp……… worried
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Answers :
1 (3) ; 2 (5) ; 3 (2) ; 4 (2) ; 5 (1) ; 6 (4) ; 7 (2) ; 8 (3) ; 9 (4) ; 10 (3)
