Sentence Completion and Fill in the Blanks

🟢 Lite — Quick Review (1h–1d)

Rapid summary for last-minute revision before your ECAT exam.

Sentence completion is one of the most scoring sections of the ECAT English paper. The key is to approach each sentence as a logic puzzle — the blank is not random; it is the precise word the sentence needs to be grammatically correct, logically coherent, and stylistically appropriate.

Step-by-Step Approach:

1. Read the entire sentence carefully — including both the blank and any surrounding context
2. Predict the type of word needed — positive or negative? descriptive or action word?
3. Look for clue words — conjunctions, comparison words, cause-effect markers
4. Eliminate options — reject anything that doesn’t fit grammatically or logically
5. Plug in the best remaining option — and re-read to confirm coherence

Common Signal Words for Logical Relationships:

Type	Signal Words
Cause/Effect	because, since, therefore, consequently, thus, hence, as a result, so that
Contrast	but, however, although, though, yet, while, whereas, unlike, despite
Addition	and, also, moreover, furthermore, in addition, besides
Example	for example, such as, for instance, specifically, including
Definition	that is, in other words, meaning, is called
Conclusion	finally, in conclusion, overall, in short, to sum up

⚡ ECAT exam tips:

• Two-blank questions: test both words independently. Eliminate any option where either blank doesn’t fit.
• Watch for double negatives — if a sentence has “not,” “never,” “hardly,” “scarcely,” the correct answer may be a negative word to form a positive (e.g., “hardly anyone knew” = almost no one knew).
• In sentences with a colon or semicolon after the blank, the second half often DEFINES or EXPLAINS the first. A semicolon signals the two halves are parallel.
• Watch for tone consistency: academic passages require formal vocabulary, not colloquial choices.

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🟡 Standard — Regular Study (2d–2mo)

For ECAT students who want genuine understanding of sentence completion strategies.

Types of Sentence Completion Questions:

Type 1 — Vocabulary-Based: These test your knowledge of word meanings and collocations. The minister’s __________ response to the crisis calmed public fears. (a) adroit (b) awkward (c) ambiguous (d) arbitrary Answer: (a) adroit — skilled, deft. The sentence requires a word meaning competent or skillful. Awkward and arbitrary are clearly wrong. Ambiguous would increase, not decrease, fear.

Type 2 — Logical Relationship: The sentence contains signal words that establish the relationship between the blank and the rest of the sentence. Although the experiment produced unexpected results, the scientists __________ their research. (a) abandoned (b) continued (c) celebrated (d) concealed Answer: (b) continued — “although” signals contrast; they should continue despite unexpected results.

Type 3 — Collocation and Idiom: Certain words go together (collocations): “make a decision” (not “do a decision”), “take responsibility” (not “make responsibility”). The committee decided to __________ the proposal until the next meeting. (a) adjourn (b) postpone (c) delay (d) suspend All four might seem possible, but “postpone” takes “until”; “adjourn” takes “sine die” or no object; the most precise is (b) postpone.

Type 4 — Tone and Register: Academic English requires formal vocabulary. In “the results were __________ by the scientists,” only “acknowledged” or “accepted” fits the formal academic tone. Informal words like “owned up to” would be wrong.

Commonly Tested Collocations:

Verb-Noun pairs:

• make/conduct/carry out an experiment (not “do an experiment” in formal academic writing)
• take into account / account for (not mix them)
• draw a conclusion / reach a conclusion (not “make a conclusion”)
• provide evidence / offer evidence
• take measures / adopt measures / implement measures
• pose a threat / constitute a threat

Adjective-Noun pairs:

• stark contrast, stark raving mad
• heavy rain, severe weather, intense heat
• profound impact, significant effect
• tentative theory, provisional results
• explicit statement, implicit assumption

⚡ Common student mistakes:

1. Choosing a word that fits grammatically but not logically (context)
2. Ignoring the signal word (although, because, therefore)
3. Not reading to the end of the sentence before choosing
4. Selecting a word based on its familiarity rather than its precise meaning

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🔴 Extended — Deep Study (3mo+)

Comprehensive coverage for ECAT mastery of sentence completion with nuanced strategies.

Fill in the Blanks — Grammar-Focused:

Preposition Collocations:

• abide by the rules
• accuse someone of something
• adhere to (principles)
• apologise to someone for something
• approve of something
• arrive at (a decision/conclusion) / arrive in (a country/city)
• believe in (something/someone)
• comply with (rules)
• confine to / confine within
• consist of (not “consist in”)
• depend on / rely on
• differ from / differ with
• independent of / dependent on
• demand of / demand from
• engage in / engage with
• inquire into / inquire of someone about something
• interfere in (affairs) / interfere with (evidence)
• insist on
• invest in / invest with (power)
• prevail upon / prevail over
• profit from / profit by
• provide for / provide with
• protest against / protest about
• react to / react with
• reason with someone about something
• rely on / count on
• result in (cause → effect) / result from (effect ← cause)
• search for / search in / search through
• specialise in / major in
• succeed in / fail at
• taste of / taste like / taste with
• think about / think of / think over
• threaten to / threaten with
• wish for / wish to

Phrasal Verbs — High Frequency:

come: come across, come about, come by, come into, come off, come on (progress/imperative), come out, come over, come through, come to (arrive at/amount to), come up, come upon

get: get across, get along, get around, get away, get back, get by, get down, get in, get into, get off, get on, get out, get over, get through, get up

go: go about, go after, go against, go ahead, go along, go around, go back, go beyond, go by, go down, go for, go in, go into, go off, go on, go out, go over, go through, go under, go up, go with, go without

make: make for, make of, make off, make out, make up, make up for

put: put aside, put away, put back, put down, put forward, put in, put off, put on, put out, put through, put up, put up with

take: take after, take apart, take away, take back, take down, take for, take in, take off, take on, take out, take over, take to, take up

Gerund vs. Infinitive — Tricky Cases:

Verb + gerund	Verb + infinitive	Both (different meaning)
admit (to)	decide	remember (remember to do = future; remember doing = past)
avoid	expect	stop (stop to do = new purpose; stop doing = cease)
consider	hope	try (try to do = attempt; try doing = experimental method)
deny	learn	go on (go on to do = next; go on doing = continue same)
enjoy	need	forget (forget to do = didn’t; forget doing = didn’t remember)
finish	offer	regret (regret to inform = polite; regret doing = sorry about past)
imagine	pretend	like (like to do = choice; like doing = enjoy)
keep	promise	love (love to do = particular; love doing = generally enjoy)
suggest	refuse	hate (same pattern as love/like)
risk	want	begin (both forms acceptable with same meaning)

ECAT Sentence Completion — Worked Examples:

Example 1: The physicist’s theory, though __________ by several colleagues, remained controversial until his experimental data was published. (a) acclaimed (b) endorsed (c) disputed (d) admired Answer: (c) disputed — the contrast word “though” indicates disagreement, not praise. “Acclaimed” and “admired” are opposite. “Endorsed” is supportive, not contradictory.

Example 2: The new policy failed to __________ the economic problems it was designed to address, and unemployment continued to rise. (a) alleviate (b) aggravate (c) eradicate (d) minimise Answer: (a) alleviate — means to make less severe. The sentence says problems continued, so the policy didn’t solve them. “Aggravate” means worsen — wrong direction. “Eradicate” is too strong (completely eliminate). “Minimise” could work but “alleviate” is more precise for suffering/economic problems.

Example 3: Unlike his predecessor, who __________ to make difficult decisions, the new chairman acted swiftly and decisively on every issue. (a) hesitated (b) refused (c) intended (d) remembered Answer: (a) hesitated — the contrast word “unlike” signals the opposite approach. His predecessor was slow to decide; the new chairman acts quickly. “Refused” is too strong (suggests moral stance). “Intended” doesn’t fit the contrast.

Example 4: The discovery of penicillin, __________ by Alexander Fleming in 1928, revolutionised the treatment of bacterial infections. (a) accidentally (b) accidentally (both look the same here) — actually: (a) accidentally (b) intentionally — but both spelled correctly. The correct answer is “accidentally” — Fleming discovered penicillin by accident (mould contaminating a petri dish).

ECAT Previous Year Patterns:

• Fill in the blanks: preposition and collocation questions are very common
• Sentence completion: vocabulary-in-context and logical relationship questions
• Two-blank questions: test both elements of the word pair
• Common errors: subject-verb agreement at the blank, wrong preposition choice

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