Here you have to complete a number of unfinished sentences by adding a word or short phrase from the text. These gaps should be filled with words taken directly from the reading text, and you must not exceed the word limit. Very occasionally, you will have to change the grammar of the word or phrase you have chosen to make it fit the sentence. Usually, however, if you select the correct word or words from the text the grammar will also be correct.
This type of question requires you to fill in the gaps in sentences.
Key Points:
1. You must answer using words taken from the text.
2. You must not exceed the word limit.
3. Questions roughly follow the order of the text.
4. You should complete statements that paraphrase sentences from the text.
5. You must make a grammatically correct sentence.
Approach:
1. Skim the text within 3 minutes.
2. Read the instructions carefully so you know how many words/numbers you can write.
3. Read the first question and establish a keyword to search for.
4. Locate the keyword/synonym in the text.
5. Check the sentence in the text has a similar meaning with the question.
6. Establish the words required to complete the sentence.
7. Check the answer doesn’t exceed the word limit.
8. Repeat this strategy with other questions.
PRACTICE TASK
Cuba’s Organic Revolution
Organic agriculture has been adopted as the official government strategy for all new agriculture in Cuba, after its highly successful introduction just seven years ago. In less than a decade the use of chemical pesticides has dropped by 80%.
The catalyst which revolutionised the Cuban approach was the economic necessity after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now the island is self-sufficient in organic fruit and vegetables, and organic livestock is also being reared successfully.
Even cabbage, which could not be grown in the past, because it was impossible to control the diamond black moth, now has yields of 60 tonnes per hectare without using fertilisers or pesticides.
To meet the demands of a more labour intensive system of agriculture, the Cuban government has increased rural wages and is providing favourable housing for farm workers which also helps solve the problem of severe housing shortages and overcrowding in the cities. It is also making available abandoned land in urban areas for local communities to farm.
In one co-operative, 40 members are providing food for their own families, with plenty of surplus to provide for community elders, invalids and day care centres. Over 40 countries were represented at a recent Pesticide Action Network (PAN) conference in Cuba to challenge the view that pesticides are essential for agriculture.
The Cuban experience added strength to their conviction that organic agriculture has a great deal to offer and has been unjustifiably ignored by agricultural researchers.
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
1 Cuba has used organic farming for _______.
2 The fall of the Soviet Union created an _______ to grow food.
3 The cultivation of cabbage was made possible after the _______ was killed.
4 Encouraging the development of agriculture has helped reduce _______.
5 A conference in Cuba promoted the view that pesticides were not _______ in farming.
6 _______ should focus more on organic farming.
ANSWERS
1. (just) seven years
2. economic necessity
3. diamond black moth
4. (severe) housing shortages
5. essential
6. Agricultural researchers
