Sentence completion: the exact words, within the limit

Sentence completion (common in Sections 3 and 4, including academic lectures) gives you part of a sentence to finish with words from the recording. Two skills decide your mark: predicting what fits and writing the exact words within the limit. Unlike a conversation, a Section 4 lecture has no second speaker to slow things down, so your prediction has to do the heavy lifting.

The method

1. Lock the word limit in. "ONE WORD ONLY" or "NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS" is marked strictly. Three words where two are allowed scores zero, even if the meaning is perfect.
2. Predict grammar and meaning per gap. From the words on the page, decide what part of speech fits - a noun? a plural? an adjective? a number? - and what it's likely to be about. This primes your ear.
3. Listen for the paraphrased lead-in. The sentence on your page is reworded in the audio. Follow the meaning until you hit the gap, then capture the precise word(s) spoken.
4. Write what you hear, not a synonym. The mark requires the actual word from the recording. Don't "improve" it into a word you prefer.

Use grammar to predict the gap

The words touching the gap tell you what part of speech must fill it:

• after a / an / the / this and before of… → a noun ("the ___ of the migration").
• after to → a base verb ("used to ___ the samples").
• after more / very / quite / a and before a noun → an adjective ("a ___ increase").
• after a subject with no verb yet → a verb, watch the tense ("the temperature ___ sharply").

This single habit catches most wrong-form errors before they happen, because you already know the shape of the answer before the speaker says it.

Lecture signposts that flag the answer

In a Section 4 lecture the speaker guides you to key facts with fixed phrases. When you hear one, the gap-filler is usually seconds away:

"The key point is…" · "What's significant here is…" · "This is known as…" / "This is called…" (a term is coming) · "The main cause was…" · "As a result,…" · "For example,…" (an illustrative noun follows) · "In other words,…" (a paraphrase - useful if you missed the first version).

"This is known as…" and "is referred to as…" almost always precede a one- or two-word technical term - exactly the kind of answer these gaps want. Prime your pen when you hear them.

Worked example 1 - predict the noun

On the page: The researchers were surprised by the _______ (1) of the migration.

Transcript:

- "What stood out in the data?"

- "What really took us aback was the sheer speed of the migration - far faster than any earlier model had predicted."

Prediction: after "the" and before "of the migration", the gap needs a noun describing a quality of the migration. The lead-in is paraphrased ("surprised" → "took us aback"), then the exact noun arrives: (1) speed. Writing "fast" or "quickness" would be wrong - use the word said: speed.

Worked example 2 - the word limit traps an over-writer

On the page (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS): Early farmers stored grain in pits lined with _______ (1) to keep out moisture.

Transcript:

- "How did they stop the grain rotting?"

- "Cleverly, they lined the storage pits with a thick layer of dried clay, which sealed out damp remarkably well."

Prediction: after "lined with" the gap needs a noun (a material), and the limit is two words. The speaker says "a thick layer of dried clay". The phrase "thick layer of" is lead-in description; the material itself is dried clay - two words, exactly within the limit. Writing "thick dried clay" (three words) would score zero, and "clay" alone risks missing the intended answer.

Common mistakes

• Over-writing. You hear "the remarkable speed" but the limit is ONE WORD - write speed only. Strip the extra describing words.
• The synonym swap. Replacing the heard word with your own (even a correct synonym) loses the mark in completion tasks.
• Wrong word form. The audio says "decide" but the sentence grammar needs a noun - listen for whether they actually say "decision". Don't change the form yourself unless you truly heard it.
• Plurals and tense. "Costs rose" needs the plural and the past form if the sentence frame demands them. Match exactly what fits the frame.
• Spelling. A correctly heard answer spelled wrong still loses the mark - especially academic nouns (temperature, environment, government).

Try it

On the Listening page, choose a sentence-completion set. For each gap, write its predicted part of speech (noun / verb / adjective / number) before listening. Play once, fill the gaps with the exact words, then audit: is every answer within the word limit and in the form you actually heard?