Hello, my dear friends, in this particular session we are going to discuss FIB, that is Fill in the Blanks

which is also known as Sentence Completion and Cloze in which you are given a paragraph with

blanks. Typically these questions are challenging questions in any kind of tests. Why? Because they

challenge your vocabulary as well as your reasoning ability. Your vocabulary gets tested when your

options contain unfamiliar words. And your reasoning skills gets tested when the given words are

either synonymous or very close when it comes to meanings and you have to identify the correct

word.

Now, how we can solve these questions. First and foremost you need to study the sentence

carefully, and find out the key word or phrase which is central or main to the context expressed by

that particular sentence and the one which operates directly on the word or words given in the

blanks. Then, shortlist the words which are going to be likely answers, study the context further, and

eliminate the incorrect or inferior answers. Trust your instinct, but do not get complacent or

careless. Now there are some tips how to follow it, first and foremost you need to spend more time

on the sentence analysing the context rather than on the words in the options. The tendency of the

people is to spend more time on the answer options, however, you need to spend more time on the

sentence. Do not eliminate the words that you do not know. This is another common tendency of

the people, you need to retain those words till you have found the correct answer. Rather you

should eliminate the word the words that you know because if you can eliminate them for any

reason, they are not going to be the answer. Then try not to go to the answer in a straight forward

manner. Always work with a short list. In other words use the elimination method and reach the

correct answer. Now when you are caught between two equally right options or let’s say the

options which appear to be equally right, do not get confused, relate them to the context. One is

definitely going to be an inferior one. And then you can easily eliminate it and retain the one which

is the correct answer. Now don’t merely look for the right answer because at a time it is possible

that there is more than one right answer. So look for the scoring option, what does that mean.

Let us see by an example, the Victorian middle class woman was ______ by restraints, obligations

and _______ that prevented her from achieving economic independence. Now here you have been

given five options. Hampered – Aspirations, Emancipated – Strictures, Fettered – Responsibilities,

Ensnared – Possibilities, Surrounded – Freedoms.