Sentence Completion In Ielts Reading

On this page, we will learn about What is Sentence Completion? Sentence Completion in IELTS Reading: An Example of Sentence Completion Strategies to answer the sentence completion questions, Tips for the sentence completion questions, IELTS Sentence Completion Practice Exercise: European Settlement of Australia, and Answer and explanation of European Settlement of Australia.

What is Sentence Completion?

There are questions on the IELTS Reading test that ask you to fill in the gaps in the sentences that should be filled with words taken directly from the reading text. You are given a word limit. For example, "Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS / THREE WORDS..."

Check what the question asks you to use the exact words from the reading - some do not.

When answering this question, various factors are important to keep in mind:

  1. Make sure the answer does not exceed the word limit; articles and unnecessary adjectives can sometimes be left out to achieve this.
  2. Make sure the answer fits grammatically into the statement.
  3. Be careful that the statement will not use the same words as the given text.

Example of Sentence Completion:

ielts reading sentence completion

Strategies to answer the questions:

  1. Read the instructions carefully.
  2. Read the sentences with the gaps in them. Try to understand what they are saying.
  3. Try to predict what type of word is missing, e.g. an adjective, an adverb, a noun or a verb.
  4. Underline key words to search for in the text. Also include names, numbers, dates, and places if there are any, as these will be easy to spot. Think about possible synonyms as you do this search.
  5. Scan the text for the keywords in the first sentence because it’s important that you start with this one, even if other sentences will be easier to complete. Keep in mind that the answers will come in order in the text, so it will be much easier and quicker if you search for them in order.
  6. Finding the key words will help you where the answer is located. Then you need to read that part of the text in detail to find the correct answer.
  7. Once you’ve found the answer, fill in the answer sheet. Check that the sentence is correct grammatically and in spelling.
  8. Repeat this strategy with the remaining questions.

Tips for the sentense completion questions:

  1. Make sure that answer doesn't exceed the word limit.
  2. Make sure that your answer grammatically fits into the sentence.
  3. The order of questions can help you find the answer. The answer to question 2 will be between the answers to questions 1 and 3 in the text.
  4. Always keep synonyms and paraphrasing in mind. When comparing information from sentences and text, look for matching meaning rather than exact word matches.

IELTS Sentence Completion Practice Exercise:

European Settlement of Australia

1. The Dutch scientist, Jan Ingenhousz, hundreds of years ago, in 1785, a man was studying a strange phenomenon that he couldn’t quite make sense of. In his lab , minute particles of coal dust were darting about on the surface of some alcohol.

2. About 50 years later, in 1827, the Scottish botanist Robert Brown described something strangely similar. He had trained his microscope on some pollen grains. Brown noticed that some of the grains emitted tiny particles, which would then move away from the pollen grain in a random jittery dance.

3. At first, Brown wondered if the particles were really some sort of unfamiliar organism. He repeated the experiment with different substances, such as rock dust, which he knew wasn’t alive, and saw the same strange motion again.

4. It would take nearly another century for science to offer an explanation. Then Einstein came along and developed a mathematical formula for predicting this very particular type of movement, which was then called Brownian motion, after Robert Brown.

5. Einstein’s theory was that the particles from the pollen grains were being moved around because they were constantly colliding into millions of smaller molecules of water—molecules that were made of atoms.

6. By 1908, observations and calculations had confirmed that atoms were real. Physicists would be able to go even further in about a decade. By disassembling them into individual atoms, they began to get a sense of their internal structure.

7. It might come as a surprise that atoms can be broken down – specifically since the very name atom derives from the Greek term "atomos", which means "indivisible". But scientists now know that atoms are not solid little balls. It’s better to think of them as mini-electrical "planetary" systems. They’re typically made up of three major parts: protons, neutrons, and electrons. Take into account the protons and neutrons as together forming a "sun", or nucleus, at the center of the system. Like planets, electrons orbit this nucleus .


Questions 1-4

Complete the following statements using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.

1. The type of random jittery movement of tiny particles is known as.........
2. Einstein clarified the phenomenon of particles strange motion by the fact that they were collapsing with ...............
3. Nowadays, scientists acknowledge that atoms structures are similar to tiny ............
4. ............. are parts that revolve around the nucleus.

Answer and explanation of European Settlement of Australia:



1. The key words here are "type of movement," and they direct us to the fourth paragraph. There we can see a phrase with  similar meaning.

"a mathematical formula for predicting this very particular type of movement, which was then called Brownian motion, after Robert Brown."

It refers to the movement of smaller particles described in the above paragraphs.
So the correct answer is Brownian motion.


2. The key words here are Einstein clarified. The fifth paragraph tells us that

Einstein’s theory was that the particles from the pollen grains were being moved around because they were constantly colliding into millions of smaller molecules of water.

Look how the synonyms are used:

  • Einstein's theory = Einstein clarified
  • crashing into = collapsing with

so the correct answer is water molecules.

NOTE: Why not write "molecules of water" as it was stated in the text?
Because the question asked for sentences to be completed with no more than two words, a three-word response is automatically incorrect. That's why here we had to rephrase the answer to make it fit within the word count limits. So, you should always careful about this!



3. The structures of atoms are discussed in the final paragraph, where we can find a paraphrase of our question statement.

But scientists now know that atoms are not solid little balls. It’s better to think of them as mini-electrical "planetary" systems.

  • Scientists = physicists
  • Nowadays = now
  • acknowledge = think of them

correct answer is planetary systems.
4. nucleus which was introduced only in the last paragraph.

Like planets, electrons orbit this nucleus.

the correct answer is electrons .