That said, there’s also a technique to cloze passage. If you don’t know the answer, read what was before and after the blank to get clues.
For instance, I posed the question below for my students last Saturday. I deliberately chose this paragraph because I can educate them on the recent Ukraine demonstrations to improve their general knowledge.
“Antigovernment protesters in Ukraine’s capital were adding _____ to a fiery ______ separating themselves from the police on Wednesday.”
First blank: adding ____ to fiery… (means fire).
What can you add to make a fire worse? fuel.
Answer: Adding fuel to a fiery…
Second blank: ______ separating themselves from the police.
The clue comes from the word: separate
How do you separate yourself from someone? With a barrier.
The sentence reads:
“Antigovernment protesters in Ukraine’s capital were adding fuel to a fiery barrier separating themselves from the police on Wednesday.”
Is cloze passage easier if you look at it this way?