Unit 4
Sentence Gap
About this unit
In the Selective Reading paper, a Sentence Gap question presents a multi-paragraph informational passage with 6 sentences removed. Seven sentences are provided — six belong in the passage and one is a distractor that does not fit anywhere. For each gap, marked with a letter (A–F), you must choose which of the seven sentences belongs there.
Unlike Cloze, where you fill in single words, Sentence Gap requires you to work with whole ideas. The correct sentence must fit the paragraph's topic (it should be about the right subject) AND its logic (it should follow naturally from the sentence before it and lead into the sentence after it). Getting both right is the key skill.
The distractor sentence is written to sound as if it belongs somewhere in the passage. Learning to spot why it does not fit any gap — and why the correct sentence fits better — is as important as finding the right answer.
What types of questions will you face?
- 1Logical flow gaps — the removed sentence must continue the logic of the previous sentence AND prepare for the following sentence. The surrounding sentences almost always contain a pronoun or signal word that points to what the gap must contain.
- 2Topic bridge gaps — the sentence links two ideas that belong to the same paragraph but are not explicitly connected. The gap sentence acts as a bridge, and the paragraph feels incomplete or jumpy without it.
- 3Specific detail gaps — the sentence provides a concrete example, statistic, or observation that the surrounding general statement sets up. Look for a general claim immediately before the gap — the correct sentence usually provides the evidence or elaboration.
- 4Contrast and exception gaps — a contrast marker in the sentence after the gap ("however", "yet", "despite", "but") signals that the gap sentence must introduce the idea that is then being contrasted. Removing the contrast marker as a clue makes this type much harder.
Skills you will build
- Reading both neighbours — before looking at the 7 options, read the sentence immediately before the gap AND the sentence immediately after it. Your job is to find a sentence that connects logically to BOTH. Testing a sentence against only one neighbour is the most common error.
- Following transition signals — look for signal words and pronouns adjacent to the gap: "this", "they", "such", "however", "therefore". These words tell you what the gap sentence must contain or introduce. The gap sentence is usually the referent that the following pronoun or demonstrative points back to.
- Tracking paragraph topic — identify the main topic of each paragraph before attempting its gap. Any correct sentence must stay on that topic. Reject sentences that introduce an unrelated idea, even if they sound interesting or are mentioned elsewhere in the passage.
- Eliminating the distractor last — after placing five sentences confidently, the distractor becomes clear: it does not connect properly to any remaining gap. If you find a sentence that seems like it could fit two different gaps, you are probably looking at a distractor.
By the end of this unit, you will be able to
- Identify the topic of each paragraph before attempting to fill its gap.
- Use signal words and pronouns in adjacent sentences to narrow the correct sentence to 2–3 candidates.
- Test each candidate against both the preceding AND following sentence to confirm the best fit.
- Identify the distractor sentence by checking that it cannot connect properly to any unfilled gap.
Difficulty profile
Sentence Gap is consistently the hardest question type in Selective Reading. The passage is long, and the 6 decisions are connected — a wrong answer to Gap A can make Gap B harder to solve. Most students lose marks not because the topic is difficult, but because they test a candidate sentence against only one neighbour rather than both. The distractor catches students who match by topic alone rather than by logical connection. Confident students work through the easiest gaps first (where both neighbours are strong signals), leaving the hardest gaps until they have already eliminated most of the sentences.
Exam tip: Sentence Gap
Step 1: Read the whole passage before attempting any gap
Read the entire passage from start to finish before you look at the 7 sentences. You need to understand each paragraph's topic and how the paragraphs connect to each other. Jumping straight to Gap A without reading the whole text means you are choosing sentences without context.
Step 2: Identify the topic of each paragraph
Write one word beside each paragraph (or hold it in your head): What is this paragraph about? Every correct sentence must stay on that topic. If a candidate sentence introduces an idea that belongs to a different paragraph, it is wrong — even if it sounds interesting.
Step 3: Read both neighbours of the gap
For each gap, read the sentence immediately before it AND the sentence immediately after it. This is the most important step. The correct sentence must connect logically to BOTH. Common mistakes:
- Testing only the sentence before the gap
- Choosing a sentence that fits the topic but does not connect to the following sentence
- Ignoring signal words like "this", "they", "such", "however"
Step 4: Follow the signal words
Look for pronouns and transition words adjacent to the gap:
- "This..." or "Such..." after the gap → the gap sentence must introduce the thing being referred to
- "They..." or "It..." after the gap → the gap sentence probably introduces the subject of those pronouns
- "However..." or "Yet..." after the gap → the gap sentence must introduce the idea being contrasted
- "Therefore..." or "As a result..." after the gap → the gap sentence must introduce the cause
Step 5: Place easy gaps first, hard gaps last
Work through the gaps where both neighbours provide strong signals. Leave ambiguous gaps until you have eliminated more sentences. The distractor often becomes obvious once you have placed 5 sentences confidently.
Spotting the distractor
The distractor is written to sound relevant. It will often:
- Be about the right general topic but from the wrong angle
- Sound like it could fit two different gaps but does not fit either perfectly
- Introduce information that belongs to a different part of the passage
After placing your 5 most confident answers, check the remaining sentence against the remaining gap: if it still does not quite connect to both neighbours, it is the distractor.
Time target: the passage is long — aim to spend 4–5 minutes total, reading once quickly and then working gap by gap.
Sample Questions
Read the extract below, then answer the questions.
The Kelp Forest Count
Original nonfiction-style report
Each spring, dive teams measure kelp canopy along hundreds of kilometres of coastline. Their survey maps must align each rock plot to the nearest metre, because a small labelling error can misname an entire bay. (A) Marine ecologists have tracked these forests for twenty years, yet each census still turns up patterns no model predicted.
Kelp cannot be read accurately from a boat racing above the swell. Divers descend with measuring tapes and cameras, pausing at each marked plot before surfacing to log the data. (B) A skilled pair may finish only six plots before the tide turns unfavourable.
When visibility is good, the forest can look impossibly thick. Fronds rise two metres from the seafloor, overlapping until the water inside the canopy turns dim green. (C) Local rangers say the crackle of shrimp can be heard even through thick wetsuit hoods.
What makes the count consequential is that no single dive tells the whole story. One plot may be lush while a reef twenty metres away is bare after last winter's surge. (D) In this way, a morning's measurements can decide where fishing will be restricted for the next twelve months.
In recent years, warm currents have stressed the forest. Kelp—which anchors only to hard rock and shelters species found nowhere else on the reef—has thinned along exposed headlands. (E) Without healthy canopy shade, the juvenile abalone that depend on older plants vanish from the counts.
Restoration efforts are spreading along the coast. Volunteers seed lines onto quarried boulders, and schools adopt plots they hope to revisit as graduates. (F) Scientists caution that lasting recovery still depends on cooler summers returning.
Choose from these sentences — one does not belong anywhere:
1. Divers record each plot on waterproof slates so that photographs can later be matched to exact coordinates.
2. The canopy sways so densely that fish silhouettes flicker between the blades like coins dropped through light.
3. They time each descent to the slack between swells, when the surge eases enough to stretch a tape without tearing young fronds.
4. Juvenile abalone cluster under the oldest plants, and those older patches are precisely what the survey is designed to locate.
5. Counts that differ sharply from plot to plot allow rangers to set fishing limits for the next twelve months based on a single morning's survey.
6. Fine silt washed from new housing estates has smothered bare rock so that newly settled kelp cannot grip the stone.
7. In several bays, repeat photography already shows canopy height inching upward after three seasons of careful fishing limits.
Which sentence best fits gap (A)?
- ADivers record each plot on waterproof slates so that photographs can later be matched to exact coordinates.
- BThe canopy sways so densely that fish silhouettes flicker between the blades like coins dropped through light.
- CThey time each descent to the slack between swells, when the surge eases enough to stretch a tape without tearing young fronds.
- DJuvenile abalone cluster under the oldest plants, and those older patches are precisely what the survey is designed to locate.
Decided on your answer? Check how you went below.
Which sentence best fits gap (B)?
- AThe canopy sways so densely that fish silhouettes flicker between the blades like coins dropped through light.
- BThey time each descent to the slack between swells, when the surge eases enough to stretch a tape without tearing young fronds.
- CCounts that differ sharply from plot to plot allow rangers to set fishing limits for the next twelve months based on a single morning's survey.
- DJuvenile abalone cluster under the oldest plants, and those older patches are precisely what the survey is designed to locate.
Decided on your answer? Check how you went below.
Which sentence best fits gap (C)?
- ADivers record each plot on waterproof slates so that photographs can later be matched to exact coordinates.
- BJuvenile abalone cluster under the oldest plants, and those older patches are precisely what the survey is designed to locate.
- CThe canopy sways so densely that fish silhouettes flicker between the blades like coins dropped through light.
- DFine silt washed from new housing estates has smothered bare rock so that newly settled kelp cannot grip the stone.
Decided on your answer? Check how you went below.
Which sentence best fits gap (D)?
- AJuvenile abalone cluster under the oldest plants, and those older patches are precisely what the survey is designed to locate.
- BFine silt washed from new housing estates has smothered bare rock so that newly settled kelp cannot grip the stone.
- CThey time each descent to the slack between swells, when the surge eases enough to stretch a tape without tearing young fronds.
- DCounts that differ sharply from plot to plot allow rangers to set fishing limits for the next twelve months based on a single morning's survey.
Decided on your answer? Check how you went below.
Which sentence best fits gap (E)?
- AIn several bays, repeat photography already shows canopy height inching upward after three seasons of careful fishing limits.
- BFine silt washed from new housing estates has smothered bare rock so that newly settled kelp cannot grip the stone.
- CJuvenile abalone cluster under the oldest plants, and those older patches are precisely what the survey is designed to locate.
- DThey time each descent to the slack between swells, when the surge eases enough to stretch a tape without tearing young fronds.
Decided on your answer? Check how you went below.
Which sentence best fits gap (F)?
- AFine silt washed from new housing estates has smothered bare rock so that newly settled kelp cannot grip the stone.
- BJuvenile abalone cluster under the oldest plants, and those older patches are precisely what the survey is designed to locate.
- CDivers record each plot on waterproof slates so that photographs can later be matched to exact coordinates.
- DIn several bays, repeat photography already shows canopy height inching upward after three seasons of careful fishing limits.
Decided on your answer? Check how you went below.
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