Reading & Language System: Multiple-choice cloze Use of English

Introduction  In this session, we will learn about…  Types of questions popular in M.C. Cloze  How to deal with them  Grammar / Vocabulary items tested in the exercise  Finally, we’ll try to work on some exercises!!

Types of Questions Popular in M.C. Cloze + How do we deal with them?  Type 1  Clues within the clause where the gap is (word-level)  Items being tested:  Collocation  Phrasal verbs  Prepositions  Example:  People who suffer from ‘contact dermatitis” experience inflamed, red, itchy, scaly skin when they _____ contact with substances they are allergic to. A. come in B. make C. keep in D. maintain

Types of Questions Popular in M.C. Cloze + How do we deal with them?  Type 1  Keywords: ‘…contact with substances…”  X B: make contact (Wrong collocation)  X C: keep in contact (with a person) [= stay in touch]  X D: maintain contact (with a person) [= keep formal communicaton]  Answer: A

Types of Questions Popular in M.C. Cloze + How do we deal with them?  Type 2  Clues within the same sentence but outside the gapped clause (sentence level)  Items being tested:  Relative clauses (e.g. The girl who is a red dress is my sister.)  Conditional sentences (If…)  Other sentence structures (e.g. “When / While…” / “Not only…but also…”)

Types of Questions Popular in M.C. Cloze + How do we deal with them?  Example  But Dr Harold Schmitz said there were variations in the levels of flavonoids in chocolate and cocoa products depending on the production process, ____ many flavonoids are destroyed. A. which B. in which C. that D. from which  All the four options: relative pronouns  ‘____ many flavonoids are destroyed.’ = relative clause  Keywords: ‘production process’ – the noun in front of the clause  Reduced relative clause: Original sentence – Many flavonoids are destroyed in the production process.  Answer: B

Types of Questions Popular in M.C. Cloze + How do we deal with them?  Type 3  Clues outside the gapped sentence (idea / paragraph level)  Items being tested:  Transition markers (e.g. however / nevertheless / in addition)  Synonyms (e,g. fast + quick)  Antonyms (e.g. fast + slow)  Example:  The researchers ____ blood samples from volunteers who ate 25 grams…who ate bread. They took blood samples from both groups two hours…to measure their platelet activation, A. Collected B. Acquired C. Brought together D. Collated

Types of Questions Popular in M.C. Cloze + How do we deal with them?  Keywords:  ‘The researchers’ – ‘They’  ‘blood samples’ – ‘blood samples’  ‘from volunteers’ – ‘from both groups’  Sentence #1 + Sentence #2: Similar sentence patterns and meanings  Answer: A (Collected = took)