Gapped Text Tips

Essential strategies and common pitfalls to help you ace your Cambridge English exam.

What to do

In this part of the Listening exam, you complete the missing gaps in a text.

The answers come in the same order as the sentences.

You must write the exact word(s) you hear in each gap, although the sentence itself may be a paraphrase.

Always try to write something even if you are not sure it is the correct answer

Write 1-3 words in each space. Don’t repeat the words and ideas already used in the sentence.

Strategy

1. The questions follow the order of the text.
2. Before you listen, read the questions. Think about the type of information which is missing.
3. The words you need to write are on the tape, but not in the same order as the question sentences. It is not a dictation.
4. Check that your word or phrase is grammatically correct and makes sense.
5. Check your spelling.

Master the Cambridge English exams — B1 Preliminary (PET), B2 First (FCE), C1 Advanced (CAE) and C2 Proficiency (CPE) — with thousands of interactive exercises across Use of English, Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking, grammar and vocabulary.