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1.5 Reading Part 5

Instructions: None
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1.5 Reading Part 5

Objective:

To test whether the student understands the structural words used to construct sentences, and to be able to follow the coherent theme of a piece of text.


Method:

Let's look at a typical exam question


Text
Prairie dogs may bark like dogs, because that's (1)............ they got their name, but the little guys are rodents, not canines. They can grow (2)........... to 15 inches long, and are related to the squirrel. Family is very important to prairie dogs, and (3).......... family groups, which contain up (4)........... 26 individuals, share food, groom each (5)........... , and even greet one another with nose-to-nose nuzzles.

Prairie dog families live with hundreds (6)............ others in networks of tunnels dug below North America's grasslands. How are prairie dogs able to construct these rodent residences? The animals' sharp claws (7)........... them expert diggers. They also have excellent vision and hearing, (8)........... allow them to easily detect predators such (9)............. coyotes and snakes when above ground. Once a prairie dog senses danger, it alerts others (10).............. barking. It even uses different barks for different enemies.

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
A when
A high
A they're
A to
A rather
A off
A do
A who
A as
A but
B what
B up
B there
B two
B other
B of
B have
B what
B has
B bye
C who
C top
C their
C too
C another
C for
C make
C where
C have
C by
D how
D tall
D here
D so
D other
D from
D go
D which
D had
D buy

The way to do this exercise is to read the text once, without worrying about the missing words, just to get an idea of the subject of the text.


Then you need to look at each sentence separately, and use the words for each space with the words either side of each space to identify common word groups.


Let's look at the first sentence:


Prairie dogs may bark like dogs, because that's (WHEN, WHAT, WHO, HOW) (1)..........they got their name, but the little guys are rodents, not canines.


Putting the words to choose from before the space makes it easy to see which one fits best. Here the answer is D - HOW.


Prairie dogs may bark like dogs, because that's (1) ...HOW... THEY GOT their name, but the little guys are rodents, not canines.


It is important to understand that it is the connection the word has with the other words that you need to understand, and not only the meaning of each word.


Looking at the second sentence:


They can grow ( HIGH, UP, TOP, TALL) (2) .......... to 15 inches long, and are related to the squirrel.


Here, when talking about a limit, the word group we use is UP TO, so the correct answer is B - UP


They can grow (2) ...UP... TO 15 inches long, and are related to the squirrel.


Looking at the third sentence:


Family is very important to prairie dogs, and ( THEY'RE, THERE, THEIR, HERE) (3) ..........family groups, which contain up (TO, TWO, TOO, SO) (4)..........26 individuals, share food, groom each (RATHER, OTHERS, ANOTHER, OTHER) (5) ..........and even greet one another with nose-to-nose nuzzles.


The correct word group for the third space is THEIR FAMILY GROUPS, to show possession.


The correct word group for the fourth space is UP TO, and the correct word group for the fifth space is EACH OTHER.


This gives the following:


Family is very important to prairie dogs, and (3) ...THEIR... FAMILY GROUPS, which contain UP (4)...TO... 26 individuals, share food, groom each (5) ...OTHER... ,and even greet one another with nose-to-nose nuzzles.


Looking at the next sentence:


Prairie dog families live with hundreds (OFF, OF, FOR, FROM) (6) )..........others in networks of tunnels dug below North America's grasslands.


The correct word group is HUNDREDS OF.


This gives the following:


Prairie dog families live with hundreds (6) ...OF... others in networks of tunnels dug below North America's grasslands.


Looking at the next sentence:


The animals' sharp claws (DO, HAVE, MAKE, GO) (7)..........them expert diggers.


The correct word group is MAKE THEM.


This gives the following:


The animals' sharp claws (7)...MAKE... THEM expert diggers.


Looking at the next sentence:


They also have excellent vision and hearing, ( WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHICH) (8) .......... allow them to easily detect predators such (AS, HAS, HAVE, HAD) (9)..........coyotes and snakes when above ground.


The correct word groups are WHICH ALLOW THEM, and SUCH AS.


This gives the following:


They also have excellent vision and hearing, (8)...WHICH... ALLOW THEM to easily detect predators SUCH (9)...AS... coyotes and snakes when above ground.


Looking at the final sentence:


Once a prairie dog senses danger, it alerts others (BUT, BYE, BY, BUY) (10).......... barking.


The correct word group is BY BARKING.


This gives the following:


Once a prairie dog senses danger, it alerts others (10)...BY... barking.


The finished exercise would then look like:


Text
Prairie dogs may bark like dogs, because that's (1).....HOW....... they got their name, but the little guys are rodents, not canines. They can grow (2).....UP...... to 15 inches long, and are related to the squirrel. Family is very important to prairie dogs, and (3)....THEIR...... family groups, which contain up (4).....TO...... 26 individuals, share food, groom each (5).....OTHER...... , and even greet one another with nose-to-nose nuzzles.

Prairie dog families live with hundreds (6).....OF....... others in networks of tunnels dug below North America's grasslands. How are prairie dogs able to construct these rodent residences? The animals' sharp claws (7).....MAKE...... them expert diggers. They also have excellent vision and hearing, (8)...WHICH........ allow them to easily detect predators such (9)....AS......... coyotes and snakes when above ground. Once a prairie dog senses danger, it alerts others (10)......BY........ barking. It even uses different barks for different enemies.

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
A when
A high
A they're
A to
A rather
A off
A do
A who
A as
A but
B what
B up
B there
B two
B other
B of
B have
B what
B has
B bye
C who
C top
C their
C too
C another
C for
C make
C where
C have
C by
D how
D tall
D here
D so
D other
D from
D go
D which
D had
D buy

So, the correct answers are:

1 D

2 B

3 C

4 A

5 D

6 B

7 C

8 D

9 A

10 C