B2 First Gapped Text Practice
B2 First (FCE) · Reading & Use of English Part 6 · 29 free exercises
A text with missing paragraphs or sentences, presented out of order — you decide what goes where, with one extra you won’t need. Gapped text rewards reading for structure: reference words, linkers and how ideas develop across paragraph boundaries.
Gapped Text: The wrong answer is designed to look right.
- 6 — gaps
- 7 — paragraphs — 1 extra
- 2 marks — per gap
- ~15 min — of your paper
Whether you can follow the structure of a text — what pronouns point to, how time moves, what connectors demand. Every removed paragraph is held in place by these small links; the extra one matches the topic but fails them.
What real learners get wrong: B2 learners average 75%. The method is the same at every level: place each sentence by its connections, and treat the sentence that only continues the topic as the prime suspect.
The method
- Read the main text first, straight past the gaps, for the shape of the story.
- At each gap, read the sentence before and after, and say what must happen between them.
- Check every candidate’s first and last line — paragraphs connect at their edges.
- Hunt the connection words and give each an owner: "she" needs a woman, "this idea" needs an idea.
- Always test the sentence after the gap — most wrong answers break coming out. Place the certain ones first.
The traps
- Choosing by topic, not connections: The extra paragraph is about the right subject on purpose. It fails the connection tests.
- Only reading up to the gap: The sentence after the gap is half the evidence — and the half that catches people.
- The cascade: One misplaced paragraph forces a second wrong answer. Check your leftover paragraph at the end.
- Unowned reference words: This, these, such a — if you cannot underline what it points to, the paragraph does not go there.
- Broken timelines: "Then", "after three months" must agree with the order of events in the main text.
All Gapped Text exercises
Cambridge B2 First 4, Cambridge University Press
- How to Break a Guinness World Record - Test 3
- In Praise of Video Games - Test 1
- Messages in Bottles - Test 4
- Stand-up Comedy and Presentations - Test 2
Cambridge English First 2, Cambridge University Press
- College Students Need Their Sleep! - Test 5
- Has One of the Mysteries of the Ancient Pyramids Been Solved? - Test 6
- Inline Skating - Test 8
- Puffins in Peril - Test 7
Cambridge English First 3, Cambridge University Press
- Icebergs - Test 2
- Removing a Dam to Restore a River - Test 3
- Swimming with Manatees, Florida's Gentle Giants - Test 1
- The Man Who Organised Meals for Children - Test 4
First Expert Coursebook, Pearson Education
First Expert Student's Resource Book, Pearson Education
- Business calls the shots - Module 4B
- Discovery - Module 5B
- In fashion - Module 7B
- The influence of television - Module 12B
- Why do some shoppers still shy away from the net - Module 9B
Ready for B2 First 4th Edition Workbook, Macmillan Education Limited
- Buy Nothing Day
- Honesty is the Best Policy - Unit 10 - Nothing But the Truth
- Make Way for Chollywood!
- The Joys of Capoeira - Unit 2
Ready for B2 First 4th Edition, Macmillan Education Limited
- Black Friday - Unit 7
- Inside the daredevil world of Parkour - Unit 2
- Oceans of Garbage - Unit 11
- The art of storytelling... - Unit 4
- The coldest city on Earth - Ready for Reading