SSC CGL 2020 English Comprehension- Fill in the Blanks Tips with Examples

SSC CGL 2020 Tier I exam which is conducted by SSC is not very far now. With the Tier I exam falling on May 29, 2021, there are only 18 days left. This year there are 6,506 vacancies. If you are interested in these central government vacancies, this is the right time to step up your preparation. Remember, there are lakhs of competitors vying for these government jobs. And you have to put your best efforts if you want to clear this exam.

The earlier you get started with your preparation, the better prepared you will be. If you want to check the level of questions asked in SSC CGL exam, you can take a free mock test by signing up and see for yourself. Once you take the free mock, you will be provided with a summary of your performance which will include areas where you need improvement, your AIR, comparison of your performance with that of the topper in several aspects. All in all, you will get several benefits by taking this free mock test. If you have any doubt in any aspect of the notification, you can refer to the Frequently Asked Questions here. Let’s now have a look at the exam pattern of SSC CGL exam.

SSC CGL 2020 Tier I Exam Pattern

As you would have noticed above, English Comprehension is one of the sections in Tier I which will have 25 questions of maximum 50 marks. This section will have a number of topics viz.

• Phrases and Idioms
• One word Substitution
• Sentence Correction
• Error Spotting
• Fill in the Blanks
• Spellings Correction
• Reading Comprehension
• Synonyms-Antonyms
• Active Passive
• Sentence Rearrangement
• Sentence Improvement
• Cloze test

Fill in the blanks is an important topic in this section and that’s the reason that in this article, we will be sharing the tips to answer fill in the blanks questions quickly. Let’s first have a look at a couple of fill in the blanks questions which were asked previously in SSC CGL exams.

Example 1

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.

We must ______ help to the homeless and physically disabled people. 

1. exert

2. contribute

3. render

4. donate

When you see the above example, even before looking at the options, you can sense that something meaning ‘provide’ should come in the blank space. Now coming to the options, exert means apply force, contribute means give in order to help achieve or provide something, render means provide or give (a service, help, etc.), donate means give (money or goods) for a good cause.

The options contribute and render are little bit close but you don’t ‘contribute help’. So render fits here perfectly.

Example 2

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.

Handle this glass table with care because it is ______. 

1. frugal

2. fragile

3. ductile

4. volatile

In the above example, the sentence asks you to handle the glass table with care, so the table must be delicate. With the given options only fragile means delicate and therefore that is the correct answer.

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Filler Tips

What you may have noticed from the above examples is that good vocabulary and knowledge of English grammar always help in answering fill in the blank questions. If you practice a sufficient number of questions, you can gain mastery of this topic. Let’s have a look at some tips which will help you in answering these questions.

• The reason why fill in the blanks questions are asked in the SSC CGL exam is that the authorities want to check the vocabulary, reading and language skills.
• Knowledge of different tenses will help you in answering these questions better. You need to keep revising the rules of the 3 tenses (past, present and future) and also their further classification (participle, continuous etc.).
• The sentence which is given with a blank to be filled will be a grammatically correct sentence. So don’t fill the blank with any word which makes it a grammatically incorrect one. 
• If you can identify the subject, object and other parts of a sentence (the parsing process) and can understand the subject-verb agreement, it would be a great help in answering these questions.
• There are different types of sentences viz. assertion, question, exclamation, commentary etc. Identifying which kind of sentence you are dealing with and understanding the tonality of the sentence will also help you in filling the blanks questions.
• Getting a hold of the different parts of speeches such as noun, pronoun, preposition, adjective, verb, conjunction etc. will help you as well.
• Practice is the best tool to get an edge over this topic. When you practice more questions, you get acquainted with different types of sentences and their structures. You also get to know the meaning of new words which will be definitely helpful while answering fill in the blanks questions.
• Always review the questions you attempt especially the ones you have answered incorrectly. Check how and why did you answer the questions incorrectly and try not to repeat the same mistake in the actual exam.
• Keep brushing up your vocabulary on a regular basis. This is one of the most important things which will help you in answering the questions correctly. Keep reading newspapers (such as The Hindu) on a regular basis to learn new words.
• Once you have done enough practice, start solving mock tests on a regular basis. This step will help you in understanding what level of questions are asked in the actual exam.

So, these are the tips from our side. Following these tips will definitely put you on a better platform to answer fill in the blanks questions. Keep practicing and you will definitely be able to answer all the fillers questions in the SSC CGL exam. If you have any comment/ feedback for us, please leave a comment in the box below.

Wishing you good luck with your preparation!

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