Grammar Cloze Exercises

In this English lesson, we will be working on grammar cloze exercises. We will be looking into several examples where you will be expected to fill in the blanks with the right words from the given choices. 

So, let’s start with some practice questions.

Practice Questions

Question 1:

Part (1) __________ the weasel family, sea otters are located (2) __________ the coast of the Pacific Ocean in North America. Sea otters often float (3) __________ the surface of water bodies. These aquatic animals crush oysters (4) __________ rocks until they crack wide open, allowing them to devour the delicious flesh inside.
 

1. Fill in the blank for (1) __________
    
   1. of
   2. with
   3. to

Answer:

The correct answer to this question is option (a) - of. “Part of” is a collocation and these words usually come together. When you want to talk about certain species or things that are smaller parts of a bigger group, then you should use “part of”. We will not be using “part with” here as it means to give up possession or control of something that originally belonged to you. As such, “part with” doesn’t fit in the question stated above.

2. Fill in the blank for (2) __________
    
   1. along
   2. through
   3. into

Answer:

The correct answer to this question is option (a) - along. We use the preposition “along” when we have a path, which is long and winding. For instance: along the riverbank, along the path, along the corridor etc.

3. Fill in the blank for (3) __________
   1. along
   2. on
   3. into

Answer:

The correct answer to this question is option (b) - on. For anything that is on a surface, we always use the preposition “on”.

4. Fill in the blank for (4) __________
    
   1. for 
   2. in
   3. against

Answer:

The correct answer to this question is option (c) - against. Use this preposition for when something comes into physical contact with another thing, to collide with or be supported by it.

Test Your Concepts

Answer the following questions based on the concepts we’ve covered in this article. If you get stuck, revisit the relevant section to revise the concepts.

Question 1:

The cookies were shared __________ Jamie, Sam and Violet.

1. among
2. between
3. from

Question 2:

In this century of technology and digitalisation, everything from entertainment (1) __________ education is online. Even books can be easily downloaded online. (2) __________, such a convenient method of reading is definitely welcomed by some. (3) __________, I still prefer reading physical copies of books. Being able to feel the weight of the book in my hands, to smell the fresh pages of the book, (4) __________ to see the pages I’ve read are things I enjoy very much.

1. Fill in the blank for (1) __________
   1. or
   2. to
   3. in

2. Fill in the blank for (2) __________
   1. thus
   2. hence
   3. therefore
   4. all of the options are correct

3. Fill in the blank for (3) __________
   1. Despite
   2. Although
   3. However

4. Fill in the blank for (4) __________
   1. and
   2. so
   3. since