CDS English · Teaching notes
Fill in the Blanks — CDS English
Fill in the Blanks has 35 past-year questions in CDS English, from four sittings only: 2017 (I), 2019 (I), 2020 (II) and 2024 (I). Each item is one sentence with one blank, so it is a cloze blank without the passage: the same slot-first reading decides it, with the sentence itself as the only context. This page gathers the rules and the collocations and phrasal verbs these items tested, and links to the Cloze Test pages that teach each skill in full.
Every subtopic, worked example, formula and trap in one printable document — answers shown, ready to share.
Subtopic notes
Formula & revision sheet
0 formulas · 2 reference tables · 16 gotchas across all subtopics — the exam-eve cheat-sheet
Formula & revision sheet
0 formulas · 2 reference tables · 16 gotchas across all subtopics — the exam-eve cheat-sheet
Sentence Blanks: Slot, Clue, Collocation and Phrasal Verb
Reference tables (2)
Collocations tested: fixed partners8 rows
| Collocation | Meaning | Clue in the sentence | Wrong options offered | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pay for | give money in exchange for something | Can you pay ___ all these articles? | out, of, off | 2017 (I)Q |
| live in (a building) | have your home inside it | We live ___ a tower block. Our apartment is on the fifteenth floor. | at, over, above | 2019 (I)Q |
| administer the oath | formally lead someone through taking an oath | The Governor will ___ the oath of office to the new ministers | confer, present, execute | 2017 (I)Q |
| carry a risk | involve a risk | Complementary medicine ___ fewer risks | reacts, releases, ejects | 2019 (I)Q |
| respond to | react to, deal with | How we ___ to ageing is a choice we must make wisely. | absolve, discharge, overlook | 2019 (I)Q |
| a has-been | a person who is no longer important or popular | a politician of about forty years whom his party now sidelines | a have-been, a had-been, would have been | 2020 (II)Q |
| percolate to | spread slowly down to | The consequences of economic growth have now ___ to the lowest level. | drawn, slipped, crept | 2017 (I)Q |
| no precedent for | no earlier case to follow | there is no ___ for awarding scholarships on the basis of merit in examination alone | opportunity, chance, possibility | 2017 (I)Q |
Every wrong option has the right word class. Only the partner word decides.
Phrasal verbs tested11 rows
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Clue in the sentence | Wrong options offered | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| get on (in a job) | manage, make progress | How are you ___ in your new job? Are you enjoying it? | keeping on, going on, carrying on | 2019 (I)Q |
| turn out (to be) | prove in the end | Nobody believed Ram at first but he ___ to be right. | came out, carried out, worked out | 2019 (I)Q |
| get away with | escape punishment for a wrong act | I parked my car in a no-parking zone, but I ___ it. | came up with, made off with, got on with | 2019 (I)Q |
| put (someone) off | make someone lose interest or change their mind | You were going to apply ... then you decided not to. So what ___? | put you out, turned you off, turned you away | 2019 (I)Q |
| call off | cancel | The football match had to be ___ because of the weather. | called on, called out, called over | 2019 (I)Q |
| carry on | continue, even when it is hard | The boisterous crowd ___ with its merry-making even amidst pouring rain. | played on, flowed on, carried out | 2024 (I)Q |
| get back (to) | return to an earlier state | She was advised by her coach to ___ to form | get on, get along, get done | 2024 (I)Q |
| set upon | attack suddenly | The goons ___ the unsuspecting victims | set up, set along, set down | 2024 (I)Q |
| pore over | study something closely | a team that checked a contract with great care before making its recommendation | plied over, poured over, run over | 2024 (I)Q |
| trip off | walk away with light, quick steps | She said goodbye and ___ along the road. | tripped out, tripped over, tripped in | 2024 (I)Q |
| come across | find by chance | When I visited the villages nearby the city I ___ many water bodies intact. | come across, came, came in | 2020 (II)Q |
The options usually share the verb. The particle carries the meaning.
Watch out for (16)
- will after in case→ Name the grammar slot first
- Mixing the two halves of a conditional→ Name the grammar slot first
- one of the + a singular noun→ Name the grammar slot first
- told or said before whether→ Name the grammar slot first
- A look-alike instead of the word→ The other half of the sentence names the word
- broke and broken→ The other half of the sentence names the word
- Missing the contrast word→ The other half of the sentence names the word
- Even or Since where a contrast is needed→ The other half of the sentence names the word
- Choosing the preposition from the floor number→ Collocations tested: fixed partners
- Close meaning, wrong partner→ Collocations tested: fixed partners
- Changing a fixed noun→ Collocations tested: fixed partners
- Any downward verb for percolate→ Collocations tested: fixed partners
- Same verb, different particle→ Phrasal verbs tested
- pore over and pour over→ Phrasal verbs tested
- carry on and carry out→ Phrasal verbs tested
- Right particle, wrong tense→ Phrasal verbs tested
PYQ weightage by concept
4 concepts · 35 PYQs — where the marks actually sit, so you know what to drill first
PYQ weightage by concept
4 concepts · 35 PYQs — where the marks actually sit, so you know what to drill first
Sentence Blanks: Slot, Clue, Collocation and Phrasal Verb35 PYQs · 100%
| Concept | PYQs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Phrasal verbs tested | 11 | 31% |
| The other half of the sentence names the word | 9 | 26% |
| Collocations tested: fixed partners | 8 | 23% |
| Name the grammar slot first | 7 | 20% |
Test yourself on Fill in the Blanks
25 past CDS questions from this chapter, timed at 25 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.