Long sentence

Sentence shifts

Double blank

Triple blank sentences

Approach : Target → Clue → Pivot → Fill in

1. Read only the sentence

2. Find the target, clue & the pivot

   eg : If the student had been less _______, he would not have been expelled from the school

   1. target → thing in the sentence that the blank is describing. Stating the target well helps locate the clue. Here, the target is the “student” Note : If the blank represents a missing noun, the idea of a “target” may not apply. That’s okay. Targets are very helpful when the blank is a missing adj. or verb If the blank represents a verb, you might have 2 targets. In “The ornery critic ___ the play” the critic is performing the action & the play is receiving the action. The target is a relationship between the subject and object. Ask “what did the critic do ?”, “what happened to the play?”, or “What did the critic do to the play?”
   2. clue → forces the contents of the blank to be more predictable by telling us more about the target. Look for dramatic action or emotion Here, the clue is “expelled”
   3. pivot → determines on whether the blank agrees/disagrees with the clue. Here, if the student were less “such-and-such” , he would not have been expelled. Less & not cancel each other out as negatives so the blank agrees with the clue

   <aside> ⚡ Fill in = clue + pivot

   </aside>

3. Staring at the words for longer will not suddenly make up for a lack of vocabulary

4. Break down the sentence into small chunks. Attack the easiest blank first