"השלם את המילים" — אותיות, דקדוק ומשמעות

The same prefix can lead to a different verb

• “Volunteers arr____ early yesterday” and “Volunteers arr____ the chairs” share a beginning but not the same meaning. Letters, grammar and context must work together.

• ETS describes a 70–100-word academic paragraph. Its first sentence is intact; after that, the second half of every second word is deleted until there are ten gaps.

• Type the missing letters, not the whole word. Use meaning, vocabulary, grammar and spelling together. Read the intact first sentence for context before you attempt any gap.

The missing halves of words are not hiding under the keyboard.

Start with the printed letters

• In the plants abs___ some water, the visible abs and the sentence point to absorb; you enter orb. A synonym with a different beginning cannot fit. Grammar can narrow a choice: after were very in the results were very cle__, an adjective such as clear fits.
• Be careful with rigid shortcuts. The can be followed by an adjective before a noun (the clear result), and to can begin a noun phrase (to the library).

Use the whole sentence, not the gap

• Read to the end of the sentence before choosing. Later words can rule out a guess that seemed plausible from the prefix alone.
• Check the full phrase: the survey rep_____ a change calls for a reporting verb. Reported fits the given letters and the meaning; another word beginning rep may not. Contrast words such as however signal a change in direction, not necessarily an exact opposite. Read the whole thought.

Read it back

• Join your answer to the printed prefix and read the whole word in its sentence. Check endings such as -s, -ed and -ing when the grammar calls for them; do not add one automatically.
• If two completions seem possible, choose the one that fits both the local grammar and the paragraph's meaning.

How to practise

• Use a short academic paragraph. Keep the first sentence, then remove the latter half of every second word until there are ten gaps. Restore only those missing letters.
• The next lesson has one complete original passage with ten checked gaps; it needs no specialist knowledge. Task mechanics checked on 23 September 2026: ETS 2026 TOEFL iBT overview and ETS Reading section.

Three clues must agree on one word

• Apply the method to complete word-restoration paragraphs, with guided clues, fresh independent texts and an entry-error repair.