Section 2.

Reading section

Part 5. Incomplete Sentences

Part 6. Text Completion
Part 7. Reading Comprehension

Reading Section
Part 5. Incomplete Sentences

Incomplete sentences are about word families, similar words, prepositions, conjunction,
adverbs of frequency, causative verbs, verbs tense, and two word verbs.

1. Word families: Word families are the various types of words that can be made from one
word. A word can go from noun to verb to adjective to adverb by changing the ending of
the word.

Example:

Finale (noun, thing) -> finalist (noun, person) -> finalize (verb) -> final (adjective) -> finally
(adverb)

2. Similar words : word that has the same meaning

Example

 Beautiful: attractive, pretty, lovely, stunning.

 Bossy: controlling, tyrannical.
 Fair: just, objective, impartial, unbiased.
 Funny: humorous, comical, hilarious, hysterical.
 Happy: content, joyful, mirthful, upbeat.
 Hardworking: diligent, determined, industrious, enterprising.

3. Preposition

Preposition is a word used to link nouns, pronouns, or phrases to other words within a sentence.
They act to connect the people, objects, time and locations of a sentence.  Prepositions are
usually short words, and they are normally placed directly in front of nouns. In some cases,
you’ll find prepositions in front of gerund verbs.

I prefer to read in the library.

He climbed up the ladder to get onto the roof.
Please sign your name on the dotted line after you read the contract.
Go down the stairs and through the door.
He swam across the pool.
 4. Conjunction

Conjunctions are words that join together other words or groups of words.

A coordinating conjunction connects words, phrases, and clauses of equal importance. The main
coordinating conjunctions are and, or, and but.

They bought apples, pears, and oranges.

You can wait either on the steps or in the car.
The paintings are pleasant but bland.

When placed at the beginning of a sentence, a coordinating conjunction may also link two
sentences or paragraphs.

The preparations were complete. But where were the guests?

She told him that he would have to work to earn her trust. And he proceeded to do just that.

A subordinating conjunction introduces a subordinate clause (a clause that does not form a
simple sentence by itself) and joins it to a main clause (a clause that can be used as a simple
sentence by itself).

She waited until they were seated.

It had been quiet since the children left.

Some conjunctions are used in pairs. The most common pairs are either ... or, both ... and,
neither ... nor, and not only ... but (also).

They could either continue searching or go to the police.

Both Clara and Jeanette graduated from Stanford.
He could neither sing nor dance.
Not only the money but also the jewelry had been found.

Some adverbs, such as afterwards, consequently, for example, however, nonetheless, and
therefore, act like conjunctions by linking either two main clauses separated by a semicolon, or
two separate sentences. They express some effect that the first clause or sentence has on the
second one.

They didn't agree, however, each understood the other's opinion.

We'll probably regret it, still, we really have no choice.
The team has won its last three games. Thus, its record for the year is now 15-12.

5. Adverbs of Frequency

https://www.wallstreetenglish.com/blog/how-to-teach-adverbs-of-frequency-in-english/
 An adverb of frequency describes how often an action happens. There are six main adverbs of
frequency that we use in English: always, usually (or normally), often, sometimes, rarely, and
never

 Sara always goes out on Saturday evenings.

 Jane’s boyfriend usually picks her up and they drive into the city centre.
 Ben and Emma often go for lunch together.
 In the winter Sara sometimes goes Skiing in France.
 James and Stephen rarely go to the cinema in the summer because they prefer to stay
outside.
 As Marta is so busy, she never gets home from work before 7

With sentences using the verb ‘to be’, the adverb of frequency comes after the verb. For
example:

 There are always lots of people in the city center on Saturday nights.
 It’s often difficult to find a place to park.
 But our friends are never on time so it doesn’t matter if we’re late.

As is often the case in English, there are variations to this rule. For example, it’s possible to put
the adverbs ‘sometimes’ and ‘usually’ at the beginning of a sentence:

 Sometimes she does her homework with friends.

 Usually they study on their own.

Adverbs of Frequency with Modal Verbs and Auxiliary Verbs

Next we need to remind students that there is a modal auxiliary verb (can, could, may, might,
will, would, shall, should, must, ought to) in a sentence. We put the adverb of frequency after it
and before the main verb. For example:

 You must always try your best.

 We can usually find a seat on our train.
 They should never be rude to customers.  

The same rule applies for an auxiliary verb. Auxiliary verbs are verbs that appear before the
main verb in a sentence to modify the meaning of the main verb. Unlike main verbs, auxiliary
verbs do not have their own meaning. These auxiliary verbs consist of primary auxiliary verb
(be, do, have). The adverb of frequency goes between the auxiliary verb and the main verb. For
example:

 I have never visited Turkey. (have: primary auxiliary verb)

(visited: main verb)
 He’s always taking things from my desk. It’s really annoying. ( is: auxiliary verb)
(taking: main verb)
 You had rarely arrived late at work until yesterday.

The Question Form

To make questions about frequency, we normally use ‘How often…?’. For example:

 How often do you watch films?

 How often does he play tennis?
 How often do the trains arrive late?

But it’s also possible to ask questions simply with an adverb of frequency. For example:

 Do you often come here?

 Does she always work so hard?
 Do they ever pay on time? (‘ever’ instead of ‘never’ for questions

6. Causative Verbs (https://www.learngrammar.net/english-grammar/causative-verbs)

The causatives are the verbs that are used to indicate that one person causes another person
to do something for the first person. One can cause somebody to do something for him/her by
asking, paying, requesting, or forcing the person.

 Have
 Get
 Make

This kind of verbs constitutes different structures for their sentences.

Have

Structure 1: 

Subject + have (any tense) + object (usually person) + base form of verb + O/N
Example:
John had Alex clean the bedroom.
He always has me do his work.
  Mary will have Alex prepare her homework.

Structure 2:
Subject + have (any tense) + object (usually thing) + past participle form of verb
Example:
John had his car washed.
He always has his work done.
  Mary will have her homework prepared.

Get

Structure 1:

Subject + get (any tense) + object (usually person) + infinitive +O/N

Example:
John got Alex to clean the bedroom.
He always gets me to do his work.
  Mary will get Alex to prepare her homework.

Structure 2:

Subject + have (any tense) + object (usually thing) + past participle form of verb
Example:
John got his car washed.
He always gets his work done.
 Mary will get her homework prepared.

Make

‘Make’ is stronger than ‘have/get’. It constitutes only one structure as it does not take anything
‘passive’ as its object.    

Subject + make (any tense) + object (always person) + base form of verb +O/N
Example:
Robert made me beat that little child.  
He always makes me do his work.
Mary will make me prepare her homework.  
I made him wash my car.
He makes me laugh whenever I am down.
 7. Verb Tense
(https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/verbtenses)

According to corpus research, in academic writing, the three tenses used the most often
are the (a) simple present, (b) simple past, and (c) present perfect. The next most common
tense is the future; some major assessments, course assignments, and the doctoral study
proposal at Walden are written in this tense for a study that will be conducted in the
future.

APA Style Guidelines on Verb Tense

APA calls for consistency and accuracy in verb tense usage

 Use the past tense (e.g., researchers presented) or the present perfect (e.g., researchers
have presented) for the literature review and the description of the procedure if
discussing past events.
 Use the past tense to describe the results (e.g., test scores improved significantly).
 Use the present tense to discuss implications of the results and present conclusions (e.g.,
the results of the study show…).

When explaining what an author or researcher wrote or did, use the past tense.

 Patterson (2012) presented, found, stated, discovered…

However, there can be a shift to the present tense if the research findings still hold true:

 King (2010) found that revising a document three times improves the final grade.
 Smith (2016) discovered that the treatment is effective.

Verb Tense Guidelines When Referring to the Document Itself

To preview what is coming in the document or to explain what is happening at that moment in
the document, use the present or future tense:

 In this study, I will describe…

 In this study, I describe…
 In the next chapter, I will discuss…
 In the next chapter, I discuss…

To refer back to information already covered, such as summaries of discussions that have already
taken place or conclusions to chapters/sections, use the past tense:

 Chapter 1 contained my original discussion of the research questions.

  In summary, in this section, I presented information on…

There are 12 main tenses:

 Simple present: She writes every day.

 Present progressive: She is writing right now.
 Simple past: She wrote last night.
 Past progressive: She was writing when he called.
 Simple future: She will write tomorrow.
 Future progressive: She will be writing when you arrive.
 Present perfect: She has written Chapter 1.
 Present perfect progressive: She has been writing for 2 hours.
 Past perfect: She had written Chapter 3 before she started Chapter 4.
 Past perfect progressive: She had been writing for 2 hours before her friends arrived.
 Future perfect: She will have written Chapter 4 before she writes Chapter 5.
 Future perfect progressive: She will have been writing for 2 hours by the time her
friends come over.

8. Two word verbs (https://www.englishgrammar.org/verbs-prepositions-adverb-

particles)

Many English verbs can be followed by prepositions or adverb particles.

 Do sit down.
 Alice ran down the road without looking at anybody.

Some verbs and prepositions / particles are regularly used together. Examples are: look at, listen
to, stand up and switch off. These combinations are rather like two-word verbs. In grammars
these are often called phrasal verbs.

The meaning of a two-word verb can be very different from the meanings of the two-parts taken
separately.

 The meeting had to be put off. (The meaning of put off is not the same as the meanings
of put and off.)

Some verbs can be used with both an adverb particle and a preposition.
Examples are: get on with, put up with and look out for.

The two parts of a phrasal verb made with a verb + adverb particle are often separable. That
means the particle can go before or after noun objects.

 Can you switch off the light? OR Can you switch the light off?

Example:
1. The newspaper editor, Mr. Lim has invited a distinguished architect to write about ___
famous building.
a. He
b. Him
c. His
d. Himself

2. All employees are required to attend ___ the morning and the afternoon sessions of the
training workshop on Friday.
a. when
b. both
c. which
d. some

3. This course provides students with the tools for thinking about ways to enhance ___
among races, ethnic groups and social classes.
a. collaborative
b. collaborate
c. collaborated
d. collaboration

4. The new employee orientation will be held in one of the training facility classrooms and
it will begin ___ at 8:00 am.
a. promptly
b. prompt
c. promptness
d. prompts

5. Employees who wish to participate in the FSA program must submit their ___ paper
work to the human resources department by dec.16.
a. conclusive
b. absolute
c. completed
d. exhausted

6. UPS guarantees the ___ of your important shipments from the U.S. to more than 580
international cities
a. deliverable
b. deliverer
c. deliver
d. delivery
7. Old magazines and important papers are stored ___ the top shelf in labeled files.
a. out
b. on
c. to
d. for

8. The sharp hotel has decided to offer a free shuttle ___ to the beach every day from 8 a.m
to 9 p.m., leaving every hour.
a. service
b. serve
c. will serve
d. servings

9. The committee recommended ___ more systematic procedures for the management of
employee performance evalutions.
a. proceeding
b. remarking
c. developing
d. persuading

10. It will be ___ to develop an updated emplotee manual incorporating the many changes
that have occurred over the past twelve years.
a. necessity
b. necessitate
c. necessarily
d. necessary