Guide to Part 6: Text Completion

The Format

This part gives you short passages, things like emails, memos, notices, or articles, and each one has multiple blanks. For each blank, you choose the best word, phrase, or complete sentence from four answer choices.

Part 6 sits somewhere between Part 5 and Part 7 in terms of difficulty. It tests the same grammar and vocabulary skills as Part 5, but now you're working within the context of a full passage instead of a single sentences. Some of the blanks also test reading comprehension, which makes this a hybrid section.

What This Part is Testing

• Grammar and vocabulary applied in the context of a passage.
• The logical flow between sentences, how one idea connects to the next
• Your knowledge of transition words like "however," "therefore," "in addition," and "as a result," and understanding which logical relationship each one signals

Blank Types

Grammar blanks. These are similar to what you see in Part 5 (verb tense, word form, pronoun choice), but the correct answer sometimes depends on information found elsewhere in the passage, not just in the sentence that contains the blank.

Vocabulary blanks. Here you're choosing the word that best fits the passage's meaning and overall tone.

Transition and connector blanks. These ask you to pick the linking word that correctly expresses the relationship between two ideas.

How the Test Tricks You

Blank-only thinking. The most common mistake people make is reading only the sentence with the blank and ignoring everything else in the passage. But some answers depend on a name that was mentioned elsewhere.

Opposite transitions. Wrong connector choices often express the reverse of the relationship that's actually needed. For example, the wrong answer might use "however" (which signals contrast) when the sentence is actually continuing the same idea (which would call for "in addition" or "furthermore").

Overly specific or overly vague distractors. Wrong sentence choices tend to do one of two things: they either introduce a random detail that doesn't appear anywhere else in the passage, or they're so generic that they don't meaningfully connect to the sentences around them.

How to Approach Each Question

1. Read the entire passage before answering any blank. This takes a few extra seconds for each question. But it prevents you from choosing an answer that works in isolation but falls apart in context.
2. Identify the passage type. Is it an email, a memo, a notice, or an article? Knowing this helps you predict the tone and structure of what you're reading.
3. For grammar and vocabulary blanks, use your Part 5 skills. Identify the needed part of speech first, then narrow things down by meaning.
4. For transition blanks, figure out the relationship before looking at the choices. Ask yourself: is this sentence adding something? Contrasting? Showing a result? Giving an example? Once you know the relationship, matching it to the right connector becomes much easier.