Passage Completion Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Correct answer: I didn't know there was going to be a match tonight.

Danny replies shame on you. The national team is playing against Germany, which is a reproach for not knowing about the match. Only the keyed line admits that ignorance. The others accept the invitation or object to pubs, neither of which earns the reproach.

Answer: A

Correct answer: It was not late, mom. It was only ten o'clock.

The mother answers it was too late for a girl at your age, so the daughter must have argued that it was not late. The reply also settles it: I don't want to discuss this ends an argument the daughter has started.

Answer: A

Correct answer: I don't but I promise that I will from now on.

The patient's closing line - of course I do, but I can't stop myself - admits a habit he cannot break, and the exchange only reaches it if he first concedes the dentist's charge. The two options claiming he has brushed regularly since childhood contradict the dentist, who is then never challenged, and taking offence would not lead to a discussion of sweets.

Answer: A

Correct answer: But the report has got over two hundred pages.

Rafi answers then you should have started reading it a long time ago, which is a reply to an objection that the task is too big. Only the keyed line raises that objection; agreeing with Rafi would leave then with nothing to answer.

Answer: D

Correct answer: How do you know that he has got very good ideas?

Jill's next line explains how she knows - he takes notes and she has read some of them - so Sam must have asked how she knows. A question is also the only option that could draw an explanation rather than a further comment.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Don't blame yourself. You studied as hard as you could

John answers who am I going to blame then?, so Ricky must have told him not to blame himself. Ricky's next line - put the blame on the system - confirms it. Telling John it is time he started to study would be more blame, not less.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Do you think this will affect your status?

Harry answers I'm sure I will have some trouble, which is an answer about the consequences for him, so Nell must have asked about them. Nell's next line, advising him to look for a new job, follows from that trouble. A remark about what Nell would do with so much money leaves Harry's reply with nothing to answer.

Answer: A

Correct answer: I'm working on some letters, but they are not quite ready

Ashok's reply is I can hold off for a few minutes, but that's all, so Alok must have given a reason for Ashok to wait. Only the keyed line does. Offering to come along or to go instead would not ask him to delay.

Answer: C

Correct answer: He had to be rushed to the emergency room yesterday

Rushi replies really? I hope it is not too serious, so John's line must report something serious about Timmy. The options about a holiday or a recovery long ago would not prompt that concern.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Of course, this mental system is not directly observable

The sentence after the blank begins that is the basic challenge, so the blank must state a difficulty. A system that cannot be observed directly is exactly such a difficulty, and the following sentence - but since our linguistic systems are housed in our brains, we have no choice - answers it. The other three options state facts about brain research, none of which poses a problem for the discipline.