Reading Part B: Short Cloze Passages
What this section tests
You read a short passage with several blanks and choose the option that fits each blank. Unlike discrete-sentence items, cloze questions require both local grammar and global coherence: the correct answer must fit the sentence and the surrounding passage.
Concepts to master
Review connectors and their logic: mais, pourtant, cependant, donc, par conséquent, en revanche, de plus, en effet. Know pronoun reference across sentences, including celui-ci, celle-là, en, y, and relative pronouns qui/que/dont/où. Track tense consistency: a narrative may shift from passé composé to imparfait for description, or use conditional for a consequence. Check gender, number, and agreement across sentence boundaries. Vocabulary questions often test collocations-prendre une décision, faire des recherches, jouer un rôle.
Traps
The biggest trap is a connector that is grammatically fine but logically wrong: donc where the passage needs contrast, or cependant where it needs addition. Another is choosing a word that fits the blank sentence but contradicts the next sentence. Agreement errors can be hidden by distance between noun and adjective. Do not ignore the sentence before and after the blank.
Worked example
Le musée était fermé. ___ , nous sommes allés au parc. The second sentence gives a consequence, so Donc or Par conséquent fits; Pourtant would wrongly signal contrast.
Rule of thumb
Read the whole short passage once before filling blanks. For each blank, ask what relation the sentence has to the previous one: cause, contrast, addition, example, or consequence.