Vocabulary, Grammar, and Usage in Context
This part tests words and grammar inside short contexts: a blank in a sentence (語句空所補充) with four choices, a blank in a short conversation where you pick the natural reply, and a word-ordering item (語句整序) where you arrange given words. The vocabulary level is roughly 3,000–4,000 basic words, so what separates candidates is not rare vocabulary but control of word class, collocation, tense, and fixed patterns.
Decide the part of speech first
Before reading the options, look at what surrounds the blank. After a preposition you need a noun or gerund. After a modal (can, must, should) you need the base verb. After an article you need a noun. After very you need an adjective or adverb. This alone eliminates two options in many items.
Learn words in chunks, not lists
Store collocations and prepositions together: take a shower, make a decision, be good at, be interested in, depend on, look after, give up, arrive at a building versus arrive in a city. Preposition questions are decided by the chunk, not by logic.
Tense follows the time marker
yesterday, ago, last week → past tense. already, just, never, since → present perfect. tomorrow, next month → will or be going to. In when and if clauses about the future, use the present tense: "When it rains, we will stay home."
Word ordering: find the fixed frame
Identify the pattern first, then slot the remaining words. Frames such as "How long does it take to get to ...?", "It is fun for me to ...", and "the boy playing the guitar" lock most of the order into place.
Worked example
"We arrived ___ the airport just before noon." Options: at / in / on / to. Reasoning: arrive takes at for a specific point or building and in for a city or country. An airport is a point on a journey, so at is correct. On belongs to surfaces and days, and to belongs to go to, not arrive. The time phrase before noon confirms past tense but does not change the preposition.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing an option that fits the meaning but not the grammar slot.
- Confusing borrow/lend, bring/take, say/tell, hear/listen to.
- Adding -s to uncountables: information, advice, furniture, news, homework.
- Answering a conversation blank with a logical but unnatural reply.
- Guessing word order by ear instead of locating the fixed pattern.