Complete the Words, explained
A passage with the ends of words cut off, and four candidates for each gap that all begin the same way. It is the fastest task in the 2026 Reading section and the easiest one to lose by reading only the gap. This page works four gaps in full and hands you the drill afterwards.
What Complete the Words asks you to do
You read a short passage in which several words are printed with their endings removed — prot____, ada____, deter____. For each gap you choose the word that completes it from four options. The passage is ordinary expository prose; the gaps are the only thing unusual about it.
- The visible letters are given to you, so spelling is not what is being tested.
- All four options begin with those same letters. That is the design of the task, not an accident of one item.
- Because the options are indistinguishable at the gap, the sentence around it is the only thing that can settle the answer.
What ETS states
The 2026 specification lists the Reading section at 50 items and 35 raw points, with task types Complete the Words, Read in Daily Life, and Read an Academic Passage.
These are published blueprint values, which the specification states are subject to minor revisions until the official launch. The item count includes non-scored items, so items do not equal raw points — the specification lists a maximum of 1 point per scored item.
The specification lists an estimated Reading time of an 18–21 minute router plus a 9 minute module, in a two-stage router-plus-module adaptive design.
The times are estimated. Reading prints a single 9 minute module for both routes, unlike Listening, which prints two discrete module lengths.
Reading items are machine-scored selected responses, evaluated by rule-based algorithms per the specification’s item-type notes.
Machine-scored is not exclusive to Reading and Listening — Build a Sentence is machine-scored too. This says nothing about how Reach120 scores your practice.
Sourced from the ETS 2026 test specifications, read (link confirmed ). Everything outside this box is Reach120’s own reading of it.
The four reasons a gap is lost
Every wrong option is a real English word that fits the visible letters. What separates it from the key is one of four things, and knowing which one you are looking at is faster than eliminating options one by one.
| What separates the key | What it looks like | How to settle it |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | The option means something real but not something the sentence is about — "grateful" where the sentence needs a force. | Read the clause without the gap and say what it needs in your own words first. |
| Part of speech | The right meaning in the wrong form — "careful" where the slot modifies a verb and needs "carefully". | Name the slot: is it describing a noun, a verb, or standing as one? |
| A near neighbour | Two options share more than the visible letters — "determine" beside "deteriorate". | Read further into the word than the gap shows before you commit. |
| A grammatical frame | The words around the gap only accept one shape — "must be ___" takes an adjective, "to ___" takes a base verb. | Read the two words before the gap out loud with each option attached. |
Reading the gap versus reading the sentence
Weaker
The gap says deter____. You recognise "determine", it fits the letters, and you move on — the passage is long and this task is meant to be quick.
Stronger
The clause is "Light, humidity, and dust can deter____ ancient paint if left unchecked". Dust does not decide paint. It damages it. Only one option means damage over time.
This is the single most expensive habit on this task type, because it feels like speed. Reading the clause costs about two seconds and settles most gaps outright.
A passage worked gap by gap
A passage worked gap by gap
One passage, printed whole, with four of its gaps worked option by option. They are four gaps rather than all of them on purpose: each one is lost for a different reason, and the four reasons are the whole task.
Caring for objects in a museum
Passage
Museum conservators work quietly to protect fra____ objects from the damage of time. Light, humidity, and dust can deter____ ancient paint if left unchecked. Before any repair, a conservator studies the piece care____, sometimes using X-rays to see beneath the sur____. The goal is to stab____ an object, not make it look new. Materials chosen must be rever____, so future experts can undo the work if better methods appe____. Every treatment is recorded in detailed not____. Through such labor, artifacts stay ava____ for visitors to appr____.
Complete the partially missing word fra____.
A. fraction Incorrect
A part of a whole. Conservators do not protect fractions from time.
B. fragment Incorrect
A broken piece — a noun. The slot needs a describing word before "objects".
C. fragrant Incorrect
Sweet-smelling. Grammatically fine, and unrelated to damage.
D. fragile Correct answer
The key. "Fragile objects" are the ones that need protecting from damage, which is what the sentence is about.
Complete the partially missing word care____.
A. carefully Correct answer
The key, and grammar settles it: the slot modifies the verb "studies", so it takes an adverb.
B. careless Incorrect
Reverses the meaning of the sentence, and is the wrong part of speech besides.
C. careful Incorrect
The most tempting wrong answer here. It is the right meaning in the wrong form — an adjective cannot modify a verb.
D. carefulness Incorrect
A noun, ungrammatical straight after the verb.
Complete the partially missing word rever____.
A. reversible Correct answer
The key, and the clause after it defines the word: "so future experts can undo the work".
B. reversing Incorrect
A participle. It does not sit after "must be" as a description of the materials.
C. reverence Incorrect
Deep respect. Same opening letters, unrelated meaning.
D. reversal Incorrect
A noun, so "must be reversal" does not parse.
Complete the partially missing word deter____.
A. deter Incorrect
To discourage someone. Light and humidity do not discourage paint.
B. detergent Incorrect
A noun for a cleaner, and the slot is a verb.
C. determine Incorrect
To decide. This is the near neighbour that catches people who read only the first five letters.
D. deteriorate Correct answer
The key. "Can deteriorate ancient paint if left unchecked" is the damage the whole sentence is describing.
These are Reach120 practice items written for the 2026 task format. None of them is a real TOEFL test item, and nothing on this page is published, licensed, endorsed or reviewed by ETS. The reasoning under each answer is ours.
How Complete the Words is scored
Each gap is a selected response with one keyed answer, marked right or wrong by rule. There is no partial credit for a near miss and no rubric to appeal to, which is why the useful practice signal is not your total but which of the four reasons above keeps catching you.
What ETS states
For TOEFL tests taken on or after January 21, 2026, official score reports use a 1–6 scale in half-band increments.
Sourced from the ETS 2026 test specifications, read (link confirmed ). Everything outside this box is Reach120’s own reading of it.
How to practice it
- 1Read the whole passage once before filling anything in. Several gaps are settled by a sentence that comes after them.
- 2For each gap, say what the slot needs before you look at the options. Once you have read four similar-looking words, your sense of the sentence is already contaminated.
- 3When you miss one, classify it against the four reasons above rather than just reading the key. Three meaning errors and three grammar errors are two different study problems.
- 4Practice the grammatical frames deliberately — "must be", "to", "remain", "studies it ___". They recur across passages and are the cheapest points on the task.
Complete the Words: common questions
- Why do all the options start with the same letters?
- Because the task is testing whether you can use the sentence to choose between words you already know, not whether you can recognise a word from its opening. If the options started differently, the visible letters alone would answer the item.
- Is Complete the Words a vocabulary test or a grammar test?
- Both, and the split is roughly even in practice. Some gaps are decided by what a word means and some by what form the sentence will accept. The worked passage on this page contains examples of each.
- How many words are missing from a passage?
- ETS does not publish a per-passage figure. The Reach120 practice passages print their own gap count on the drill page, and that is our bank’s value rather than an ETS rule.
- Do I need to know rare vocabulary?
- Rarely. The worked passage turns on fragile, carefully, reversible and deteriorate — all ordinary words. What is being tested is precision between neighbours, not breadth.