DET Read and Complete Practice With Answers

Read and Complete gives you a passage with letters removed from some words and three minutes per passage. There are 3 to 6 passages and they feed the Reading subscore.

The visible letters are only one of four clues. Grammatical position, collocation and the meaning of the passage narrow the word before the letters confirm it, and using them in that order is what makes three minutes enough.

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Key Takeaways

• Read and Complete: 3 to 6 passages, 3 minutes each, contributes to the Reading subscore.
• Four clues in order: grammatical position, collocation, passage meaning, then the visible letters.
• Fill the easy words first — each one you complete gives more context for the harder ones.
• Partial credit applies, so a partially completed word still scores and a blank never does.
• Read the completed passage back; a wrong word usually breaks the sentence audibly.

How the task works

Element	Detail
Passages	3-6
Time	3 minutes each
What is missing	Some letters from some words, with the first letters shown
Subscore	Reading
Scoring	Partial credit per letter or word

The order of clues

Order	Clue	What it gives you
1	Grammatical position	The part of speech, and often the ending
2	Collocation	The specific word, when the neighbour is fixed
3	Passage meaning	Which of two plausible words fits the argument
4	Visible letters	Confirmation, and length

Working from the letters first is slower, because several words can start with the same three letters. Working from position first usually leaves one candidate.

Passage 1

Most public libraries have chan___ considerably over the past dec___. Book lending has fal___, while computer use and study space book___ have risen sharply. One cons___ is that the traditional mea___ of a library’s value — the number of items iss___ — now understates how bus___ these buildings actually are.

Gap	Answer	Clue used
chan___	changed	Past participle after “have”
dec___	decade	“over the past ___” plus a time noun
fal___	fallen	Past participle after “has”; contrasted with “risen”
book___	bookings	Plural noun; subject of “have risen”
cons___	consequence	“One ___ is that” — fixed frame
mea___	measure	“the traditional ___ of value” — collocation
iss___	issued	Past participle; “items issued” is the library term
bus___	busy	Adjective after “how”

Note that “fallen” is resolved by the contrast with “risen” later in the sentence, not by the letters. Reading to the end of the sentence before filling is faster than filling as you go.

Passage 2

Rainwater harvesting is old techn___ with a new justif___. Cisterns app___ in Bronze Age settlements; what has chan___ is the rea___ for building them, which is now as much about reducing pea___ flow into drains as about supp___ water. At household sca___ the engineering is undem___: a roof, a downpipe, a filter and a tank will cov___ garden irrigation.

Gap	Answer	Clue used
techn___	technology	Noun after “old”; uncountable
justif___	justification	Noun after “a new”
app___	appear	Present simple, plural subject “cisterns”
chan___	changed	Past participle after “has”
rea___	reason	“the ___ for building” — collocation with “for”
pea___	peak	“peak flow” — fixed technical term
supp___	supplying	Gerund after “about”
sca___	scale	“at household ___” — collocation
undem___	undemanding	Adjective after “is”
cov___	cover	Bare infinitive after “will”

“supplying” rather than “supply” is decided entirely by the preposition “about”. That is the single most common form error in this task.

Passage 3

Employers now fund far more trai___ than they did a decade ago, though the mot___ is retention rather than gene___. Staff who receive training stay lon___, and repl___ an experienced employee costs several times the pri___ of a course. There is, however, a persistent mism___ between what companies fund and what employees req___.

Gap	Answer	Clue used
trai___	training	Uncountable noun after “more”
mot___	motive	Noun after “the”; contrasted with generosity
gene___	generosity	Noun after “rather than”, parallel with “motive”
lon___	longer	Comparative — “stay longer” than others
repl___	replacing	Gerund as subject of “costs”
pri___	price	“the ___ of a course” — collocation
mism___	mismatch	Noun after “a persistent”
req___	request	Verb, parallel with “fund”

Passage 4

Coastal salt marsh sits bet___ land and sea, flooded and dra___ twice a day. The veg___ slows incoming waves, so less ene___ reaches the sea wall beh___ it. The marsh also tra___ sediment and gains hei___ over time, alth___ this depends on sediment sup___, which has fallen where rivers upstream are dam___.

Gap	Answer	Clue used
bet___	between	Preposition followed by “land and sea”
dra___	drained	Past participle paired with “flooded”
veg___	vegetation	Noun after “The”; subject of “slows”
ene___	energy	Uncountable noun after “less”
beh___	behind	Preposition before “it”
tra___	traps	Present simple, singular subject “marsh”
hei___	height	Noun after “gains”
alth___	although	Conjunction before a clause
sup___	supply	Noun after “sediment”
dam___	dammed	Past participle after “are”

“dammed” with two m letters is a spelling trap, and “damed” would score as an incorrect word.

Passage 5

When a congested route is wid___, journeys that were previously det___ by delay become worth___ again, and within a few years the new cap___ fills. Studies of urban motorway exp___ have repe___ found traffic growth close to the addi___ capacity provided. This is why road building rarely deli___ lasting congestion relief.

Gap	Answer	Clue used
wid___	widened	Past participle after “is”; passive
det___	deterred	Past participle after “were”
worth___	worthwhile	Adjective after “become”
cap___	capacity	Noun after “the new”
exp___	expansion	Noun after “motorway”
repe___	repeatedly	Adverb between auxiliary and participle
addi___	additional	Adjective before “capacity”
deli___	delivers	Present simple, singular subject “road building”

Passage 6

Home delivery has changed the traffic mix in city cen___ in ways planners did not antic___. Vans now acc___ for a larger share of vehicle move___ than private cars in some districts, and because they stop freq___ and unpred___, their effect on flow is consid___ greater than their numbers sug___.

Gap	Answer	Clue used
cen___	centres	Plural noun after “city”
antic___	anticipate	Bare infinitive after “did not”
acc___	account	“account for a share” — collocation
move___	movements	Plural noun after “vehicle”
freq___	frequently	Adverb after “stop”
unpred___	unpredictably	Adverb paired with “frequently”
consid___	considerably	Adverb before a comparative
sug___	suggest	Present simple, plural subject “numbers”

Five of these eight are decided by part of speech alone. “account” is the only one needing collocation, and none needs the passage argument.

The endings that appear most

Position	Ending	Examples from above
After have / has / had / is / are / were	-ed or -en	changed, fallen, drained, widened, deterred, dammed
After a preposition	-ing	supplying, replacing
Before a noun	-al, -ing, -ed	additional, incoming, congested
After a complete clause or before an adjective	-ly	repeatedly, frequently, unpredictably, considerably
After “the” or “a” with nothing following	-tion, -ment, -ity, -ance	justification, movements, capacity, vegetation
After “more” or “less”	Uncountable noun	training, energy
With “than” in the sentence	-er	longer

Three-minute method

1. Read the whole passage once without filling anything. Some gaps are resolved by later sentences.
2. Fill the gaps decided by position alone — participles after auxiliaries, adverbs after clauses, gerunds after prepositions.
3. Fill the collocation gaps: look at the word immediately before or after the gap.
4. Use the remaining passage meaning for anything left. By this point there are usually only one or two.
5. Read the completed passage back. A wrong word almost always breaks the sentence audibly.
6. Complete every gap. Partial credit means a partly right word scores and a blank does not.

What loses marks

Error	Why	Fix
Leaving a gap blank	Partial credit means a guess can only gain	Always attempt every gap
Filling as you read, before finishing the sentence	Later words often decide earlier gaps	Read the whole passage first
Working from the visible letters first	Several words share the same opening letters	Position first, letters last
Wrong ending on the right word	The word scores as incorrect	Check what precedes the gap
Doubled-consonant misspellings	dammed, deterred, occurred	Drill the doubling rule for -ed endings
Not reading back	Leaves errors that would be obvious	Twenty seconds at the end

FAQ

How many Read and Complete passages are in the DET?

Between three and six, with three minutes for each. They contribute to the Reading subscore, and the number you see depends on how the adaptive test routes you.

How do I work out the missing letters?

Use four clues in order: the grammatical position of the gap, any fixed collocation with the neighbouring word, the meaning of the passage, and only then the visible letters. Position alone resolves the majority of gaps.

Should I fill the gaps in order?

No. Read the whole passage first, then fill the gaps decided by position, then the collocation gaps, then whatever remains. Some gaps are resolved by a word that appears in a later sentence.

Is a partially completed word worth anything?

Yes. DET items carry partial credit and Duolingo states you are not penalised more for an incorrect response than for skipping, so an attempted word can only help and a blank cannot.

What are the most common word endings in this task?

Past participles after auxiliaries, -ing after prepositions, -ly after complete clauses, and noun endings such as -tion, -ment and -ity after an article. Recognising the pattern from the position is faster than reconstructing the word from its letters.

Is three minutes enough for a passage?

Comfortably, if you use the clue order. Candidates who run short are usually working from the visible letters, which is slow because several words share the same opening, or filling gaps before finishing the sentence that decides them.

Related practice resources

• DET grammar rules
• DET collocation list
• DET Listen and Type practice

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