Missing letters and shuffled sentences for 11 plus English

These two formats appear on some schools' papers, not all, so check your own school's. In a missing-letter question, a word in a sentence has gaps, and you fill in the letters. In a shuffled sentence, the words are mixed up, and one word is not needed. Both start the same way: read for the meaning of the whole sentence. Meaning first, then letters.

What does a lost puppy do in the streets? It moves about, with nowhere to go. Wandered. Check it against the letters: w, a, n, d, e, r, e, d. Every letter matches. The lost puppy wandered through the empty streets.

The trap is wondered. It fits every letter, and it is a real word. But to wonder is to think about something. A puppy cannot wonder through a street. The letters narrow it down. The sentence decides.

• 6.1Choosing the word that fitsPredict, then check
• 6.2The right form for the gapKind first, then form
• 6.3Linking wordsName the link, then choose the word
• 6.4One mistake or noneOne check at a time: None can be the answer

Every 11 plus English topic