ScoreFluentPart 1 is the quickest work in MET Reading and the easiest place to lose time you will want later. Twenty single sentences, each with one gap, and four options for each. This guide covers the format, how it is scored, a worked example, four strategy points and how ScoreFluent lets you practise it.
The format. Part 1 of 3 in Reading · 20 questions · one sentence each, with a missing word or phrase · four options, one correct answer · part of the 65-minute, 50-question Reading section · no negative marking.
What does MET Reading Part 1 ask you to do?
You read one sentence with a gap and choose the word or phrase that completes it correctly. The choice is usually about grammar: a verb form, a preposition, a connector, an article or a word that has to agree with something else in the sentence. The sentence gives you everything you need, so no outside knowledge is involved.
Part 1 is 20 of the 50 Reading questions, which is 40 percent of the section. The remaining 30 are on texts: see Part 2, single text and Part 3, multi text. For the whole section in one place, read MET Reading, parts and timing.
How is Part 1 scored?
By computer, one mark for each correct answer. Michigan describes no deduction for a wrong answer. The Reading result is a 0 to 80 section score, and your overall MET score averages the four sections. Michigan publishes no raw-to-scaled conversion table, so a percentage from practice is only a rough guide. How the sections combine is explained in how MET is scored.
What does a grammar item look like?
This item was written by ScoreFluent to show the method. It is not a real exam question.
The museum, ______ opened in 1998, now receives over a million visitors a year.
A) who B) which C) what D) where
The gap sits inside a clause that adds information about "the museum", a thing. That rules out "who", which refers to people. "What" cannot introduce a clause that describes a noun. "Where" would need a place expression inside the clause, such as "where the exhibitions are held", and here the clause continues with "opened", so the gap is the subject of that verb. The answer is B, which.
Notice the order of work: find what job the gap does, remove the options that cannot do that job, then read the sentence once more with the survivor in place.
Four strategy points
- Read the whole sentence before the options. The word after the gap often decides the answer, such as "to" after a verb or a past participle after "has".
- Name the job of the gap. Is it a verb form, a linker, a preposition, a pronoun? Naming it removes two options at once.
- Do not hover. If two options still look right after a few seconds, flag the item, pick one and move on. The time pays off more in Part 3, where one question can take much longer.
- Read your answer back. Put the chosen option in the gap and read the full sentence. A wrong option often sounds fine until you hear it in context.
How does ScoreFluent practise Part 1?
In the ScoreFluent app the item is called "Part 1 — Grammar Completion". You answer sentence-completion questions in the same four-option format and see which option was correct. Practising in a timed run helps you find your own pace for this part. Results are practice estimates, not official MET scores.
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Next: Part 2, single text. Back to MET Reading or the full list of MET task guides.
Questions students ask
What is MET Reading Part 1?
Part 1 is 20 grammar-in-context questions at the start of the Reading section. Each shows a single sentence with a missing word or phrase, and you choose the option that completes it correctly.
Does MET Reading Part 1 have its own time limit?
No. Michigan publishes one 65-minute limit for the whole Reading section. Any per-part budget, including the pacing advice on this page, is coaching advice rather than an exam rule.
Do wrong answers lose marks in MET Reading Part 1?
No. Each correct answer adds to your 0 to 80 Reading score and nothing is subtracted for a wrong one, so answer every item. Michigan publishes no table converting a raw count into a scaled score.