A Second Complete Example: 20 Gaps at C1 Level
The warm-up text in A Complete Example: 20 Gaps in a Row was deliberately short and everyday. The real onSET's later texts often read exactly like the one below: an academic-adjacent topic, more nested clauses, more genitive and participle forms per paragraph. This article walks through a second complete sample text at C1 level exactly the way it walked through the first one, gap by gap, using the same routine from Gap Strategy.
The quick rule stays the same: first sentence free, then every second word halved. With denser text, reading in stretches pays off even more: sentence by sentence, not gap by gap in isolation.
First the whole text: solve it like the real thing
Here too, the whole text comes first, exactly as it sits in front of you on the test: the first sentence complete, individual sentences in between with no gaps at all, and twenty halved words, all visible at once. Five minutes, any order you like (easy gaps first, hard ones on a second pass), note your score. The gap-by-gap resolution follows right after.
Your turn1 of 4
Your score, sorted by gap type
Compared with the first sample text, the weight has shifted: vocabulary carries almost half the gaps here.
- Vocabulary, 9 gaps (
spü___,Resso___,befür___,Grünf___,versch___,verl___,neh___,frühz___,Kompr___): at C1 level it's the specialized word field that decides. Vocabulary Strategy - Endings, 5 gaps (
bet___,kür___,gewac___,müs___,stä___): two verb endings, two comparatives, one strong genitive ending. Verb Endings & Prefixes Adjective Endings Comparative & Superlative - Function words, 6 gaps (
d___three times,da___,u___,a___): the same article stem three times, in a different case each time. Function Words & Connectors
From here on, the same text is resolved in stages.
The first sentence: free again
Here too, the first sentence is never gapped. It gives you the topic and the first specialized vocabulary, at no cost:
Zahlreiche Städte in Mitteleuropa versuchen derzeit, den wachsenden Bedarf an Wohnraum durch eine dichtere Bebauung bestehender Flächen zu decken, anstatt neue Siedlungen an den Stadträndern zu errichten.
Topic: urban development, specifically infill densification of existing land. Activate this word field now (see Vocabulary Strategy): Bebauung (development), Fläche (land/area), Siedlung (settlement), Infrastruktur.
Section 1: seven gaps
Your turn2 of 4
Go through them one by one again: d before "Verdichtung" is the genitive article der (Befürworter der Verdichtung, proponents of densification). bet takes the third-person plural ending: betonen (the proponents emphasize). kür is the comparative kürzere, from "kurz" (see Comparative & Superlative). d before "Verkehr" is this time the accusative article den. spü completes to the adverb spürbar (noticeably). u connects the two verbs: und. And Resso becomes the object Ressourcen, belonging to "sparen" (save).
The text continues without a gap: Das entlastet nicht nur die Infrastruktur, sondern senkt langfristig auch die Baukosten pro Wohnung.
Section 2: seven gaps, with a genitive and a participle
Your turn3 of 4
befür becomes the verb befürchten (fear), the opposite of "betonen" in the previous sentence. da introduces the subordinate clause: dass. Grünf completes to Grünflächen (green spaces), the subject of the first clause. versch becomes the verb verschwinden (disappear), which closes the clause. d before "Charakter" is here the nominative article der (der Charakter ... geht verloren, the character gets lost). gewac carries the strong genitive ending gewachsener, with no article of its own before "Viertel" (der Charakter gewachsener Viertel, the character of established neighborhoods). And verl is the participle verloren, which forms the fixed expression "verloren gehen" (to be lost) together with "geht."
The next sentence also stays complete: Zwischen diesen beiden Positionen prallen ökonomische Notwendigkeit und der emotionale Wunsch nach gewachsener Identität unmittelbar aufeinander.
Section 3: six gaps to finish
Your turn4 of 4
müs carries the person ending matching the plural subject "Planer": müssen. stä is the comparative stärker, from "stark." a completes to auf, the fixed preposition in the expression "Rücksicht auf jemanden nehmen" (to take someone into consideration). neh closes exactly that expression: nehmen. frühz becomes the adverb frühzeitig (early on). And Kompr completes to the object Kompromisse (compromises).
The whole text again, without gaps
Zahlreiche Städte in Mitteleuropa versuchen derzeit, den wachsenden Bedarf an Wohnraum durch eine dichtere Bebauung bestehender Flächen zu decken, anstatt neue Siedlungen an den Stadträndern zu errichten. Befürworter der Verdichtung betonen, dass kürzere Wege den Verkehr spürbar entlasten und wertvolle Ressourcen sparen. Das entlastet nicht nur die Infrastruktur, sondern senkt langfristig auch die Baukosten pro Wohnung. Kritiker befürchten dagegen, dass wichtige Grünflächen dauerhaft verschwinden und der Charakter gewachsener Viertel verloren geht. Zwischen diesen beiden Positionen prallen ökonomische Notwendigkeit und der emotionale Wunsch nach gewachsener Identität unmittelbar aufeinander. Deshalb müssen Planer stärker als bisher Rücksicht auf Anwohner nehmen und frühzeitig tragfähige Kompromisse suchen. Am Ende entscheidet meist die Qualität der frühzeitigen Bürgerbeteiligung darüber, ob eine Stadt tatsächlich wächst, ohne dabei ihre Bewohner zu verlieren.
What these twenty gaps show
- Mixed gap types just like the real test: vocabulary stems (befürchten, Grünflächen, verschwinden, spürbar, Ressourcen, frühzeitig, Kompromisse), function words (der, den, dass, und, auf), and endings (betonen, müssen, kürzere, stärker) alternate.
- The genitive shows up twice: once with an article (Befürworter der Verdichtung), once without (Charakter gewachsener Viertel). Both forms occur on the real onSET.
- A fixed expression stretched across two gaps: "Rücksicht auf ... nehmen" shows that gaps are sometimes part of a collocation, not just isolated words.
- A participle carries a whole meaning: "verloren" in "verloren geht" can't be solved without the fixed pairing with the finite verb.
- The time budget stays the same: five minutes per text, even when the vocabulary is more academic and the sentences longer, the routine carries just as far.
That's exactly the experience you'll have in the real test's later texts: denser vocabulary, longer sentences, but the same routine that already worked on the first sample text. You've now walked through two complete texts, one easy and one hard. Keep practicing in the trainer next, until the denser text feels just as automatic as the first one.
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