Insert a Letter: Practice Set 2
Insert a Letter: Practice Set 2 is a second practice round for the same GL Assessment-style question type as Insert a Letter, where pupils find the one letter that completes the word before a bracket and also starts the word after it. This set moves on to longer or less familiar word pairs, where more than one letter can look tempting until it is tested properly against both fragments.
Method
- Read the fragment before the bracket and test several letters onto its end until you find ones that make real words, since more than one may work at this stage.
- Read the fragment after the bracket and test the same candidate letters onto its front, discarding any that do not also make a real word there.
- Keep only the letter that passes both tests; a genuine question always leaves exactly one letter standing once both checks are applied.
- Say each surviving word aloud in your head to make sure it is a real, everyday English word rather than a plausible-looking string of letters.
- Watch for tempting letters that only work on one side of the bracket, since these are placed deliberately to slow you down.
- If you cannot find a match straight away, try less common but genuine words as well as the obvious ones, since Practice Set 2 questions often hide the answer behind a less familiar word.
Worked example
Find the letter which completes the word before the bracket and begins the word after the bracket: BRI ( ? ) ONE
- Try endings on BRI: BRIG works (a two-masted sailing ship, or a ship's prison), and BRIM works (the edge of a cup or hat).
- Try each of those letters at the start of ONE: G + ONE = GONE, a very common word; M + ONE does not form a real word.
- Compare the results: BRIG and GONE are both genuine English words, so G is the letter that works both ways.
- Check there is no other letter that also survives both tests, since no other ending of BRI plus a matching start of ONE produces two real words.
- Final answer: G (BRIG and GONE).
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Find the letter that completes the word before the bracket and begins the word after the bracket: TWI ( ? ) EAKShow answer
Answer: T (TWIT, meaning a silly person, and TEAK, a type of hardwood)
Q2Find the letter that completes the word before the bracket and begins the word after the bracket: SPR ( ? ) ARDShow answer
Answer: Y (SPRY, meaning nimble and active, and YARD)
Q3Find the letter that completes the word before the bracket and begins the word after the bracket: LAK ( ? ) XITShow answer
Answer: E (LAKE and EXIT)
Q4Find the letter that completes the word before the bracket and begins the word after the bracket: PLU ( ? ) ANEShow answer
Answer: M (PLUM and MANE)
Q5Find the letter that completes the word before the bracket and begins the word after the bracket: SLA ( ? ) ICKShow answer
Answer: T (SLAT, a thin strip of wood or plastic, and TICK)
Q6Find the letter that completes the word before the bracket and begins the word after the bracket: CHI ( ? ) OALShow answer
Answer: C (CHIC, meaning stylish, and COAL)
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Find the letter that completes the word before the bracket and begins the word after the bracket, and give both resulting words: SNA ( ? ) OOSE (2 marks)
Show mark scheme
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Nothing ticked yet - 2 available
Find the letter that completes the word before the bracket and begins the word after the bracket, then explain how you checked your answer: THI ( ? ) EST (3 marks)
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 3 available
Find the letter that completes the word before the bracket and begins the word after the bracket in GRI ( ? ) OTE, then explain why the other letters that work on one side do not work on both. (4 marks)
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Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the insert a letter: practice set 2 worksheet pack - 9 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
This topic is chapter 30 of 11+ Verbal Reasoning Workbook 2, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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