TOEIC Link Part 5: sensor versus censor
Sensor and censor sound almost the same, but they belong to different worlds. A sensor is a device that detects a physical condition — motion, temperature, light — and reports it. To censor is a verb meaning to remove or block content that is considered unacceptable. Part 5 drops one into a sentence about equipment or about editing material, so it checks whether the blank names a detecting device or the act of suppressing content. For the wider set of look-alike traps, start with the commonly confused word pairs master index.
The core rule: detector versus suppressor
- sensor = a device that detects a physical condition (a noun — a piece of hardware). The motion sensor switches on the hallway lights. / Engineers installed a temperature sensor in each server rack. It answers what device detects it? Link sensor to detector and device: a sensor senses something and sends a signal.
- censor = to remove or block objectionable content (usually a verb; also a noun for the person who does it). The broadcaster had to censor part of the interview. / The censor cut several scenes from the film. It answers what was blocked or removed? Link censor to block and suppress: to censor is to take content out.
The spelling carries the hook: sensor shares its sens- with sense and sensitive, so it is about detecting; censor shares its cens- with censorship, so it is about cutting content out. If the blank names a piece of detecting equipment, it is a sensor; if it means to block or delete content, it is to censor.
Why Part 5 likes this pair
Because the two words sound nearly identical, only the meaning separates them. If the blank names a device that detects motion, heat, or light, you need sensor. If the blank means to remove or suppress content, you need censor.
The security system uses a motion __ to detect anyone entering after hours.
A word naming a detecting device needs sensor.
The network's standards team may __ any language that violates the guidelines.
A word meaning to block content needs censor.
Spotting the clue
Decide whether the blank is a device or an action on content:
- Does the blank name hardware that detects a physical condition? → choose sensor (a motion sensor, a temperature sensor, a light sensor, a proximity sensor).
- Does the blank describe removing, blocking, or suppressing material? → choose censor (to censor a report, to censor offensive language, the film was censored, a strict censor).
A quick test: can you replace the blank with detector or device, as in a motion detector? Then it is sensor. Can you replace it with block out or suppress, as in block out a scene? Then it is censor. The grammar helps too: sensor is a countable noun (a sensor, two sensors), while censor is most often a verb (to censor). Because both are lookalike words that trip up test-takers, this pair sits alongside the other traps in the sound-alike verb pairs study guide.
Common Part 5 patterns
- Anything naming a detecting device wants sensor: a motion sensor, a smoke sensor, a pressure sensor, the sensor failed to respond.
- Anything about blocking content wants censor: to censor the footage, censor sensitive details, the article was censored, the government censor.
- Grammar cue: a countable device points to sensor; an action performed on content points to censor.
If the blank names a detecting device, choose sensor. If it means to block or remove content, choose censor.
Quick recap
- Sensor = a device that detects a physical condition — the motion sensor switched on the lights.
- Censor = to remove or block objectionable content — the broadcaster had to censor the interview.
- Part 5 test: swap in detector → sensor; swap in block out → censor.
Tell the detecting device from the act of blocking content, and this near-homophone pair stops costing you Part 5 points. Keep working through the commonly confused word pairs master index to lock in the rest.