PTE Reading

The PTE reading section is made up of 5 tasks: Reading Writing Fill in the Blanks, Fill in the Blanks, Reorder Paragraph, Multiple-Choice Multiple Answer, and Multiple-Choice Single Answer. The client has between 32 – 40 minutes to complete all tasks in this section.

Strategize: ***The highest scorers are RW Fill in the Blanks, Fill in the Blanks, and Reorder Paragraph

	Text length	Possible Tasks	Scoring/Potential	Negative Scoring
Reading Writing Fill in the Blanks:	Up to 300 words	5 – 6 (4 choices)	1 mark each 20-24 marks total	NO
Fill in the Blanks:	Up to 80 words	4 – 5 (up to 7 choices)	1 mark each 16-20 marks total	NO
Reorder Paragraph:	Up to 150 words	2 – 3 (5 chunks of text)	1 mark for each pair of answers in the right order 8 – 12 marks total	NO
Multiple-Choice Multiple Answer:	Up to 300 words	2 – 3 (up to 7 choices)	1 mark each 4 – 9 marks total	YES Correct = 1 mark Wrong = -1 mark
Multiple-Choice Single Answer:	Up to 110 words	2 – 3 (up to 5 choices)	1 mark each 2 – 3 marks total	NO

 

An important note on the Paragraph form:

An academic paragraph usually includes a topic sentence, support sentences, detail, and a concluding sentence.

Topic sentence = a topic + a controlling idea

A support sentence ‘supports’ the controlling idea

A detail sentence adds and exemplar or an example that aids in the understanding of the support sentence.

A concluding sentence can be: i. a rewrite of the topic sentence, ii. a summary of the support sentences, or iii. a future leaning comment (with no new information).

• Detail sentences for academic paragraphs use empirical evidence (statistics), quotes from experts in a particular field of study, or exemplars or examples that intimate what the support sentence before it suggests.

 

1. RW Fill in the Blanks:

Test-takers will be asked to complete 5 or 6 of these tasks on the exam. This is the highest scoring part of the Reading section as the maximum score will be between 20 and 24 marks. There will be 4 blanks to fill in each task.

• This task uses academic form paragraphs.
• Remember this task emphasizes formal language in a context of science.
• If gerunds are used in the answer options, they are usually incorrect (unless the exam offers 4 gerunds for one blank).
• This task uses the single word answers with meanings that can be similar.

You will be asked to look at a text with blanks and then click on each blank to observe a list of choices – usually 4 words. You should select the appropriate answer choice for each blank.

Generally, in formal writing, infinitives are preferred over gerunds. Gerunds are present participles like jogging or thinking). Gerunds are usually misleading answers for this reason.

People like to think about winning the lotto. (infinitives over gerunds)

People like thinking about the lotto. (gerunds are usually wrong in ‘RW Fill in the Blanks’)

Thus, infinitives are preferred over gerunds because the text is academic or more formal. In the next section, ‘Fill in the Blanks’, gerunds are more appropriate.

Usually, because there are 4 words to select from in the answer options, 2 of these words will be quickly eliminated as incorrect. Of the remaining 2 words, always choose the more formal word.

Example 1:

Dreams are a source of creativity and (1. stagnation, innovation, revolution, origination) for a culture’s expressive repertoire.

• Notice immediately: that all the words in 1. have the suffix ‘ation’ which indicates that all of these words are nouns

For example:

Below is a text with blanks. Click on each blank, a list of choices will appear. Select the appropriate answer choice for each blank

 (note: on the test, there will be ‘drop-down menu’ boxes for their answers, but for our purposes herein, we will substitute answers in this straight line manner separated by a backslash: energy-consuming / energy-engrossing / energy-absorbing / energy-devouring)

Researchers have engineered a low-cost plastic material that could become the basis for clothing that cools the wearer, reducing the need for 1. energy-consuming / energy-engrossing / energy-absorbing / energy-devouring air conditioning. Describing their work in Science, the researchers suggest that this new family of fabrics could become the basis for 2. costumes / garments / outfits / attires that keep people cool in hot climates without air conditioning. “If you can cool the person rather than the building where they work or live, that will save energy,” said Yu Xiao, an associate professor at Stanford. This new material works by allowing the body to 3. remove / discharge / dismiss / eject heat in two ways that would make the wearer feel nearly 4 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than if they wore cotton clothing. The material cools by letting perspiration 4. evaporate / vaporize / volatilize / condense through the material, something ordinary fabrics already do. But the Stanford material provides a second, revolutionary cooling mechanism: allowing heat that the body emits as infrared radiation to pass through the plastic textile.

Abate, T. (2016, September 1). Engineers develop a plastic clothing material that cools the skin. Retrieved January 21, 2020, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160901151933.htm

In the example above, the background schemata refers to engineering, perhaps chemical engineering, and there is an explicit reference to ‘Science’ magazine (real world) Notice, too, that the all the options at 1. have ‘ing’ or present participle/gerund endings. Here energy-engrossing and energy-devouring can be eliminated immediately because the former does not answer the context (reducing); rather, it means ‘to get your attention, and the latter is an opinion as a personification (to give human qualities to an inanimate object). The final two, energy-absorbing and energy-consuming, are close in meaning, but by way of collocation, energy-absorbing becomes the correct answer (words that are used more frequently in a particular order than others with similar meanings). Of course, test-takers are well read to notice collocations.

Collocations

At 2., three of the four choices have a specific purpose (attire, costumes, outfits) where only ‘garments’ remain neutral to fit the context of a ‘new family of fabrics’.

Only one word can fit the blank precisely

At 3., eject and dismiss are immediately eliminated as the body does not eject; unless it is a crude reduction referring to sickness or as another personification, nor dismiss because the body does not order itself to do anything! Therefore, the better choice between remove and discharge is ‘discharge’ because this the scientific term commonly used to describe the process of transferring heat into the atmosphere, whereas ‘remove’ contains the context of ‘lifting’ something and then removing it.

Scientific words over a slightly more inappropriate word

At 4., perspiration is closer to water than a chemical that ‘vaporizes’ or ‘volatilize’(s) at room temperature. Thus, both words can be eliminated on the basis of context – yes, perspiration can be argued to be a chemical reaction and react, in certain circumstances, not unlike a vapor or volatilize, but you have to use common sense as well. We have all sweat/perspire and the cooling feeling we feel on our skin is not of a hastened chemical reaction. On the contrary, this is why condense is eliminated because we feel warmer when perspiration is ‘wet’ on our skin. The correct response is ‘evaporate’ as it is akin to the water cycle.

Common sense

NOTE: With RW Fill in the blanks there are 2 areas of inquiry that are part of the machinations you must go through to get the correct answer:

 

1. The precise meanings of the words
2. The context that the words are used in

 

The bolden words above indicate ‘tips’ or constant reminders to help you locate 1. The precise meaning or 2. Help define the context