PTE Reading test will assess your Reading skills, as PTE is an integrated test thus a question type of this test will also access your Writing Skills. During the Reading part of the PTE Test, the test taker deals with 5 different Question types. In this blog, all the question types will be discussed in detail along with the scoring methods and tips for the Reading test.
PTE Reading section is the second section of the PTE test. This test includes 5 tasks to assess your reading skills. For this test, the test takers are required to read the passages on the screen and answer the question based on the paragraphs. The answers to the questions in the PTE Reading test will be fully dependent on the given passage itself, so even if the test takers are faced with a completely unfamiliar topic, they need not worry about having no knowledge.
Test Duration: 29-30 minutes
The PTE Reading section will take around 29-30 minutes. There is a timer on the screen to show your time consumption, check on the time as the test taker needs to manage their time within the time limit of the entire test.
Test Format
In the PTE Reading, the test takers will counter 5 different question types. As PTE is an integrated test, one question type from this test will contribute to the writing section along with the reading section. The test takers are expected to attempt all the questions.
Here, the 5 question types of PTE Reading are discussed in detail.
- Reading and Writing: Fill in the Blanks
- Multiple choice, Multiple Answer
- Re-order Paragraph
- Fill in the Blanks
- Multiple Choice, Single Answer
Reading and Writing: Fill in the Blanks
Here the test takers are required to fill in the blanks with the most appropriate words in a given paragraph. The paragraph is about 300 words long and the words are presented in a drop-down list in the blank itself. Select the words from the drop-down list that suits the best in the gap. You can also change the answers if you changed your mind about the selected answer.
Skills Assessed: Reading and Writing
Length of the text: Up to 300 words
Understanding the whole text will help you find the most suitable word to fill up the passage during this test. Skim through the entire passage before you choose your answers, the words in the drop-down list will be similar but they will have different meanings and usage.
This question type will judge the test takers’ ability to use contextual and grammatical cues that identify the words completing the reading text. Thus, at times the test takers are required to choose the correct grammar form and in other cases, they are to choose the word that makes logical sense in the sentence.
A test taker will be given maximum scores if they are successful in filling all the gaps correctly, but if one or more gaps are filled with incorrect answers, partial credit scoring will be applied.
The elimination technique is best opted for choosing the correct answer in this test.
Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers
For Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers, the test takers are required to answer this test by selecting more than one response. The test takers are presented with a passage and they need to answer the question by selecting more than one correct response after reading the passage. You can deselect the selected answers if you change your mind.
This question type scores using negative marking, a test taker will be penalised for every wrong answer they choose.
Skills Assessed: Reading
Length of the text: Up to 300 words
While answering this question type, scan for the repeated words. Then read around the repeated words to find the answers quickly. Skimming and scanning through the test will greatly help to find the answers to this test.
Multiple choice, Multiple Answers judges the test taker’s ability to analyse, interpret and evaluate a short text on an academic subject. The test takers are to select all the options that they think are correct from the list of the given options. Your selected responses/choices are highlighted in yellow. Remember to read the instructions carefully and select more than one option. Choosing all the options in this test will not help, here negative marking is used. You will end up losing points if you do so.
The test-takers will get maximum scores if they choose all the correct responses/options, if they are unable to do so, partial credit scoring will be applied. One point is deducted for each wrong choice.
Re-order paragraphs
In this question type, the test takers are asked to rearrange the jumbled text passages in the correct order. The test takers are given several passages in boxes, each box will hold a passage. All the passages will be jumbled in random order, and the test takers are to restore the original order of the text boxes by dragging them across the screen. You can rearrange the passage as much as you want till you are satisfied with the order you put it in.
Skills Assessed: Reading
Length of the text: Up to 150 words
To answer this question, make sure to quickly read all the text boxes for the gist of the entire form. understand the main idea of each passage and note the keywords in each text box. With the help of the keywords, you can get the main idea of the entire text which will help you to rearrange the text box in a logical order and to form the original order.
Finding the topic sentence is important in this test, the topic sentence is usually clear and the later sentences will relate to the topic sentence. The topic sentence is the leading paragraph and should come at the top of the entire text. Thus, make sure to find the topic sentence, and gradually arrange other text boxes with the help of connectors used in each text box. Rearrange paragraphs till it looks like it satisfies the meaning of the entire text.
This question type will judge the test takers’ ability to understand the organisation and cohesion of an academic test.
The test-takers will receive maximum scores if they arrange all the text boxes in the correct order, but if one or more textboxes are in the wrong order, partial credit scoring applies.
Reading: Fill in the Blanks
In Reading: Fill in the Blanks, the test takers need to drag the words across the screen and drop them in the correct gaps of the text. The test takers are shown a paragraph with some missing words on the screen, they are also given a list of words separately in a blue box. Then the test takers are asked to fill in the gaps with the words from the blue box. Note: There will be more words in the blue box than the gaps in the paragraph, thus not all the words from the box will be used.
Skills Assessed: Reading
Length of the text: Up to 80 Words.
Evaluate all the options/words you are given when answering this question type. Your general knowledge and the collocations you usually see or hear will help you solve this question. The test takers also need to use their knowledge of grammar and choose the words that will give the correct meaning in the gaps in the text.
This question type will judge the test taker’s ability to use contextual and grammatical cues that identify the words completing the reading text.
The test-takers will receive maximum scores if they filled all the blanks with the correct words, but if they are unable to do so and they fill one or more blanks incorrectly, partial credit scoring applies.
Reading: Multiple Choice, Single Answer
For the Reading: Multiple Choice Single Answer, the test taker is required to answer the question by selecting one option/ response. The test takers are given a passage on the screen, and the test-takers need to read the passage and select one response to the question/prompt based on the passage. You can select and deselect your answers, the answer you select will be highlighted in yellow.
Skills Assessed: Reading
Length of the text: Up to 300 Words
To answer this question, read the prompt properly, the keyword for the answer is in the prompt. Make sure to read the prompt before you read the test. The prompt of this question type may be a question or a sentence the test taker needs to complete. Fining the keyword will help you find the answer faster and you won’t need to spend time reading the entire text.
The choices you are given could be words, phrases, or even sentences. After locating the keywords in the text, evaluate the options and check the possibilities of being the correct answer. Then choose the option that you think best suits the prompt. Choose the correct answer based on the text, do not use external knowledge you have of the passage.
This question type will judge you based on your ability to analyze, interpret and evaluate a reading text of an academic subject.
The test-takers will be scored only if they select the correct option, if they select an incorrect option or do not answer the test at all, no credit is given.
Scoring
The scores in the PTE Tests are shared between all sections of the test, you can receive scores for writing in the PTE Reading test. The score you receive on the PTE Reading test is a scale, not a mark, meaning a test taker need not answer 90 marks worth of questions. The raw scores/marks the test taker receives will be converted on a scale of 10 to 90 by a computer algorithm.
PTE Reading is scored in these ways:
- Point for each correct answer. In the questions like Fill in the Blanks, every correct answer will receive a point, and the incorrect answer will not receive points.
- Negative scoring. In multiple-choice, multiple answers, the test taker receives a point for every correct answer but a point will be deducted for every incorrect answer as well.
| PTE Reading Question Types | Marking system |
| Reading and Writing: Fill In the Blanks | For every correct answer, the test taker will receive a point, the test taker will not receive any points for the incorrect answers. |
| Multiple-Choice, Multiple Answers | For every correct answer, the test takers will receive a point, but for every incorrect answer, a point each will be deducted. If the test taker gives a correct answer and an incorrect answer, they will receive 0, but they won’t receive scores below 0 if they make more mistakes. |
| Re-Order Paragraph | For every set of two correct answers, the test taker will receive a point. The test taker will not receive points if there aren’t any pairs of correct answers, one answer in the correct position will not receive a point. |
| Reading: Fill in the Blanks | For every correct answer, the test taker will receive a point, the test taker will not receive any points for the incorrect answers. |
| Multiple Choice, Single Answer | For every correct choice, the test taker will receive a point, the test taker will not receive any points for the incorrect choice. |
PTE Reading Preparation
To pass the PTE Reading exam, one must prepare themselves by studying the coursebooks thoroughly. This is an exam that requires a lot of preparation. Therefore, the first thing you need to do is to get yourself ready to study.
PTE academic reading section preparation tips:
- Practice is the key to success in this test. Find as many Mock PTE Reading tests and practice them.
- Identify your reading level. Look at the PTE Reading scores and check your Reading level, set a target to improve and practice.
- Evaluate the mistakes you frequently make in your mock tests and try to improve on them. Getting better is the ultimate goal of PTE preparations.
- Familiarize yourself with the PTE Reading test format. Learn about each question type and how to answer them. Learn about the question types that contribute to Reading and other skills.
- Understand how each question type is scored. Not all the question types in the PTE Reading are scored in the same way, some question types use negative marking while the other uses partial score credit. Learn how the question types are scored to score higher in the Reading test.
- Focus on time management. Every question type is not time-bound, which makes it even more confusing. Spending much time on a question you do not know the answer to will limit the test-takers time in every other part of the test. So, improve time management for the test.
- Identify the keywords. Practice as much as you can to help find the keywords easily in the test. Skim and Scan for the keywords and read around it for the answer. (Once you locate keywords; deep read to find and confirm the answers.)
- Develop your vocabulary. Always aim to improve while preparing for the test.
For More:- PTE Preparation Guide
Tips for PTE Reading
Skimming: The test taker need not read the entire text, reading the entire text is for the depth reading after you skim through the text. While skimming through the text look for the nouns, verbs, and adjectives to learn in general what the text is about.
Scanning: The test taker first has to read the answers/ responses of the text for scanning. Read the answers options before reading the entire text for meaning. Scan the answer options in the text to locate and confirm your answer.
- Use Skimming and Scanning techniques to choose the correct answer.
- Read your answer before and after you fill the blanks in Fill In the Blanks question type to confirm your answer.
- Check the form of the grammar after you fill the blanks and check if the entire sentence goes with the grammar form of the word used.
- Each question type is not scored the same way. Look out for the question types that use Negative marking, you will be penalized for every wrong answer you give.
- Use collocation techniques; try to match/ put together the words you often hear together.
- Find keywords. Finding the keywords help to grasp the main idea of the text and will also help in locating the answer in the text.
- Find the topic sentence. Finding the topic sentence will help you greatly in the Re-Order Paragraph, all the boxes will eventually be connected with the topic sentence with the use of connectors. With the help of the topic sentence and the connectors, the test taker can easily arrange the passage in the correct order.
- Evaluate the responses in the Multiple choices, the choices given might be very similar to one another but not all of them are going to be correct, slight changes can change the entire meaning. Thus, look out for them, and properly evaluate the responses for choosing the correct answer.
- Check for repeated words/phrases. Read around the repeated words/phrases to find the answers quickly.
- Elimination techniques can be helpful in this test. Answers options/ responses given are similar to sound, meaning, and grammar forms to confuse the test taker. Eliminating the incorrect answer in this test will help you narrow it down to the correct answer.
We hope our PTE Reading Blog helped you in every aspect of the PTE Reading test. If you have any queries regarding PTE Reading, feel free to comment on our blog or you can contact Gurubaa.
