Reading
PTE-A Reading Module
What is it? This section of the PTE Exam contains passages and questions based on your reading skills. For each question, you’ll have to read the instructions carefully before answering them.
Alert : The section allows you 32-41 minutes. Please check the timer on the screen. It depends on you to manage all the sections within the time limit. In other words, the items are not ‘time bound’ but the entire section is.
Section overview
| Items | Task | Number of Items | Prompt length | Scoring | Skills assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple choice, choose single answers | Only one response is correct from many options given. Choose the correct response after reading the passage. | 1 - 2 |
text up to 300
words |
Partial credit (+1 For correct response) | reading |
| Multiple choice, choose multiple answers | More than one response is correct from many given. Choose the correct ones after reading the passage. | 1 - 2 | text up to 300 words | Partial Credit ( +1 for Each Correct Response. Point Deducted For Incorrcet Option Chosen ) | reading |
| Reorder paragraphs | On the left hand side, many sentences or paragraphs will be placed in a random order. Drag and drop them to the right side in a correct order. | 2 - 3 | text up to 150 words | Partial Credit ( +1 for Each Correctly Ordered Adjacent Pair ) | reading |
| Reading Fill in the blanks | The passage appearing on the screen will have several gaps. Below the passage you have different words. Drag and drop the words that you think are correct and fill the blanks. | 4 - 5 | text up to 80 words | Partial Credit ( +1 for Each Correctly Completed Blank ) | reading |
| Reading and writing Fill in the blanks | From a drop down box, choose the correct word that you think should be the correct answer for the sentence with the gap. | 5 - 6 | text up to 300 words | Partial Credit ( +1 for Each Correctly Completed Blank ) | reading and writing |
Multiple-choice question, single answer
What is it?
You will be presented with a passage. You need to go through the text carefully. Down to the text is a question with multiple options. You need to select (by clicking) only one which you think is the right answer.
What is the prompt length?
The text could be up to 110 words
How are you judged?
Your reading skills
Tip:
Read the question first so that you know what you should focus on. After having a glance at the question and the options, start reading the text. Choose only one option which you think is right.
Alert:
On an average, you should not be spending more than 2 minutes on each question.
Multiple-choice, multiple answers
What is it?
You will be presented with a passage. You need to go through the text carefully. Down to the text is a question with multiple options. You need to select (by clicking) more than one option that you think are the right answers.
What is the prompt length?
The text could be up to 300 words
How are you judged?
Your reading skills
Tip:
Read the question first so that you know what you should focus on. After having a glance at the question and the options, start reading the text. Choose more than one option which you think are right.
Alert:
On an average, you should not be spending more than 2 minutes on each question.
Re-order paragraphs
What is it?
You will be presented with several paragraphs in a random order on the left hand side with a blank space on the right hand side. You need to drag the paragraphs from the left side and put them in order into the blank space on the right hand side.
What is the prompt length?
The text could be up to 150 words
How are you judged?
Your reading skills
Tip:
Read the question first so that you know what you should focus on. After having a glance at the question and the options, start reading the text. Choose more than one option which you think are right.
Reading - fill in the blanks
What is it?
On your screen will be a passage or a paragraph(s) with several blanks. Just below the text, you’ll have several words. You need to drag and drop a proper word in a proper blank. You will get point for each correctly placed word.
What is the prompt length?
The text could be up to 80 words
How are you judged?
Your reading skills
Tip:
Try to understand the entire sentence that has a blank. Check whether the blank requires a noun, verb, or an adjective. Pick the words accordingly.
Reading and writing - fill in the blanks
What is it?
On your screen will be a passage or a paragraph(s) with several blanks. Each blank will have a dropdown option filled with several words. You need to select the word that you think is the right one.
What is the prompt length?
The text could be up to 300 words
How are you judged?
Your reading skills and writing skills
Tip:
You should have good practice of reading as it makes the task easier. This item also requires good vocabulary because many times, the words are synonyms and you require intense knowledge of which word goes better for the blank.