Pte Reading Tips

The PTE Reading section focuses on reading speed and comprehension. However, the benefits of mastering the PTE reading section are numerous and will aid you in scoring higher in the other sections of the test as well. There are some PTE Reading tips which will allow you to polish your reading skills and gain an excellent score. By following these PTE reading tips, you can also begin to gain the essential skills necessary to conquer the other sections of the PTE Exam.

Therefore, to begin prepping for the PTE reading section, you can follow the suggested tips in this article. But first, let us understand the critical details regarding the PTE Reading section.

What is the PTE reading?

The Reading section of the PTE is the second part of the Exam, directly following the Speaking and Writing section. This section will take you around 30 minutes to attempt. The part of the PTE contains five different types of questions, which are as follows:

• Reading and Writing: Fill in the blanks
• Multiple-choice, choose multiple answers
• Multiple choice, single answer
• Reorder paragraphs
• Reading: Fill in the blanks

To gain a complete understanding of each type of question, first, you need to practice foundational reading skills. To do this, you can set the following goals:

• Aim for a reading speed of 220 words per minute.
• Focus on short passages for reading – around 300 words.
• Read every day and maintain a consistent habit.
• Build a good vocabulary and brush up on the grammar basics.

Once you have achieved a basic proficiency in reading skills, you can set out to master each particular question type. Let us consider them one by one:

Tips for Reading and Writing: Fill in the blanks

This question type provides the test giver with a short passage that contains several gaps. You must pick the correct phrase to fill the blank from a drop-down list.

Tips:

• Practice speed reading to attempt all questions within the necessary time frame.
• By familiarizing yourself with common phrases, you can instinctively understand which words usually go together.
• Ensure that the option you choose fits the context as well as is grammatically consistent with the rest of the sentence.

Tips for Multiple-choice, choose multiple answers

The test-taker is provided with a short paragraph. Follow the instructions to select all the correct answers. This question has a negative marking disadvantage.

Tips:

• Only select the answers you are completely sure of to avoid incurring a minus point.
• Scan the text and the test question to spot repeated words. Then you can reread the sentences around that part to find the appropriate answers.
• Aim to connect the meaning of the question with the corresponding part of the passage rather than the specific words.

Tips for Multiple choice, single answer

The test taker is required to answer a multiple-choice question about the text’s content or tone after reading it by choosing only one correct option.

Tips:

• It is crucial to learn how to use synonyms and paraphrasing because they will absolutely be used in this section of the test. In most questions, the words from the text are not used or repeated in the correct response.
• Choose the option that is most likely to be correct by eliminating the wrong choices one by one. As there is no negative marking, you can attempt all the questions.

Tips for Reorder paragraphs

The test-taker will be given parts of a single paragraph in a jumbled order. The task is to provide the correct order for the paragraphs so that when read together, they make complete sense and follow a correct grammatical structure.

Tips:

• Read all the jumbled paragraphs at once to get an overview of the topic.
• Begin by finding the starting sentence, i.e. the one which introduces the topic.
• You will be scored according to your ability to reorder the paragraph structure in a complete and cohesive manner.

Tips for Reading: Fill in the blanks

This section contains short paragraphs with blank spaces for missing words – the test taker must choose the correct option from the phrases provided to fill in the blanks.

Tips:

• Do not leave any blank spaces as there is no negative marking for these questions. Select one option for each.
• Use your grammar understanding to figure out which part of the sentence is missing and fill in the blanks accordingly.

To prepare for the Reading section of the PTE, you may attempt a practice test to gain confidence in your abilities and practice applying the tips and tricks mentioned in the article.