The Reading section is the second most important section of the PTE Test. Some students find it the hardest section and if you want to get a good score, you need to be strong reading skills. This test evaluates your Grammar, Vocabulary, Collocations, Verbs, prepositions, etc. It has been divided into 5 segments that include: Reading and Write fill in the blanks, Fill in the blanks, Multiple Choice Single Answer, Multiple-choice Multiple answers, and Re-order paragraphs and a total of 13-18 questions in the PTE.
Some modules contribute to the score of others sections. The score of “Read aloud in the speaking section”, “Highlight incorrect words from the listening section” and “Summarize the written text from the writing section” also add to the score in this section, so you should also focus on these modules. It is not possible to learn all the things overnight but with practice and hard work, gradually you can improve your score. Let’s follow some points to improve your score:
- Improve Reading Skills: There is no limit to reading, so read as much as you can. Reading improves understanding of the topic. If you do not find the meaning of any new word, try to find the meaning in the context of the paragraph.
- Adopt the Skimming & Scanning techniques: These techniques are very useful and it saves time to read the long passage in the PTE test. Skimming means quickly going through a piece of text to get an overall idea of what it is about. When you understand the text, you will be able to give the answer to a related question easily. Scanning means going through a text to find a particular part of information.
- Improve Vocabulary and Grammar Skills: Basic grammar helps to choose the correct word. Make a daily habit to read a newspaper or other English text. Learn new words, and synonyms and find out their meaning, it will gradually improve your English proficiency. You don’t have to be an expert but knowing the basics will surely boost your score in the real pte.
Source: pexels.com Participate online quiz: Participate in an online vocabulary quiz to enhance your knowledge. It will help you to learn new words and their meanings.
- Deal with unfamiliar words: It is possible that when you read any text or article, you will get new words in it. No one will be familiar with all the words in the dictionary. Understanding the meaning of the situation, and guessing it. This is a skill and it is developed over time. When you continuously read books, you will be capable to understand the meaning of the passage.
- Develop your habit to ask questions: When you read any topic, frame questions about it to improve your reading comprehension. It will improve your overall understanding of the topic.
- Practice summarizing the article: When you read an article, try to summarize it in your own words, as it helps you to understand which point is important in the text and it will be remembered in the long term.
- Try to achieve the reading target: Fix the reading target and achieve it, whether it is only to read one page of the book. This will encourage you to make plans and gives you pleasure.
- Avoid distractions: Make distance from the things that distract your mind. The more concentration, the more fruitful result you will get.
- Enjoy while reading: Do not feel Reading a burden even if you feel your progress is slow. You will utilize your reading skills throughout your life, so enjoy it.
The Fill in the blanks question type is an important part of the PTE Test. This test has three types of fill-in-the-blanks. The chances of getting a good score are very high in it. Let’s discuss all the detail with tips to get full marks in it.
(1) Reading section: It has two types of fill-in-the-blanks:
(a) Fill in the blank: In this question, the text has mentioned on the screen with several blanks in it. Some words have been mentioned at the bottom of the text but these words are more than the blanks. You have to identify the right words and drag them into the correct blank.
(b) Reading, writing fill in the blanks: In this question, you will see a drop-down with options for each blank. You have to select the correct one from it.
(2) Listening section: In this section, it has only one type of Fill in the blank. At the top of the screen, you have an audio player. Below that you will find some text with blanks in it. After listening to the audio, you have to fill in the missing words in the text.
You can fill it in two ways, either you listen to the audio and then write down the missing words in your notes and at the end of the audio, type them in the blanks. Another option is to type them in the blanks as you listen to the audio.
You have to consider the following tips while doing the fill-in-the-blanks:
- Try to understand the meaning of the passage as once you understand it, there will not be any difficulty to find the proper word.
- You can find the correct word by putting all the options one by one in the blank.
- There is no negative marking, so even if you are not sure, you should make your best-educated guess.
- Make sure you drag and drop the word correctly in the blank. You can change the answer any time before you click on the Next button.
- Try to Fill in the blanks within 1-2 minutes. Avoid spending more time on that.
- Carefully read the words before and after the blank. If your basics are correct and strong, you will not take much time to find the correct word.
- Understanding the sentence structure and proper collocation of words i.e., certain words go together just like a phrase.
- You should follow an elimination strategy. You can eliminate those words that are not appropriate. This way you will get the exact word to fill in the blanks.
- Sometimes, you might come across two words that have a similar meaning, that time you have to check the preposition, verbs, and nouns with the blank and the context of the sentence.
- Vocabulary and grammar skill helps to choose the correct word. We recommend that you make it a daily habit to read a newspaper or other English text. Learn new words, and synonyms to find out their meaning, it will gradually improve your English proficiency.
- After filling in all the blanks, you should review the passage to check it. If you feel that the selected word is incorrect, you can change it with the given best possible option.
I hope, this information will help you to get a full score in the fill-in-the-blanks part.
