PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks is the fourth question type that you see on your screen in the PTE Reading section. This question type is equally important as Reading & Writing: Fill in the blanks, in terms of weightage on the score. In this article, we will cover everything about PTE Reading Fill in the blanks task, including the overview, layout, facts, strategy, and also a few practice questions. We can assure you that, once you finish reading this post, you will have all the relevant information and knowledge to solve this task confidently.
Just to emphasize in the beginning, the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks questions are quite important if you really want a great reading score. So, have a good read of everything mentioned below.
PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks Overview
Firstly, let’s try to understand the question type, and what is PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks about. As the name suggests, you will see a text passage on the screen and there will be several blanks or gaps. At the bottom of the question, you will also see a list of words in a box. Please note that there will be more word options than the number of blanks. So, you need to select the words that best fit the blanks by dragging and dropping them to the appropriate gaps. See the layout picture below, to get a better understanding of the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks task.
PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks Scoring
In PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks, the length of the test passage is not much, around 80 words and you will get 4 to 5 of these questions in the actual PTE test. The design of the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks questions is to test your ability to use context and grammatical cues to identify the correct words that complete the given text. This question only assesses your reading skills and therefore, this task only contributes to your Reading section score.
In PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks, for every correct answer, you will get 1 mark, and there is no negative marking. So, if you select any wrong answers, you still get marks for the correct ones. The number of blanks varies from question to question, but you definitely will get 4 blanks or more per question. Mathematically speaking, with 4 to 5 blanks in each question and 4 to 5 questions in total, you are looking at a potential of scoring a minimum of 16 to 25 marks alone in the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks questions. Precision is the key here, if you select your answers that are precise both grammatically and contextually, you will nail these questions.
PTE Reading Fill in the blanks Time Management
There is no allocated time for the Reading Fill in the Blanks questions or for the entire PTE reading section. So, you need to learn to manage your time yourself. The test takers should determine their own comfort level and figure out how much time they need for this question type, but we do provide a recommended time of a maximum of 2 minutes. Please remember that if you need more time on the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks task, you will have to make it up by spending lesser time on other tasks in the reading section. In the end, you will have to balance the time so you don’t miss any questions in the test. If you need more tips on speed reading and other interesting tips for the reading section, please read Reading: Tips and Tricks.
PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks Grammar tips
Before we dive deep into knowing the skills and PTE Reading Fill in the blanks grammar tips for this task, you now know all the details about it. Moving on to the skills required now, the main idea in the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks questions is to identify the right words of the right word type in the right place. It’s ok if that doesn’t make sense to you now. Let’s elaborate on this, so it’s easier to understand.
PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks Skill 1: Build an understanding of Word Types
For PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks task, in order to identify the correct word type, you need to have good grammar skills. Shown below briefly are the 7 essential word types in the English language.
- Nouns – a person, place, thing or intangible idea (abstract nouns). E.g. Jack, Sydney, Ship or Freedom Tip: Article precedes a noun. E.g. A ship, An ice-cream, A/ the book
- Pronouns – It replaces nouns (substitutes). E.g. I, He, She, Them, Who
- Adjectives – describes noun or pronoun. E.g. Hot, lazy, Bright, Unique
- Verbs – action that tells what happened. E.g. eat, go, do, run, see.
- Adverbs – describes verbs or adjectives. E.g. softly, slowly, loudly.
- Prepositions – shows relation between noun or pronoun. E.g. to, in, of, up, at, over.
- Conjunctions – joins words and phrases into sentences. E.g. And, but, Or, With.
Identifying the correct word type that would fit in the blanks will greatly improve your chances of getting the answers right. Grammar is the key for the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks as well as many other PTE tasks. So, how do you build your grammar skills, especially the understanding of word type? We provide focused live classes on grammar and vocabulary building, as well as video lessons for our subscribed students, why not join us?
PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks Word Type Example
Let’s do an example to elaborate on why understanding the word type is so important for the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks task. Identify what word type fits here.
Example – Many people use ______ (adjective/ verb/ noun) to prove their actions.
Answer – noun. Why is this the correct answer?
Explanation – the example here says – ‘Many people use something‘. Could that be an adjective or verb? Absolutely not. Because adjective describes a noun and a verb shows an action, but in this case, we need an object or an idea, which is always a ‘noun’.
Now, if we give you the actual words, you can easily figure out the answer, (just/ justify/ justification). So, the correct answer will be ‘justification’ which is a noun. Did you just see how easy it became when you knew the word type?
PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks Skill 2: Understanding of Collocation
For PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks task, let’s next talk about collocation. Apart from understanding the correct word type, the usage of collocation will also help you master this question type. So, what is a collocation? A group of words that are often used together or that are likely to occur together. The native English speakers very commonly use collocations in their everyday conversations. You can also download the official PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks collocation word list from here.
Let’s look at some forms of collocation.
- Verb + Noun -> achieve goals, collect data
- Verb + Adverb -> communicate effectively, increased dramatically
- Adjective + Noun -> brief introduction, commit crime
- Adverb + Verb -> critically evaluate, closely linked
- Noun + Noun -> government policy, information gathering
If you know the collocation related to a word, your chances of getting the answers right increase dramatically.
Example – We should all ______ (give/ take / make/ do) an effort to improve our lives.
Answer – ‘Make’. Why?
Explanation – ‘Make an effort’ is the correct collocation and hence the best answer. The other words don’t correctly collocate here.
PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks Skill 3: Understanding the Context
And lastly, for the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks task, understanding the context or the theme is of utmost importance. If you don’t understand the context well, you will not be able to figure out which word would fit best in a meaningful manner. The theme itself could be political, social, historical, scientific, etc. The words that appear before and after the blanks, help you to determine the context and select the precise answer. Look at the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks example below.
Example – Simon and Todd work in a bank. But they work in different departments. Simon is mathematically very sound and works in accounting, while Todd is not so intelligent and works as a janitor. The manager was describing about Simon and Todd to a colleague, saying that, Simon’s _____ ideas are noteworthy, while Todd’s _____ ideas aren’t much use in banking.
Answer Options – unimaginative, creative.
Answer – Simon’s creative ideas are noteworthy, while Todd’s unimaginative ideas aren’t much used in banking.
Explanation – As you can see, how understanding the context can help you to identify what is being discussed, and thereby you can easily determine the perfect answer.
PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks with Explanation
The PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks questions below are actual PTE exam questions and now you can use your learning from the above tips and tricks to solve the questions successfully. In order to train you in the correct strategy, the below practice questions are divided into two steps. In Step 1, you need to learn to identify the correct word type and in Step 2, you then need to select the correct answers for the given Fill in the Blanks question.
Reading Fill in the Blanks Practice 1:
A puddle of water left undisturbed eventually disappears. The _______ liquid molecules escape into the gas phase, becoming water vapor. Vaporization is the process in which a liquid is ______ to a gas. Evaporation is the conversion of a liquid _______ its vapor below the boiling temperature of the liquid. If the water is instead kept in a closed container, the water vapor molecules do not have a chance to escape into the surroundings and so the ______ level does not change. As some water molecules become vapor, an equal number of water vapor molecules ________ back into the liquid state. Condensation is the change of state from a gas to a liquid.
Word Type Options – [noun, verb, adjective, verb, preposition]
A puddle of water left undisturbed eventually disappears. The __adjective__ liquid molecules escape into the gas phase, becoming water vapor. Vaporization is the process in which a liquid is __verb__ to a gas. Evaporation is the conversion of a liquid __preposition__ its vapor below the boiling temperature of the liquid. If the water is instead kept in a closed container, the water vapor molecules do not have a chance to escape into the surroundings and so the __noun__ level does not change. As some water molecules become vapor, an equal number of water vapor molecules __verb__ back into the liquid state. Condensation is the change of state from a gas to a liquid.
Answer Options – [water, converted, hot, condense, to]
Practice 1 Answer:
Hope the above example for the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks task clarifies the approach for you. So, attempt the next one using the same technique and see if your accuracy improves.
Reading Fill in the Blanks Practice 2:
Creatures, either big or small, need sleep. Scientists have concluded that sleep is imperative to repair proteins, ___________ memories and also remove waste materials from the cells. However, sleep remains a _________ mystery. The timing of when we fall asleep or when we are awake are actually controlled by regulation of the circadian ________ . The molecular components of this ____________ clock have already been found. But, the amount of sleep is ____________ by the body is regulated by another process. However, very little is known about the molecular __________ of sleep cycle.
Word Type Options – [noun, verb, adjective, verb, adjective, noun]
Creatures, either big or small, need sleep. Scientists have concluded that sleep is imperative to repair proteins, __verb__ memories and also remove waste materials from the cells. However, sleep remains a _adjective_ mystery. The timing of when we fall asleep or when we are awake are actually controlled by regulation of the circadian __noun__ . The molecular components of this ___adjective___ clock have already been found. But, the amount of sleep is ___verb___ by the body is regulated by another process. However, very little is known about the molecular __noun__ of sleep cycle.
Answer Options – [clock, consolidate, great, controlled, biological, principles]
Practice 2 Answer:
The explanations provided for the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks question will help you to grasp why a particular answer is the best one for the blanks respectively.
Fill in the Blanks Practice 3:
Approximately 4.5 billion years ago, gravity _______together a cloud of dust and gas to form our solar system. While scientists aren’t certain of the exact _______ of the process, observations of __________ stellar systems combined with computer simulations have allowed them to develop some models of what could have happened so many years ago. A massive concentration ___________ interstellar gas and dust created a molecular cloud that would form the star’s birthplace. Gravity continued to shrink the __________ cloud to an even denser form. When fusion ________ in, the star began to blast a stellar wind that helped clear out the debris and stopped it from falling inward.
Word Type Options – [noun, verb, adjective, verb, preposition, adjective]
Approximately 4.5 billion years ago, gravity __verb__together a cloud of dust and gas to form our solar system. While scientists aren’t certain of the exact __noun__ of the process, observations of __adjective__ stellar systems combined with computer simulations have allowed them to develop some models of what could have happened so many years ago. A massive concentration __preposition__ interstellar gas and dust created a molecular cloud that would form the star’s birthplace. Gravity continued to shrink the __adjective__ cloud to an even denser form. When fusion __verb__ in, the star began to blast a stellar wind that helped clear out the debris and stopped it from falling inward.
Answer Options – [nature, pulled, young, kicked, of, dense]
Practice 3 Answer:
Now that, you have gone through 3 actual PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks questions and using the approach we recommend, you can see that the strategy definitely works. So, don’t waste any more time and start using it in your practice questions at the Edutrainex PTE learning platform.
PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks FAQs
Q. What if I don’t know the meaning of words?
Ans- You need to read around the given blank, and try to guess the meaning from context. You also need to identify the idea presented in the text and think about what word creates meaning in the given context. Using this technique, you can still give your best shot to the answers you don’t even know the meaning of.
Q. Is the Edutrainex super strategy successful?
Ans- Absolutely. Try it out and practice methodically and you will realize that not only your English language level is improving, but also you will be able to attempt the questions in a better way.
Q. How to improve my score on this task?
Ans- For PTE Fill in the Blanks, the first thing you need to do is to build your basic grammar skills – learn to identify word types, and build your collocation using the word list. Then, you should follow our strategy & practice a lot of questions. If you still need help, Edutrainex PTE experts are always there to guide you with the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks.
Fill in the Blanks – What next?
Building your English language skills such as grammar and vocabulary are key things that you essentially need to make your quest, for scoring well in the PTE test, successful. But at the same time, you also need guidance and support from people who are experts in PTE. And the answer is Edutrainex, so you should enrol yourself today with us and learn more tips and tricks for the PTE Fill in the Blanks task. Our one-to-one consultations and live classes gives you an edge over the students who are not preparing methodically.
With our sustained guidance and a superb PTE learning platform, you will not only master the PTE Fill in the Blanks task, but our Intelli-assist will keep monitoring your performance in real time and offer you personalized tips and recommendations. To learn more about the overall overview for the PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks, watch the video below.
