How many reading task types are on the PTE?

PTE Academic Reading has five task types: Fill in the Blanks (Reading and Writing) with dropdowns, Multiple Choice Multiple Answers, Re-order Paragraphs, Fill in the Blanks (drag and drop), and Multiple Choice Single Answer. Several of them carry partial credit.

Which PTE reading tasks use partial credit?

Both Fill in the Blanks tasks and Re-order Paragraphs award partial credit, so you earn marks for every correct selection or pair. Multiple Choice Multiple Answers also gives partial credit but deducts for wrong choices, so only select options you are confident about.

Does PTE Reading affect my writing score?

Yes. The Fill in the Blanks (Reading and Writing) dropdown task contributes to both your Reading and your Writing scores, which is why it is one of the highest-value item types to master.

Reading

PTE Reading: sample passages and questions

The PTE Academic Reading section moves fast, mixing five very different task types in about 30 minutes. The quickest way to feel ready is to see each one worked through end to end. Below you will find a realistic, self-contained passage for every reading task, the exact question, the correct answer, and the strategy that gets you there. For a full breakdown of timing and item counts, see the PTE test format guide.

1. Fill in the Blanks (Reading and Writing)

This dropdown task shows a passage with several gaps. Each gap has a dropdown of four options, and only one fits the meaning and grammar of the sentence. It is one of the most valuable item types because it counts towards both your Reading and your Writing score.

Coral reefs are among the most productive ecosystems on the planet, yet they occupy less than one percent of the ocean floor. Their remarkable diversity [ 1 ] from a partnership between the coral animals and tiny algae that live inside their tissues. The algae photosynthesise and supply the coral with energy, while the coral offers shelter and nutrients in return. When ocean temperatures rise even slightly, this delicate relationship breaks down and the algae are expelled, a process [ 2 ] as bleaching. Without their algae, the corals lose their colour and, if the stress is [ 3 ], eventually starve.

Question

Select the correct word for each numbered gap.
Gap 1: (A) results (B) resulting (C) result (D) resulted
Gap 2: (A) called (B) known (C) named (D) titled
Gap 3: (A) prolonged (B) lengthy (C) extensive (D) widened

Answers: Gap 1 (A) results · Gap 2 (B) known · Gap 3 (A) prolonged.

Strategy

Read the whole sentence before opening any dropdown. Gap 1 needs a present-tense verb that agrees with the singular subject "diversity", so "results" is the only grammatical fit. Gap 2 relies on the fixed collocation "known as", a set phrase the other options do not form. Gap 3 is about meaning: bleaching kills coral only when the stress lasts a long time, and "prolonged" carries that sense of duration better than the alternatives. Decide every gap on both grammar and the surrounding meaning, never one in isolation.

2. Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers

Here you read a passage and pick every option that answers the question. More than one is correct, and the task carries partial credit with a penalty for wrong selections, so guessing widely can cost you marks.

The shift to remote work has reshaped how cities function. With fewer commuters, some central business districts have seen footfall fall sharply, hurting cafes and shops that once relied on office crowds. At the same time, suburban and regional towns have gained new residents who no longer need to live near an office, lifting local spending and house prices. Transport authorities report lower peak-hour congestion but warn that reduced fare income threatens the funding of public transit networks. Employers, meanwhile, are split: some praise the productivity gains, while others worry that informal collaboration and the training of junior staff suffer when teams rarely meet in person.

Question

Which of the following are presented as consequences of the shift to remote work? Select all that apply.
(A) Falling footfall in central business districts
(B) A complete end to all office work
(C) Rising spending and house prices in regional towns
(D) Pressure on the funding of public transit
(E) Universal agreement among employers that it is beneficial

Answers: (A), (C) and (D).

Strategy

Treat each option as a true or false claim you must verify against the text. (A), (C) and (D) are each stated directly. (B) is an exaggeration the passage never makes; remote work reduced commuters but did not end office work. (E) is contradicted by the final sentence, which says employers are split. Reject any option that overstates, reverses or invents a detail. Because wrong picks subtract marks, only tick an option when you can point to the line that proves it.

3. Re-order Paragraphs

You are given several text boxes in a jumbled order and must drag them into a logical sequence. The task awards partial credit for each correctly placed adjacent pair, so even a partly correct order earns marks.

(A) These early devices were bulky, expensive and used mainly by large institutions for narrow scientific tasks.
(B) The first electronic computers appeared in the 1940s, filling entire rooms and consuming vast amounts of power.
(C) Today, a single smartphone holds more computing power than those room-sized machines combined.
(D) Over the following decades, however, transistors and then microchips shrank computers dramatically and slashed their cost.

Question

Arrange boxes (A) to (D) into the correct order.

Answer: B, A, D, C.

Strategy

First find the opening sentence, the one that introduces the topic without referring back to anything. Box (B) does this by naming "the first electronic computers" and a date. Then follow the chain of reference words. "These early devices" in (A) must point to the computers just introduced in (B). The contrast signal "however" plus "the following decades" in (D) signals change over time, and (C) closes with "Today", the natural endpoint. Lock down the first and last boxes, then connect the middle using pronouns, time markers and linking words.

4. Fill in the Blanks (drag and drop)

This reading-only task shows a passage with gaps and a bank of words below it. You drag the right word into each gap, and there are more words in the bank than gaps, so some are distractors. Partial credit applies for each gap filled correctly.

Sleep is not a single, uniform state but a cycle of distinct stages. During deep sleep, the body repairs tissue and [ 1 ] energy, while the brain consolidates memories formed during the day. The lighter stage known as REM sleep is when most vivid dreaming [ 2 ]. Researchers believe that a full night allows several complete cycles, and that cutting sleep short can [ 3 ] both mood and concentration the following day.

Question

Drag a word from the bank into each gap.
Word bank: occurs · restores · impair · develops · describe · reduces

Answers: Gap 1 restores · Gap 2 occurs · Gap 3 impair.

Strategy

Use both meaning and grammar to eliminate distractors. Gap 1 sits beside "repairs tissue", so a word about renewal fits; "restores" pairs naturally with energy. Gap 2 needs a singular verb to match "dreaming", and "occurs" is the precise term for something that happens during a stage. Gap 3 follows "can", which demands a base-form verb, and the negative context ("cutting sleep short") points to "impair". Read each completed sentence back to yourself; if it sounds natural and grammatical, you have almost certainly chosen right.

5. Multiple Choice, Single Answer

You read a short passage and choose the one option that best answers the question. There is no partial credit and no penalty, so always commit to a single best choice.

For centuries, mapmakers drew coastlines as fixed, permanent lines. Modern satellite data tells a different story: shorelines are constantly on the move, advancing and retreating with tides, storms and the slow rise of the sea. Some beaches lose several metres of sand in a single winter and recover it by summer. This restlessness makes coastal mapping a moving target, and it complicates decisions about where it is safe to build. Planners increasingly rely on probability, mapping not a single line but a band within which the coast is likely to sit over the coming decades.

Question

What is the main idea of the passage?
(A) Old maps were always inaccurate and should be discarded.
(B) Coastlines are not fixed, which makes coastal mapping and planning difficult.
(C) Satellites have made beaches disappear.
(D) Most beaches lose sand permanently every winter.

Answer: (B).

Strategy

The main idea is the thread that runs through the whole passage, not a single detail. (B) captures the central claim, that shorelines move and this complicates mapping and building, which every sentence supports. (A) misreads the tone; the text explains why old maps were limited but never says discard them. (C) confuses the satellites that measure beaches with a cause of their loss. (D) contradicts the passage, which says beaches often recover lost sand by summer. Choose the option a one-sentence summary of the passage would contain, and reject any choice that is too extreme, too narrow or simply untrue.

Strategy tips for PTE Reading

Watch the clock. Reading is the only section without per-question timing, so a slow start on one passage steals time from the rest. Give the longer Multiple Choice items the time they need and keep dropdown gaps quick.
Use grammar as a filter. In both Fill in the Blanks tasks, the wrong options are often grammatically impossible. Tense, agreement and word form eliminate distractors before you even weigh meaning.
Anchor Re-order Paragraphs at the ends. Find the sentence that needs no context (the opener) and the one that clearly concludes, then build inward using pronouns and linking words.
Respect the penalty. In Multiple Choice Multiple Answers, a wrong tick cancels a right one. Select only options you can prove from the text.
Read for the whole meaning. Single-answer questions reward the option that fits the entire passage, not the one that merely repeats a familiar phrase.

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