PTE Reading: Multiple Choice Multiple Answer Question

One of the most challenging sections of the PTE exam is the reading component, as all the questions in this part rely on the candidate's capacity to grasp and comprehend the main idea and the supporting details presented in the PTE reading passage.

The primary reason why many candidates lose points in their reading skills is that most of the questions in the PTE reading and writing sections, such as PTE reading fill-in-the-blanks, read-aloud questions, PTE multiple-choice single-answer, and multiple-answer questions, necessitate the skill of comprehending both explicit and implicit information. A comprehensive understanding of the strategies, PTE Reading tips, and techniques required to excel in such questions is essential for every candidate.

Furthermore, improving one's vocabulary and possessing a thorough knowledge of verbs and tenses is also crucial. Along with this, the ability to perform critical text analysis is a necessary skill. The candidate's ability to comprehend the text is also influenced by their reading proficiency and their capacity to process information. Sometimes candidates allocate too much of their time to reading individual words, which hinders their overall comprehension of the text and leads to the choice of incorrect answer options. 

In this article, we will focus on the PTE reading multiple choice questions with multiple answers to master every possible strategy that can help them get all the answers correct and score better marks.

What are Multiple choice, Multiple Answer questions in PTE Reading?

In the PTE Reading multiple-choice, choose multiple answers, a text of approximately 300 words appears on the screen, followed by a question with five to seven answer options out of which, only two or three options will be correct. The scores in this section are based on partial credits and the students can expect 2 to 3 questions of this type. 

The main purpose of this section is to determine one’s ability to comprehend written English text and the overall theme or idea of the passage. The PTE Reading texts are usually from books, journals, or magazines and the topics mostly pertain to subjects like humanities, sciences, or social studies. One of the best ways to score well in this section is to develop the habit of reading so that you learn new words every day and apply the correct PTE Reading tips and strategies.

Essential PTE Reading Tips to Follow 

• The PTE Reading exam will never check your prior knowledge of any academic topic. You should be able to pinpoint the focus of the question to decide the best approach. 
• While attempting questions in the PTE Reading section remember to highlight the type of reading text given to you.  This will help you to efficiently identify the information you need.  Try to find out whether it is a whole paragraph or if it has been written in bullet point form. Also, check if there are section headings or subheadings which specify the main point.  
• In the pte reading section, you do not have to read the text in detail.  Just consider the overall structure, especially the first few words in each section of the text.  

PTE Reading strategies for a high score

1. Read the question prompt to understand what is expected of you and what you should be specifically looking for when you read the PTE Reading passage.
2. Read the options and highlight keywords so that you can look for the paraphrase of the keywords in the passage. As you read, remember what you are looking for specific information or the overall theme of the reading passage.
3. Read the passage with specific information in mind. If you come across any word or information that seems to be similar to what you read in the question prompts, stop and validate the option against the information in your mind. 
4. One of the most important PTE Reading tips is to be careful with paraphrased information that has been given in the PTE Reading passage. Only matching the words might result in choosing the incorrect option. The information in the passage and in the question might be similar but there will always be a few words that will be different 
5. Recognize all the keywords and their synonyms or substitute words that might help you identify the information that you are looking for. 
6. Understand the sentences given in the PTE Reading passage and what they mean in the context of the passage.
7. Next, shortlist the options but do not finalize any options at this stage.
8. By the time you reach the end of the paragraph, the context and the content might change. In the PTE Reading passage, it is specifically very important to be careful with contradictory information.
9. After you finish reading the passage, read the question prompts again, followed by the options.
10. Go through your keywords and every option in detail and then, finally decide whether each PTE reading multiple choice questions option is right or wrong in context to the information that you read. 
11.  Then, finally, choose all the options that you think are correct and submit your answer.
12. Do not choose any option that you are not sure of.

How is PTE Reading scored?

Remember, Reading is the only section in the PTE exam that has a negative marking. This means that marks are deducted for choosing incorrect options, so be very careful while choosing extra options.

In the PTE Reading section, you get one mark for every correct option and you lose one mark for every incorrect option that you choose. The best thing to do here is to choose only those options that you are sure of, otherwise, just choose only one option that you are sure of. 

Remember, even if you choose one correct option for all the questions, you are sure to get more than 65  marks in the reading section.

TIP:  In the PTE reading multiple choice questions there are five options to select from. you can expect a maximum of two options to be correct whereas, if the question has 6 to 7 options, you can expect three correct answers.

How to manage time in the PTE Reading 

Every question in the PTE exam has a specific time assigned to it; however,  the PTE Reading section has a cumulative time so you have to be very careful that you do not spend extra time on any one question. Try not to spend more than two minutes on each question in this section. 

Type of questions in the PTE Reading 

The first and most important thing before you answer the question in the PTE Reading part is to understand the question type and highlight the keywords. There are a few, specific types of questions that can be expected in this section of the PTE exam. Some of the main ones are:

• Fill in the Blanks (Read 300 words text and fill up): You might get a question of PTE reading fill in the blanks where you need to complete a passage with missing words by choosing the correct words from a provided list.
• Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers: In this question type, you may have to select multiple correct answers from a list of options based on the information in a passage.
• Re-order Paragraph: You might encounter a question that requires you to rearrange scrambled sentences to form a coherent passage.
• Fill in the Blanks (Read 80 words text and fill up): PTE reading fill in the blanks will ask you to fill in the blanks in a shorter passage using words from a list.
• Multiple-choice, Single Answer: In this question, you'll need to choose a single correct answer from a list based on the information provided in a passage.

For a better understanding of the PTE exam and achieving a great score, enrolling in online PTE Academic live classes is always a great option.