PTE Academic · Listening
PTE Listening Select Missing Word
You hear a recording once, and its last word is replaced by a beep. Your job is to pick the words that fit.
You listen to a recording of 20 to 70 seconds that plays once. At the very end, the last word or words are replaced by a beep, and you choose the option that completes the recording from the choices on screen. Choosing the right one earns a point; any other choice earns nothing, with no penalty on top. There's no second play, so the work is in following where the speaker is heading. The task counts towards your Listening score.
How the task works
Listen for where the speaker is heading, then choose
Here, the options are on screen while the recording plays, so you can read them first and check them against what you hear.
Read the options and see how they differ
Look at what the options have in common and where they split. A choice between opposites tells you the recording ends on a claim you can test against the argument; a choice between similar words tells you to listen for the exact meaning.
Follow the argument, not just the words
The ending is set up by what came before it: a contrast, a conclusion, a result. Keep track of which way the speaker is going, because the last words will usually complete that direction.
Say the sentence to yourself with each option
When the beep comes, try each option in place of it and keep the one that fits both the grammar and the point of the recording. Then choose it and move on.
How Pearson scores it
One point for the right ending, nothing for any other
The whole question is scored as a single unit. Choose the correct option and you earn a point; choose any other, or none, and the question earns nothing.
Correct or incorrect
There's no partial credit for an ending that's nearly right, and no penalty beyond missing the point. The question is worth one point if you chose the option Pearson marks correct, and zero otherwise.
Select Missing Word counts towards your Listening score. One or two of these appear in a test.
What usually goes wrong
Three ways a wrong ending gets chosen
A word you just heard
An option that repeats a word from earlier in the recording feels familiar, and familiarity is easy to mistake for a fit. Check that it carries the meaning the speaker needs at the end, not just that it sounded earlier.
Fits the topic, not the sentence
Some options are about the right subject but do not complete the sentence, either because the grammar breaks or because the point does not follow. Say the whole sentence with the option in place before you trust it.
Fits the grammar, reverses the point
The most tempting wrong option reads smoothly and says the opposite of where the speaker was going. This is why following the argument matters more than catching the last few words.
Worked example
One recording, four endings, one that fits — and why the rest do not
Here is a recording of the kind you hear in this task, up to the beep: “When the city introduced a charge for driving into the centre, many shop owners predicted that customers would stay away and their takings would fall. Three years on, the evidence points the other way. Traffic in the centre has dropped by a fifth, buses now run faster, and the pavements are busier than they have ever been. Footfall is up, and so are sales. Even the shop owners who opposed the charge now admit that it has helped them. That is why the council now plans to” — and then the beep. Below are the four options on screen, and why each one does or does not complete it.
The four options and what each does
- The option that fits extend the scheme Sales are up and even the people who opposed the charge admit it helped, so the council builds on it. This is the only option that follows from the whole recording.
- Reverses the point scrap the charge It reads smoothly after "plans to", but the evidence the speaker gave points the other way: traffic is down and sales are up.
- Fits the topic, not the sentence double the fines Fines are close to the subject of charges, but nothing in the recording is about penalties, so it does not follow from anything the speaker said.
- Reverses the point close the centre The speaker says the pavements are busier than ever, so closing the centre would undo the very result being described.
What the speaker says next
…the council now plans to extend the scheme.
Strategy tip: Ask which ending the evidence supports: the speaker has spent the whole recording building towards it.
Notice that two of the wrong options are perfectly good English. What rules them out is not the grammar but the direction of the argument — which is why you follow the speaker's point rather than waiting for the last word.
Practising here
See why every option does or does not fit
The recording is a real spoken clip that stops at the beep, and the review after you check explains every option, not just the one you chose.
One play, then the beep
The recording plays once and ends with a beep where the last words would be. After you check your answer, you can replay it as often as you like.
Scored the way Pearson does
We score the way Pearson does — one point for the right option, none otherwise — and the review shows you the words that were under the beep.
Every option explained
Each option comes with a short reason it fits or does not, including the ones you correctly left alone, so you learn how wrong endings are built.
Words and short phrases
In our practice bank the missing part is sometimes one word and sometimes a short phrase of two or three words.
One tip, and every attempt kept
You get one strategy tip for the recording, plus your score and your earlier attempts on it, so you can see whether you keep falling for the same kind of wrong ending.
Common questions
Select Missing Word, answered
How long is the recording?
Between 20 and 70 seconds, and it plays once.
Is it one word that is missing, or more?
The last word or words are replaced by a beep, so it can be a single word or a short phrase.
How many options are there?
Our practice questions have three to five, and exactly one is correct.
What happens if I choose the wrong option?
The question earns nothing. There's no partial credit and no penalty beyond missing the point.
Which score does this task count towards?
Listening.
How many of these are in the test?
One or two.
Try it with one play
Hear a recording once, catch where it is heading, and see exactly why each option does or does not complete it.