PTE Academic · Reading
PTE Reading Multiple Choice, Single Answer
Read a short text, then choose the one answer the text supports.
A text of up to 110 words appears on screen with a question about it. You read, then choose one option from the list. Exactly one is correct: choosing it earns a point, and choosing any other option, or none, earns nothing. The task counts towards your Reading score only.
How the task works
Read, test each option against the text, choose one
Pearson gives no separate time for each question. The whole Reading section runs for roughly 23 to 30 minutes, so the minutes you spend here are minutes you don't have for the other Reading tasks.
Read the question first
Knowing what you're asked before you read tells you what to look for. Check whether it asks what the text states, what a word means here, or what the writer thinks — each one sends you looking for something different.
Read for the point, not for keywords
The text is short, so read it through once. Note what the author concludes, not only which topics are mentioned along the way.
Test every option against the text
Only one option is fully supported by what the text says. Cross out the ones the text contradicts or never claims, then choose the one that is left.
How Pearson scores it
One point for the right option, nothing for any other
The whole question is scored as a single unit: correct or incorrect. Pearson gives no credit for no response or for an incorrect one.
Correct or incorrect
There is no partial credit for a close option. The question is worth one point if you chose the option Pearson marks correct, and zero otherwise.
Multiple Choice, Single Answer counts towards your Reading score only. Two or three of these appear in a test, and the whole Reading section runs for roughly 23 to 30 minutes.
What usually goes wrong
Where students lose points
Choosing the option that repeats the text's words
A wrong option is often built from words that really appear in the text, joined to a claim the text doesn't make. Match meaning, not vocabulary.
Reading more into the text than it says
An option can sound sensible and even be true in real life, yet go beyond the text. Choose what the text supports, not what you happen to know.
Settling on the first option that seems right
Two options can both look reasonable on a first pass. Check each one against the text before you commit, because only one is fully supported.
Worked example
One text, four options, one correct — and the traps built to look right
Here is a text of the kind you read in this task: “Many cities have begun to replace tarmac in car parks with pale, reflective paving. The change is small, but the effect is measurable: on a hot afternoon, a pale surface can be several degrees cooler than a dark one, because it reflects more sunlight instead of absorbing it. Planners had once dismissed the idea as cosmetic. However, cooler ground also means cooler air nearby, which lowers the demand for air conditioning in surrounding buildings. Critics point out that reflective surfaces can dazzle drivers and wear more quickly under heavy traffic, so the material is best suited to areas used mainly by pedestrians and parked cars.” The question: “According to the text, where is reflective paving best suited?” The options: (a) On motorways with fast traffic; (b) Where people walk and cars stand still; (c) Only in cities that have no air conditioning; (d) Wherever a dark surface would look plain.
The four options and why each is right or wrong
- The correct option Option (b) The last sentence says the material is best suited to areas used mainly by pedestrians and parked cars. The option says the same thing in other words, so you find it by its meaning, not by matching words.
- A trap that reverses the text Option (a) The text says reflective surfaces wear more quickly under heavy traffic and can dazzle drivers, which argues against motorways. Fast traffic is exactly what the text warns about.
- A trap that reuses a real detail Option (c) Air conditioning is mentioned, but as something the cooler air helps to reduce, not as a condition for using the paving. The detail is real; the claim built on it is not in the text.
- A trap that goes beyond the text Option (d) The text says planners once dismissed the idea as cosmetic, so appearance is not the reason for choosing it. The option turns a rejected view into the answer.
What the text actually supports
Reflective paving cools the ground and the air around it, but it can dazzle drivers and wears faster under heavy traffic, so it suits areas used mainly by pedestrians and parked cars.
Strategy tip: Find the sentence that answers the question, then put your finger on it. If you can't point to a sentence in the text that supports an option, that option isn't the answer.
Every wrong option here is built from something in the text: a warning about traffic, a mention of air conditioning, a view the planners dropped. Only one option matches what the author concludes.
Practising here
See why each option is right or wrong
You practise on real-style texts and see the reasoning behind every option after you check your answer.
Choose one option and check
Read the text, pick one option and check it. The question is marked right or wrong, the way Pearson marks it.
Your choice and the correct option
After you check, the review shows the option you chose and the correct one, even when they are not the same option.
The reasoning behind each option
Where an explanation is written, each option carries its own note on why the text supports it or rules it out, so a tempting distractor doesn't stay a mystery.
A tip and your earlier attempts
Questions can come with a strategy tip and an explanation of the answer, and your earlier attempts on the same question are listed, so you can see whether you are still falling for the same trap.
Practise the way that suits you
Work through all questions, go back to Mistakes only, or keep a set of Bookmarked only questions to revisit.
Common questions
Multiple Choice, Single Answer, answered
How long is the text?
Up to 110 words.
How many options are correct?
Exactly one. The others are built to look plausible without being fully supported by the text.
What happens if I choose the wrong option?
The question earns nothing. Pearson gives no credit for an incorrect response or for no response.
Is there partial credit?
No. The question is scored as correct or incorrect.
How much time do I get for each question?
Pearson gives no time for each question. The whole Reading section takes roughly 23 to 30 minutes.
Which score does this task count towards?
Reading only.
How many of these are in the test?
Two or three, depending on the test you get.
Try it with a short text
Read the text, choose the one option it supports, and see why the correct option was correct and why the others were built to look tempting.