Your reading skills will be assessed in this section. PTE Academic exams assess four abilities: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Understanding what you are reading is very important in this section.
Collocations are tested here. Understanding collocations is important in order to show the tester that your level of English is at a higher than average. These are words that are grouped together and roll off the tongue naturally and are more so than not phrases.
In the PTE Fill in the Blanks questions in the reading section of PTE Academic exam, you will find two types of questions. In one, you will have a common pool of words, from which you will be required to drag and drop the right words into the blanks. In the other type, for each blank, you will have a drop-down list of choices and from that, you have to select the correct option.
Tips and Tricks You Can Use
You will find your own methods and what works best for you. We suggest reading over the text and firstly eliminating the words you know aren’t related to the text.
Here are some more tips and tricks for you to implement during revision:
- Identify the words that may have similar meanings but use what fits best in the blank.
- Build up your vocabulary.
- Prioritize. Firstly answer what is obvious to you, then go back and fill in the harder questions
- Be familiar with the collocation of words, the words used and the structuring of the sentences.
- You don’t need to understand each and every word in the text, but putting it into context is important as the section can’t be done correctly without doing at least that.
The score depends upon how many blanks you fill in correctly.
If you fill in the blank incorrectly you will score zero. For each blank filled in correctly, you will get one point. So as you can see the points do add up as there are many blanks in each question. It would be such a waste to leave any blanks empty as there aren’t any points deducted for a wrong answer. Not sure? Take a wild guess. You have nothing to lose.
Complete PTE Fill in the Blanks Practice Question
The complete GrowSkills Engleze.com PTE Questions Bank contains much more! It’s updated weekly, often more than once every week. You will also get a FREE Video Course, Mock Tests, and Super Templates Pack.
Question 1
Basic understanding of the concept of qualitative research _____ is necessary to appreciate the program. Hence, the workshop will start with some_____ input sessions so as to help the participants to brush the knowledge in basic research_____. These sessions will be followed by software-enabled practical training with a demonstration. Thus both theoretical and practical_____ will be arranged so that the participants could understand,_____ and able to meaningfully interpret the output.
Options
nomenclature, methodology, sessions, theory, methods, aspects, appreciate, theoretical, appreciation
Model Answer
methodology, theoretical, methods, sessions, appreciate
Question 2
The Eiffel Tower was the tallest building in the world when it was completed in 1889. It was built for the World’s Fair to_____ that iron could be as strong as stone while being_____ lighter. And in fact, the wrought-iron tower is twice as tall as the masonry Washington Monument and yet it weighs 70,000 tons less! It is repainted every seven years with 50 tons of dark brown paint.
Called the “father of the skyscraper,” the Home Insurance Building,_____ in Chicago in 1885 was 138 feet tall and 10 stories. It was the first building to_____ employ a supporting skeleton of steel beams and columns, allowing it to have many more windows than traditional masonry structures. But this new construction method made people worry that the building would fall down, leading the city to halt construction until they could_____ the structure’s safety.
In 1929, auto tycoon Walter Chrysler took part in an intense race with the Bank of Manhattan Trust Company to build the world’s tallest skyscraper. Just when it looked like the bank had captured the_____ title, workers at the Chrysler Building jacked a thin spire hidden inside the building through the top of the roof to win the contest, subsequently losing the title four months later to the Empire State Building. Chrysler also decorated his building to mirror his cars, with hubcaps, mudguards, and hood ornaments.
Options
demonstration, constructed, demonstrate, investigation, effectively, investigate, converted, infinitely, coveted, infinite
Model Answer
demonstrate, infinitely, constructed, effectively, investigate, coveted
Question 3
By 2025, government experts say, America’s skies will swarm with three_____ as many planes, and not just the kind of traffic flying today. There will be thousands of tiny jets, seating six or fewer, at airliner_____, competing for space with remotely_____ drones that need help avoiding midair_____ and with commercially operated rockets carrying_____ and tourists into space.
Options
terms, attitudes, collisions, aptitudes, altitudes, satellites, times, controlled, intersections
Model Answer
times, altitudes, controlled, collisions, satellites
Question 4
Matthew Josephson does an_____ job of covering the life and works of Thomas Alva Edison. The author of the book covered every aspect of Thomas Edison’s life form the time his grandparents lived in the original thirteen colonies to the point where he was born in Milan, Ohio and later up to the point where he died in 1931. Thomas Alva Edison was both a scientist and an inventor. When he was born in 1847, Edison would see_____ change take place in his lifetime. He was also to be responsible for making many of those changes occur. When Edison was born, society, society still thought of electricity as a_____, a fad. By the time he died, entire cities were lit by electricity.
Much of the credit for that progress goes to Edison. In his lifetime, Edison patented 1,093 inventions earning him the nickname “The Wizard of Menlo Park.” The most famous of his inventions was the_____ light build. It was quite a time-consuming process and quite interesting how Thomas Edison went about finding the right fiber for his incandescent bulb. He went so far as to send people around the world after various fibers he tested as possible fibers for his light bulb. Besides the light bulb, Edison developed the phonograph and the “kinetoscope,” a small box for viewing moving films. Thomas Edison is also the first person in the US to make his own filmstrip. He also_____ upon the original design of the stock ticker, the telegraph, and Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone. He believed in hard work, sometimes working twenty hours a day or more, depending upon the situation.
He has been known to spend several days working on one project without sleep until it worked. Edison was quoted as saying, “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” In_____ to this important American, electric lights in the United States are dimmed for one minute on October 21, 1931, a few days after his death.
Options
exhilarating, troubling, novelty, improved, excellent, problem, dedication, tremendous, tribute, incandescent, indentation, improvised
Model Answer
excellent, tremendous, novelty, incandescent, improved, tribute
Question 5
It has been a year since I started writing my Graduate Journal column for Nature Jobs. The past 12 months have been marked with_____ changes and fundamental constants, both of which I’m glad to have experienced.
When I enrolled in my master’s course at Oxford last year, I had come straight from medical school with the decision to leave clinical science for good. Thinking back, I realize that I didn’t put very much weight on this decision at the time. But today, I more clearly understand the_____ of leaving my original profession. When I meet old friends who are now physicians and surgeons, I sense how our views on medical problems have diverged. They_____ the effects of disease and try to eliminate or alleviate them; I try to understand how they come about in the first place. I feel happier working on this side of the problem, although I do occasionally miss clinical work and seeing patients.
However, when I think about the rate at which my medical skills and knowledge have_____, the years spent reading weighty medical textbooks, the hours spent at the bedside, I sometimes wonder if these years were partly a waste of time now that I am pursuing a research career.
Nonetheless, I know the value of my medical education. It is easy to forget the importance of the biosciences when working with model organisms in basic_____ that seem to have nothing to do with a sick child or a suffering elderly person. Yet, I still have_____ memories of the cruel kaleidoscope of severe diseases and how they can strike a human being. I hope to retain these memories as a guide in my current occupation.
Options
consequences, vivid, vivacious, fundamental, dissipated, consequently, scrutinize, research, foundational, eliminate, dissolved
Model Answer
fundamental, consequences, scrutinize, dissipated, research, vivid
Question 6
Transition refers to the period between the_____ of the degree and the beginning of_____ education and career. Some students are able to initiate_____ strategies to_____ with, but most of the uneducated people find it hard.
Options
consumption, successful, elementary, completion, cope, vocational, exemplary, cooperate
Model Answer
completion, vocational, successful, cope
Question 7
There are two_____ branches of the science of astronomy: observational and theoretical. Observational astronomy, as the name suggests is _____ with observing the skies and then analyzing the observations, using the principles of physics. Theoretical astronomy_____ more on developing computer or analytical models to describe astronomical phenomena. The two fields_____ each other, with observational astronomers attempting to_____ theoretical results, and theoreticians aiming to explain what has been observed.
Options
compulsory, basic, confirm, content, focusses, concerned, complement, focused, complete, publish
Model Answer
basic, concerned, focusses, complement, confirm
Question 8
The creative_____ is the act of making new connections between old ideas or recognizing relationships between concepts. Creative_____ is not about_____ something new from a blank state, but_____ about taking what is already present and combining those_____ and pieces in a way that has not been done previously.
Options
cycle, generating, thoughts, generation, process, bits, rather, thinking, parts, things
Model Answer
process, thinking, generating, rather, bits
Question 9
Behavioral psychology is the study of the connection between our minds and our_____. Sometimes you will hear behavioral psychology referred to as behaviorism. The researchers and scientists who study behavioral psychology are trying to understand why we behave the way we do and they are concerned with_____ patterns in our actions and behaviors. The hope is that if we can use behavioral psychology to help us_____ how humans will behave, we can build better habits as individuals, create better products as companies, and develop better living space as_____.
Options
discovery, predict, project, behavior, communities, discovering, communal, bodies
Model Answer
behavior, discovering, predict, communities
Question 10
Like many people, Katy Milkman knew she should be_____ more. But each day she left her job as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania feeling_____ and drained. By the time she made it home, all she wanted to do was curl up on the couch and read a book or turn on her_____ TV show. On this particular day, she wanted to read The Hunger Games. That’s when she had an_____. What if she created a rule for herself? What if she was only_____ to read The Hunger Games when she went to the gym?
Options
exhausted, exercising, allow, idea, favorite, allowed, exercise, exhaustion, inkling
Model Answer
exercising, exhausted, favorite, idea, allowed
Question 11
You might_____ that humans buy products because of what they are, but the truth is that we often buy things because of where they are. For example, items on store shelves that are at eye level tend to be_____ more than items on less visible shelves. In the best selling book Nudge, authors Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein explain a_____ of ways that our everyday decisions are shaped by the world around us. The effect that eye-level shelves have on our purchase habits is just one example. Here’s another: The ends of aisles are money_____ machines for retailers. According to data cited by the New York Times, 45 percent of Coca Cola sales come_____ from the end of the aisle racks.
Options
imagine, purchased, minting, variety, assume, specifically, making, purchasing, degree, especially
Model Answer
assume, purchased, variety, making, specifically
Question 12
Motivation is a_____, yet tricky beast. Sometimes it is really easy to get motivated, and you find yourself_____ up in whirlwind of excitement. Other times, it is nearly_____ to figure out how to_____ yourself and you’re_____ in a death spiral of procrastination.
Options
empowering, confined, impossible, powerful, trapped, unintentional, motivate, wrapped, tricked
Model Answer
powerful, wrapped, impossible, motivate, trapped
Question 13
One of the hardest_____ about improving your life is remembering to practice what you’ve learned in a_____ of temptation, frustration, or hardship. Anyone can follow a_____ as they read about it, but remembering to_____ with it in the real world is tough.
Options
steps, strategy, moment, stick, things, momentous, trick, stuck
Model Answer
things, moment, strategy, stick
Question 14
Steven Witherly is a food scientist who has spent the last 20 years studying what makes certain foods more_____ than others. Much of the science that follows is from his_____ report, Why Humans Like Junk Food. According to Whitherly, when you eat tasty food, there are two factors that make the experience_____. First, there is the_____ of eating the food. This includes what it tastes like, what it smells like, and how it feels in your mouth. This last quality known as “orosensation” – can be particularly important. Food companies will spend millions of dollars to discover the most_____ level of crunch in a potato chip. Food scientists will test for the perfect amount of fizzle in a soda. These elements all combine to create the sensation that your brain_____ with a particular food or drink.
Options
pleasurable, addiction, association satisfying, associates, addictive, excellence, sensation, excellent, sensationalization, satisfaction
Model Answer
addictive, excellent, pleasurable, sensation, satisfying, associates
Question 15
At all of our operations_____ those far below the ocean’s surface, safety is always our top_____ and for that, all the deep-water wells must meet_____ design and construction standards. They are drilled and_____ by engineers who receive several year’s training.
Options
include, rigorous, completed, including, priority, prioritization, rigid, complemented
Model Answer
including, priority, rigorous, completed
Question 16
Cookies are used to learn how you interact with content and to_____ your experience when visiting a website. For example, some cookies remember your language or_____ so that you do not have to repeatedly make these choices when you visit any websites. And also, cookies can help with geolocation_____ in order to present you with the closest locations. Additionally, cookies allow to serve you_____ content, such as videos on a website.
Options
improvise, tracking, prefers, specific, tracker, improve, preferences, specifically
Model Answer
improve, preferences, tracking, specific
Question 17
Much more_____ to collect than unwieldy VHS cassettes, the rise of the DVD was quickly followed by the rise of the DVD box set, which_____ fans to watch their shows in long black rather than_____ in weekly portions. This was the beginning of binge-watching, now the_____ methods of television viewing and a crucial weapon the fight_____ physical fitness.
Options
complicated, rationed, allowed, provided, preferred, convenient, against, preferential, amidst
Model Answer
convenient, allowed, rationed, preferred, against
Question 18
Home video recorders were invented in the sixties, and_____ in the eighties. The film business was_____ by the ability to take movies home to watch, and the television industry changed_____ as people were no longer slaves to_____: if you were going to be out when a show was on, you could tape it and watch it later. Even better, you could then accidentally tape over it, and not watch it later. The_____ were endless!
Options
forever, exploded, boomed, masters, possibilities, revolutionized, schedules, revolutionizing, possible
Model Answer
boomed, revolutionized, forever, schedules, possibilities
Question 19
The first live TV broadcast of a football match was a game between Arsenal and Arsenal reserves on the BBC in 1937. From these_____ beginnings, TV sport has become a multibillion-dollar business and produced a_____ relationship – professional sports rely on television to_____, and TV companies rely on sports rights to_____ viewers. Sporting events are viewed by millions more than could ever see them in pre TV days, all of whom now enjoy the many pleasures of_____ about how crap the broadcasts are.
Options
initial, retain, symbiotic, thrive, complaining, complain, humble, survive, complimenting
Model Answer
humble, symbiotic, survive, retain, complaining
Question 20
A garlic supplement is a good_____ for those who find the smell and taste of garlic a little_____. Garlic supplements come in capsules or tablets as an oil or powder, on its own, or in_____ with other immune-boosting ingredients like vitamin C. Even if you do_____ garlic in your daily diet, a supplement might be a good idea through the winter season when colds and flu run_____, or to simply support your immune system all year round.
Options
alteration, rampant, empowered, overpowering, alternative, include, combination, continuation, skelter
Model Answer
alternative, overpowering, combination, include, rampant
Try as many previous exam questions as possible, that will give you a feel for how to successfully answer these questions and help you know what to expect during the real thing. Once you get the hang of it, it will be easy, you just need to make sure you follow the above advice and put it into practice while revising in order to make it a habit.
Buddy up with another student that’s studying for their PTE Academic. Scoring each other in this section and giving one another feedback on what to improve on will really help your learning process.
Usually explaining something to another person embeds the information even deeper into your memory. Something you may have struggled with in the past may all of a sudden make sense when you are explaining it to another student.
Don’t worry if you don’t know anyone practicing for their PTE Academic exam to pair up with. You can look into what you are doing wrong, understand the correct way to do it and record yourself explaining the process as if you were talking to another person that needed the same help.
If you have been getting a lower score in Reading Fill in the Blanks then more times than not you just don’t have a large enough vocabulary pool. So practicing more and more will do you a world of good.
GrowSkills Pearson PTE Academic
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