PTE Academic, Reading
PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks
You drag words from a box into the gaps in a passage. There are more words than gaps.
Format and scoring
| Skill | Reading |
|---|---|
| How it's scored | One mark per correct blank. |
| Weight (estimate) | About 17% of your reading score |
How to answer Reading Fill in the Blanks
- 1Skim the passage for meaning first.
- 2Decide the word class each gap needs.
- 3Use collocations and grammar to choose between close options.
Common mistakes
- Filling gaps in order instead of starting with the easiest.
Sample question
Citizen science
Citizen science projects _____ on volunteers to collect or analyse scientific data. Although such projects were once _____ as a minor supplement to professional research, they have made significant _____ to fields as diverse as astronomy and ecology. Birdwatchers, for example, now submit millions of observations each year, allowing scientists to track changes in species _____ across entire continents. Critics have questioned the _____ of data gathered by non-specialists, but careful training and automated checks have done much to address these concerns.