Top Tips for Excelling in PTE Academic Reading

Preparing for the PTE Academic Reading test requires a strategic approach, especially for the gapfill and arrange paragraph sections. Unlike IELTS it is 100% Academic in style, and has a wide variety of topics; your test might jump from a paragraph on ancient Greek poets, to a paragraphs of sending robots to Mars, to a paragraph on the effect of diet on brain cognition, to something about green tree frogs, to online marketing, to a biography of an architect……

The best tip I can give to someone who needs a high scores is to immerse yourself in academic English from Ted talks to National Geographic magazines to Academic Papers.

Also, here I would say some online resources like Ape Uni have had real test questions on their website. (I really don’t know many online IELT sources that are useful, but with PTE there are a few you should use with caution). It’s worth doing using Ape Uni to practice the environment (ignoring the scoring, it’s not accurate as they don’t have Pearsons’ AI technology and secret settings but the environment and some of the questions are lifted from the real test.

Here are a few tips for the trickest questions in PTE Academic.

Gapfill Section: This section tests your ability to understand the context and vocabulary. To excel, practice reading a variety of texts, such as local newsletters, brochures, work contracts, and documents. Focus on identifying keywords and phrases that fit logically within the gaps. Pay attention to grammar and sentence structure, as they can provide clues about the correct word or phrase.

Arrange Paragraph Section: This section assesses your ability to understand the logical flow of information. Practice reading articles and identifying the main ideas and supporting details. Look for transition words and phrases that indicate the order of events or ideas.n Sometimes you dates and times to lay them out, or else consider a paragraph as typically have a ‘topic sentence’, ‘details in the body’ and ‘a concluding sentence that might be an opinion or a summary’. Consider ‘cohesive devices’ and articles that would introduce something for the first time, or connected ideas (you’ll need an ESL teacher here, too much information for a blog). All this will help you develop a sense of how ideas are connected and improve your ability to organize information logically.

General Tips: Skim and scan texts to quickly locate key information. Expand your vocabulary by reading a variety of materials. Practice regularly with official PTE practice tests and timed exercises to build your speed and accuracy. By following these tips and practicing consistently, you can improve your reading skills and boost your confidence for the PTE Reading test.

Do you have any tips to share?

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