PTE Reading Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers: negative marking and when to skip
Many PTE Academic students choose three options to be safe. In this task, that is the least safe thing you can do. Here is how the scoring works and what to do instead.
In Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers you read a passage, answer a question about it, and choose every option you think is correct. More than one option is correct. This task counts towards your Reading score only.
The scoring is what makes it different from almost everything else in the Reading part of PTE Academic. You get 1 point for each correct option you choose, and 1 point is taken away for each incorrect option you choose. Your score for the question cannot go below 0.
The mistake: choosing extra options to be safe
You are sure about B. D might be right. A and C seem possible.
When to skip, and when not to
Look at the table again. Choosing nothing scores 0. Choosing one option also can never score less than 0, because the score has a floor. So if you have even a small idea which option is right, choosing that one option can only help you. An empty answer is never better than one careful choice.
What you should skip is the extra options you are not sure about. And what you should limit is time. The Reading part takes about 23 to 30 minutes and there is no separate clock for each question, so a slow Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers question takes time from Fill in the Blanks and Reorder Paragraphs later, where you can also score partial points.
You have spent a long time on this question and the options all look close.
How to find the right options
Read the question first, so you know what you are looking for. Then check each option against the passage, not against what sounds true in real life. Wrong options are often true in the world but not stated in the text, or they take words from the passage and change the meaning with a word like all, only or never.
A routine for every set
- Read the question before the passage.
- For each option, find the line that supports it. No line, no click.
- Choose the options you can prove. For most people this is one or two.
- If you are stuck, choose the single option you are most sure of. Never leave it empty.
- Set yourself a time limit in practice and move on when you reach it.
- The same rule applies to Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers in the Listening part, which counts towards Listening.
For the Reading task where partly right answers still score, read PTE Reorder Paragraphs: how to find the first sentence and the links.
- PTE Academic Reading format, Pearson
- PTE Academic Test Taker Score Guide, Pearson
- PTE Academic Listening format, Pearson
Exam rules change. Always check with the exam provider and the organisation you are applying to.
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