Speaking Test - PTE (Part 2)

Dear Readers

I welcome you all again to my blog and the second part of the speaking test for PTE.

In this post I will cover the below sections of the Speaking Test

Describe image

Re-tell lecture

Answer Short Questions

So lets start...


DESCRIBE IMAGE

What to expect
You are given an image such as a graph, map, chart, table, flowchart or picture. You have 25 seconds to observe it and need to then describe the image in about 30-40 seconds.
There will be around 7 different images displayed in this section including but not limited to line charts, pie chart, bar charts, image with facts, multiple tables, flowcharts, process diagrams, etc.

How you are scored
Content:
5 Describes all elements of the image and their relationships, possible development and conclusion or implications
4 Describes all the key elements of the image and their relations, referring to their implications or conclusions
3 Deals with most key elements of the image and refers to their implications or conclusions
2 Deals with only one key element in the image and refers to an implication or conclusion. Shows basic understanding of several core elements of the image
1 Describes some basic elements of the image, but does not make clear their interrelations or implications
0 Mentions some disjointed elements of the presentation
Pronunciation: 5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1 Intrusive 0 Non-English Oral fluency: 5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1 Limited, 0 Disfluent

Strategy
Keep it simple here. Your description should have 3 mains parts.

1) Start with an introduction,
 2) followed by the main body, and
 3) end with a conclusion.

The goal for you here is to practice enough until you can speak for 35 seconds, without long pauses and hesitations. Needless to say, proper grammatical sentence structure is important as well.
Let’s focus on the 3 parts.

Introduction – Almost all of the content in the introduction will be available in the graph headings and Axis Titles. If the image is not a graph, give a general overview of what the image is about. 

Main body – This should include the key information that the image is trying to display. If it is a graph, any remarkable rise or fall should be noted during this section. You do not need to cover all points in the image. Only key ones will suffice, as quality over quantity is required. Ensure to keep time for the conclusion.

Conclusion – A short line about the conclusion you have come up with after looking at the image. This can be a personal interpretation or opinion of the image. Make sure to save enough time to get your conclusion in. Always include a conclusion. It is an indicator that you were able to analyze the graph/image in a short time.

Stick with a structure of (7-10 sec introduction, 15-17 secs main body, 10 sec conclusion). 

Example

Let’s break the above graph into the three parts

Introduction –The given line chart shows the consumption of Fast Food by Australian Teenagers from the year 1975 to 2000.

Main body – If you follow the graph closely, you can see that the consumption of pizza and Hamburgers have steadily increased over the last few years. Hamburgers were eaten 100 times and pizza was eaten 80 times per year in 2000. The consumption of fish and chips has conversely decreased over the same time period. 

Conclusion – We can conclude from studying the graph, that the overall consumption of fast food has been on the rise, and teenagers should look to switch to healthier food.

General tips:

Don’t be too concerned about the content in your speech. As long as you are speaking something on the lines of what is given in the image you should be fine. Focus on presenting what you have in the 3 parts as given above without breaks in speech. Speak at a steady pace and avoid rushing through.
Don’t pause for more than 3 seconds or the system thinks you have finished recording and will move to the next section. If you still get stuck during the exam use fillers such as ummm or ‘let me think’ instead of not speaking at all. This is not ideal and it will definitely impact your score if used, however it is better than not saying anything at all. 

Important Self Practice Tip

Search IELTS Graph on Google and look under images. You will find hundreds of Graphs to practice. 


RE-TELL LECTURE

What to expect

In this section, you will hear a lecture. After listening to the lecture, in 10 seconds you need to speak into the microphone and retell the lecture in your own words. You will have 40 seconds to give your response
There will be around 3 item sets or lectures in this section. Each lecture will be between 1 to 1 and a half minute long. The lectures can be on a wide range of topics. It can also include an interview or conversational style lecture with two individuals speaking.
There may be background noise in the lecture as well. There will also be a single image displayed during each question. You may use this to guess what the lecture is going to be before it starts.

How you are scored
Content:
5 Re-tells all points of the presentation and describes characters, aspects and actions, their relationships, the underlying development, implications and conclusions
4 Describes all key points of the presentation and their relations, referring to their implications and conclusions
3 Deals with most points in the presentation and refers to their implications and conclusions
2 Deals with only one key point and refers to an implication or conclusion. Shows basic understanding of several core elements of the presentation
1 Describes some basic elements of the presentation but does not make clear their interrelations or implications
0 Mentions some disjointed elements of the presentation
Pronunciation: 5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1 Intrusive 0 Non-English Oral fluency: 5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1 Limited, 0 Disfluent

Strategy
The goal for you here is the same as in describe image, speak for 35 seconds, without long pauses and hesitations in grammatically correct English.

You only have 40 seconds to speak and make sure that you include all the main points of the lecture. If you repeat ideas, correct yourself or hesitate, you will use up valuable time and lose score points. So keep talking and ignore any mistakes that you make. 

This section involves listening and note taking skills as well. Try to understand what is being said and the main point that is trying to be conveyed. Make sure you take notes. You may not get time to right down full sentences. If you can write incredibly fast, then that’s great. Most probably you are not going to be able to write entire sentences, so try writing down key points on whatever you hear. Try to include any facts, figures, numbers or dates given as these should be relatively easier to note down.

The lecture will be longer than the time allotted so you do not need to cover all points when you speak. So do not worry if you miss out on few things while taking notes.

Taking notes is one aspect. Even more important is to ensure that you are able to translate those notes into full sentences while speaking. You may have some excellent notes taken down, but if you can’t frame these into grammatically correct sentences while speaking they go to waste and will reduce your score.
You only have 10 seconds before you speak. You don’t want to be writing down notes ideally during these 10 seconds, but instead, you would want to quickly review your notes and get have an idea of what you are going to say.

Correct smooth English, delivered at a natural rate, has higher weightage over content here as well. You get fewer points if your content is correct and your English is bad. This doesn’t mean you talk about ‘life on mars’ if the topic is on ‘conserving nature’. Stay broadly to the topic all the way.
This may seem a difficult section at first but remember that ‘re-tell lecture’ is a skill and you should see improvements after continuous practice. 

ANSWER SHORT QUESTION

What to expect
You will hear a question and need to give a simple and short answer. Often just one or a few words are enough.

There will be around 11 item sets or questions played in this section. The questions are general knowledge in nature and probably related to topics you would have come across in school or daily life. In some instances, you may also be given an image and be asked a question based on the image.

Example:
They show an '@' picture sign and ask where is this symbol commonly used? Answer: Email (address)
There may be up to two or three options given in few a questions.

How you are scored
Correct/incorrect:
1 Appropriate word choice in response
0 Inappropriate word choices in response

Strategy
There isn’t a lot to talk about on this question type. The questions that are asked are general knowledge type and will most likely be something that you have come across during school or day to day life.
There is no use in speaking extra. Marks are awarded for a short, accurate answer. There are no extra marks for additional words so keep it short. Make sure you pronounce the answer as clear as you can as well.
After the question is asked the recording status box will change to recording. Start your answer as soon as you see this. If you wait for more than 3 seconds, the recording will stop and the item status will change to ‘completed’, which means that you have lost your chance to give your answer. 


Guys, this now completes the Speaking Test section of PTE. 

IMPORTANT NOTE

Guys, I've getting lot of emails asking if i tutor for the exam. Unfortunately, I don't. I have a chosen career which keeps me really busy. These posts are just meant to help students out. If you do need tutoring for PTE and if you're in Sydney check the below institute out. I did mention them in my first post as well

http://ptesydney.com


Happy Reading Guys !

If you have any questions for me please don't hesitate to email me at shristiarya42@gmail.com and if you like my work please share with your friends and follow my posts

All the best (Keep an eye out for my post on Listening for PTE)

Cheers!

Speaking Test - PTE (Part 1)

Dear Readers

I welcome you all again to my PTE / IELTS. In this blog, I'll discuss the Speaking Section of the PTE test.

So lets get into it

First, the format

Personal Introduction
Read aloud
Repeat sentence
Describe image
Re-tell lecture

Answer short questions

I'll be covering first 3 of the above in this post. I'll start with the General Tips first on how to approach Speaking Test (Whether it is IELTS, PTE or TOEFL)

General Strategies

Readers, Its important to remember that you can ace this section by developing a few traits like

• Practice talking slow with friends, family or colleagues. If you talk at a fast pace like myself, remind yourself to slow down.
• Learn to pronounce the words you don't know or haven't heard them before.
• Start practicing speaking on voice recorder. Record your voice, time yourself and listen the recording to see if your speech was clear, no pronunciation error, tone etc.
• Pace yourself - Learn to vary the pitch of your voice. Exhibit mood changes. Learn where to pause and where to stress a particular word.
• Take pauses and don't rush.
• Plan your answer (See the strategy below)

Remember, this is the speaking test and they will test your delivery skills. Refer to the below

The below link from you tube demonstrates perfect way you should speak. Listen and learn (Remember the above strategies)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aY9Se-J2ww

Now, lets move to the PTE Speaking Test in detail

Personal Introduction

What to expect
In this section, you are given a prompt and are asked to introduce yourself orally. You speak about yourself for up to 30 seconds. This is not assessed but is sent to institutions along with your score report.
This is a non-scored part of the examination. If you are applying for a university this is a good chance to give a short introduction about yourself and make a good first impression. The institutions that receive you scores may also use it to verify your identity.

Strategy
Be prepared for what you are going to say. This is the first part and delivering a good introduction can boost your confidence for the rest of the section. You can use the below template as a guideline.
Personal Introduction template:

My name is (your name). I am (enter age) years old and I live in (enter location). I have completed my (enter education) from (enter college name). I am currently working at (Company name) as a (job title). In my free time I like to (enter hobby or something unique about you). I am giving this exam as part of the (visa requirement/university requirement) to assess my English language. 

Read aloud

What to expect
In this section, you are given a text on screen. You get 40 seconds to read through the text and understand the content before the time starts. You then have another 40 seconds to read aloud as naturally and clearly as possible.
You can expect around 7 texts for this section. Each text will usually be a single paragraph between 50-65 words.

How you are scored
Content: Each replacement, omission or insertion of a word counts as one error
Maximum score depends on the length of the item prompt
Pronunciation: 5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1 Intrusive 0 Non-English Oral fluency: 5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1 Limited, 0 Disfluent

Strategy
The official PTE sample test recordings of answers were completed between 23-28 seconds. As a guideline, this is a good time-frame to keep in mind. Anything out of this range will usually mean you are speaking too fast or too slow.
Although this is a fairly straightforward section, special attention needs to be placed on pronunciation and oral fluency. You may say something and understand what you say, but it’s important that the software interprets what you say correctly as well.
Many people have questions on what the tone of voice should be. The tone should be appropriate to the message conveyed in the text. You have time to go through the text before you speak. Use this time wisely. Make sure you read the text and understand what it says. This way when you repeat it you will have a better chance of speaking in a tone that conveys meaning. While reading the text in the initial time given also pay special attention to words that you may find difficult to pronounce. Repeat in your head or speak aloud how you are going to pronounce any such words during this time.
Another important aspect of the section is to use appropriate pauses during punctuations (full stops, commas, etc.). Full stops generally will have a longer pause and commas a bit shorter. For example, if there is a comma in the sentence, the spacing between the comma and next word is usually longer than when there is no comma. Similarly, the spacing for a full stop should be longer than what you use after a comma. This is fairly basic, but something you want to keep in mind when you practice.

In case you come across instances where quotation marks like “xxx” or ‘xxx’ are used to encapsulate a word, make sure you stress this word higher than the ones around it. 

Repeat sentence

What to expect
In this section, you will be played an audio recording of a short sentence. You have to listen to the phrasing of a short sentence as it is and read aloud
You can expect around 12 item sets or sentences in this section. Each recording will be fairly short and between 4 to 10 seconds long. There can be between 8 to15 words in each sentence.

How you are scored
Content: Errors = replacements, omissions and insertions only
Hesitations, filled or unfilled pauses, leading or trailing material are ignored in the scoring of content
3 - All words in the response from the prompt in the correct sequence
2 - At least 50% of words in the response from the prompt in the correct sequence 1 - Less than 50% of words in the response from the prompt in the correct sequence 0 - Almost nothing from the prompt in the response
Pronunciation: 5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1 Intrusive 0 Non-English Oral fluency: 5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1 Limited, 0 Disfluent

Strategy
You hear a short sentence ranging from 8-15 words. Don’t get overwhelmed by this. Focus on understanding the sentence instead of remembering word by word. A strategy that can be used is to break the sentences given to meaningful phrases. This way you have a better chance of reproducing it. You are scored on the correct word sequences that you can correctly speak for this item type.
Copy the stress and intonation of the speaker. If you hear the audio and the speaker stressing on a particular word or set of words make sure you do the same. You do not need to copy the accent but it will help your score if you can reproduce the tone of the speaker.
To illustrate the above two points, let’s take the below sentence as an example. This has 13 words. If I ask you to remember 13 words after listening to it once, it sounds like a scary task. Notice how this can be easily broken down into 3 simple phrases (separated by |). These 3 phrases can be easily replicated and you are more likely to reproduce them if you understand the meaning of the sentence. Words in a phrase will be spoken together in relatively quick succession.

The professor recommends | arriving in the classroom |5 minutes↑ prior to the lecture↓.

In this particular sentence; you can see that the speaker had stressed on “5 minutes” while speaking, so you would want to do the same. The speaker also had a falling intonation towards the end of the sentence at “to the lecture” which you would replicate.
To summarize, listen carefully to the meaning of the sentence, remembering it by breaking the sentence into phrases. Also, pay attention to the tone of the speaker and on any words spoken in high or low tone and copy when speaking.

An important point to note regarding the scoring is that you get 2 out of 3 for content even if you speak more than 50% of the words from the recording. So if the recording is 10 words long and if you speak even 6 words correctly you still get 2 out of 3 for content. The rest of the scoring is for pronunciation (5) and oral fluency (5). The reason I mention this is to stress the importance of speaking what you have understood without compromising on pronunciation and oral fluency. You will score better if you speak a sentence with 60% accuracy and you are fluent than if you speak with 100% accuracy and have breaks in between. The key message is not to worry too much if you miss out on a few words. Just speak what you have understood as fluently and confidently as you can without breaks and hesitations in speech. 

This completes the first part of the speaking section of the PTE exam.

Happy Reading Guys !

If you have any questions for me please don't hesitate to email me at shristiarya42@gmail.com and if you like my work please share with your friends and follow my blogs.

All the best (Keep an eye out for Part 2 of my Speaking post for PTE)

Cheers!

Reading Test - PTE

Dear Readers

In this post I'll cover the Reading Section of PTE

Lets get started

General Strategies

• As You Read Each Question, Determine the Type: Main Idea, Detecting Details, Inference, Tone/Mood 
• Look Back at the Passage When in Doubt 
• Before You Start Answering the Questions, Read the Passage Carefully 
• Get the Meanings of “Tough” Words by Using the Context Method 

Context Method: Suppose you don’t know the meaning of a certain word in a passage. Then try to determine the meaning of that word from the context—that is, from the words that are close in position to that word whose meaning you don’t know. Knowing the meanings of difficult words in the passage will help you to better understand the passage as a whole.

• Don’t Answer a Question on the Basis of Your Own Opinion 
• After Reading the Passage, Read Each Question Carefully.
• Build Vocabulary - Refer to my first post on how to build vocabulary
• Read More - Reading and understanding all the TOEFL essays I shared in my first post will help immensely.

 Strategies for Sentence Completion

• For a Sentence with Only One Blank, Fill the Blank with Each Choice to See the Best Fit* 
• Pay Close Attention to the Key Words in the Sentence 

Now, lets go into each section

Multiple choice questions (choose single answer)

What to expect
In this section, you are given a text. Read the text and answer the multiple-choice question by selecting the correct response. Only one response is correct.
There will generally be 2 questions asked in the exam from this section. The text will be around 100 words each with 4 options provided in each question.

How you are scored
Correct/incorrect:
1 Correct response
0 Incorrect response

Strategy
Read the question first and quickly go through the options given. Don’t focus too much on what the correct answer is going to be at this stage. Just get a sense of what is being asked. Now read the text given. As noted, it is important to read with the intention of understanding. Don’t think about the question, just focus on understanding the text. Once you have read it all, get back to the question and eliminate all the incorrect responses, picking the correct answer.
For difficult questions there may be one or two options that seem correct. If needed, re-read the section of the text that contains content related to the question to narrow down on the answer.
Do NOT try to answer the question in the light of any knowledge which you may personally have. Additionally, as far as possible, do not assume anything to be true in the options unless specifically mentioned or implied.
The options generally fall under the below three categories:

1. The option is true
   
2. The option is false
   
3. Insufficient information given to determine true or false.
   

Only category 1 option is the correct answer. Category 3 options are often included to make it harder, so be mindful of these during the exam.
You will better relate to the above concepts after going through the below example.

Select the correct option after reading the below text: 

Other criminologists, political scientists, and similarly learned forecasters laid out the same horrible future, as did President Clinton. “We know we’ve got about six years to turn this juvenile crime thing around,” Clinton said, “or our country is going to be living with chaos. And my successors will not be giving speeches about the wonderful opportunities of the global economy; they’ll be trying to keep body and soul together for people on the streets of these cities.” The smart money was plainly on the criminals. And then, instead of going up and up and up, crime began to fall. And fall and fall and fall some more. The crime drop was startling in several respects. It was ubiquitous, with every category of crime falling in every part of the country. It was persistent, with incremental decreases year after year. And it was entirely unanticipated—especially by the very experts who had been predicting the opposite.
Question:
Why was the fall in crime rate particularly surprising?

1. It had been predicted at the time by President Clinton
   
2. It happened after six years of steeply rising rates of crime.
   
3. It took place despite fewer people expressing an interest in crime and Justice policies
   
4. It happened in all criminal categories and continued for a number of years.
   

Answer explained:
A is false as the opposite was predicted
B is not specifically mentioned so there is insufficient information given to determine true or false. Notice how ‘six years’ mentioned in the paragraph is part of the question. This is deliberately included to test your understanding. Do not assume that the option is right because it contains certain keywords from the text. Select the correct answer after understanding the meaning of the entire sentence in the option.
C is also not specifically mentioned so there is insufficient information given to determine true or false
D is correct because it has been stated that the every category of crime fell year after year.

Multiple choice questions (choose multiple answers)

What to expect

In this section, you are given a text. Read the text and answer the question by selecting all the correct responses. More than one response is correct.
There will generally be 2 questions asked in the exam from this section. The text will be around 100 to 300 words long and each text with 5 options provided in each question.

How you are scored
Partial credit, points deducted for incorrect options chosen: 
1 Each correct response1 Each incorrect response
0 Minimum score

Strategy
Similar guidelines from the previous section apply to this one. Here too, you can expect some category 3 options (Insufficient information given to determine true or false).
Note that more than one option is correct in the question type.
As per Pearson - "You will score marks for any correct options but you will lose score points for any incorrect options; these include:
• options that you have clicked on as correct but which are wrong • options that are correct but that you have not clicked on“
Pay close attention to the second bullet above as it is not something you may have encountered in test before. The minimum score is 0 for each question so it is better to give an attempt.
Scoring for this question explained with an example:
Let us consider a sample question which has 5 options to choose from and 2 options are correct. Let's see how you score for in each of the 4 sample scenarios defined below.

1) You select two correct options: Your score for this question will be +2. (+1 for each correct option selected) 

2) You only select only one option and that is correct: You score will be 0
(You get +1 for the correct option and -1 for the other correct option not selected)
3) You select one correct option and one wrong option: Your score for this question will be 0. (+1 for correct answer, -1 for incorrect option selected and -1 for the other correct option not selected however, minimum score is 0)).
4) You only select three options and they all are incorrect. Your score for this question will be 0 (You get -1 for each incorrect option, however, minimum score is 0)
Given this information, the best strategy is to aim to select all correct answers. Some test takers are under that false impression that they will be conservative and select only one correct answer ensuring at least a point. However, as seen in scenario 2 above you will get 0 if you do this.
Always select a minimum of two answers for this section that you believe to be correct. You can select the third option as well if you have come to the conclusion that it is correct. This will ensure that you are getting the maximum possible score for each question. 

Re-order paragraphs

What to expect

You will be given 5 sentences in a text panel (left) and a blank text panel (right). The text boxes in the left panel have been placed in a random order. Restore the original order by dragging the text boxes from the left panel to the right panel.
There will generally be 2 questions asked in the exam from this section.

How you are scored
Partial credit:
1 Each pair of correct adjacent text box
0 Minimum score

Strategy
You are given jumbled text and need to reorder them in a paragraph that makes logical sense. Most of the sentences given will have a structure and a chronology i.e. sequence of events that happen one after the other. Your goal is to simply identify this.
Start with the first sentence as this is the most easily to identify. This is the sentence that will have the general topic idea/statement within it. Generally; this sentence can stand alone by itself. It will be the first item in the sequence of events. Note any paragraphs that begin with conjunctions such as However, Nevertheless, But, Also, Furthermore, and so on. Such sentences do not usually go first. Additionally, paragraphs that are referring back to text in a previous paragraph will probably contain pronouns referring to someone (he, she, them, they) or something (it). Any other clues that related to sequences (Another, firstly, secondly, finally, next, subsequent, following, in addition, too) should be noted as they will probably not be the first sentence. During the above exercise, you will also get a feel for the other ordering of the sentence.
The below group of words are used to identify connecting ideas.
Words that express the same idea: Additionally, too, also, as well, besides, furthermore, in addition, moreover, likewise, etc.
Words that give an alternate idea: However, Conversely, nonetheless, but, nevertheless, whereas, on the contrary/other hand, then again, while, etc. 

Words that link to reason and outcome: so, as a result, therefore, consequently, thus, for this reason, since, accordingly, because of this, due to, subsequently etc.
Words that demonstrate Sequence or order: Another, firstly, secondly, finally, eventually, in the end, next, subsequent, following, in addition, too, first of all)
Another tool that will help is to ask questions to the different paragraphs in the text. We will try to look at this and some of the concepts above through the below example.
Reorder below text Example

1. a)  However, many citizens resented the Pact due to the invasion of Egypt during the 1956 Suez Crisis
   
2. b)  Britain controlled all aspects of the Iraqi government, which caused resentment towards the Western powers and led to the 14 July Revolution in 1958, overthrowing the Hashemite monarchy.
   
3. c)  When the Baghdad Pact was signed, the governments of the coalition believed it to be beneficial for their citizens.
   
4. d)  Iraq was dragged into the conflict due to their imperial ties with Great Britain, and many Iraqis felt that it was wrong to invade a fellow Arab nation.
   
5. e)  The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), originally known as the Baghdad Pact or the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO) was formed in 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
   

Analysis:
1st sentence
Let’s analyze each sentence to see which is appropriate.
a) - Which pact is being referred? Starts with however, so cannot be topic sentence. 
b) - The timeline of 1958 is given which is later than other dates. 

c) - Refers to Baghdad pact. Have more introductory details been given anywhere else about pact?
d) - Which conflict? Which Arab nation?
e) - Sentence can stand alone. Is introductory to other related sentences. Must be topic sentence)
2nd sentence
Sentence c) Gives more details about the pact directly after it was introduced.
3rd sentence
The Pact mentioned in the previous sentence is being referred back to in sentence a). The ‘however’, indicates a contrarian view which is reflected in the resentment versus the benefit noted previously. So this should be third in the order.
4th sentence
The conflict referred to in sentence d) can be tied back to the invasion in Iraq mentioned in the previous sentence. Invasion of Arab nation (Egypt) is also mentioned in the previous sentence.
5th sentence
Britain and Iraq has been referred to previously. Also, the timeline of 1958 gives clue that it should be towards the latter half.
Correct order: e), c), a), d), b)
Note on timing: This is a section that exam takers tend to spend a lot of time on. Be mindful of the time you spend and keep an eye on the timer on screen. Ensure that you keep sufficient time to answer the subsequent sections. 

Fill in the blanks (Drag and Drop)

What to expect

In this section, there will be a text given, where some words are missing. Drag words from the options given to the appropriate place in the text. To undo an answer choice, drag the word back to the box below the text.
There will be 4 item sets in the exam from this section. Each passage will have between 3 to 5 blanks to fill and have between 6 to 8 options.

How you are scored
Partial credit:
1 Each correctly completed blank 
0 Minimum score

Strategy
Skim through the text quickly trying to guess which word would fit in the blank without looking at the options. Search the options for words which match or are close to your prediction and drag it in the box. Make sure that the whole sentence sound grammatically correct when filling blanks. This can be done by taking into account words surrounding the blank and figuring out what part of speech is appropriate(e.g., preposition, conjunction, adjective, plural noun, adverb). If you are unsure for a difficult blank, then quickly narrow down on the words that are a possible fit, pick what sounds right and move on.
Below a few examples of how you can narrow down between words.
Q. The nation ___ turmoil during the recent war. (Options - suffers, faced).
A. Faced is correct as it reflects correct tense of the sentence and is grammatically correct. Suffered would have been appropriate if given instead of suffers which is present tense.
Q. The thief snatched the chain in a ___ of an eye (options- blink, opening)
A. Blink is correct. ‘Blink of an eye’ is an expression used in day to day speech. Be on the lookout for these.
Q. The man had a ___ expression on his face. He was overjoyed after meeting his friend after such a long time. (Options - worried, delighted)
A. Delighted is correct. Note that in this instance it was not possible to guess just by looking at the sentence. Only after observing the surrounding sentence for the ‘overjoyed’ context could we guess the right answer. 

Fill in the blanks (Select from list)

What to expect

In this section, there will be a text given, where some words are missing (blanks). Click on each blank, a list of choices will appear. Select the appropriate answer choice for each blank.
There will be 4 item sets in the exam from this section. Each passage will have between 4 to 6 blanks to fill and have between 4 options for each blank. The text will be between 100 to 250 words long.

How you are scored

Partial credit:
1 Each correctly completed blank
 0 Minimum score

Strategy

In this question type go through the text carefully once and fill it as you go. You will save time this way. Do not skim but make sure you understand what is being written as you read. Look at the text around the blank for clues on what the best answer is. Similar to the previous section use Grammar to eliminate responses.
Do not skip a paragraph of text even if they do not contain blank. They sometimes contain key information that could be the determining factor in picking the correct answer in the blank in next paragraph. Refer to the example given below to illustrate this point.
“Clive was deeply hurt by the sudden death of his mother due to cancer.
He was sent to boarding school. With the Strict rules and _____ (insensitive, egoistic, coolheaded, purposeful) headmaster he resented the place and missed home.”
Explanation: By looking at the paragraph in isolation, the correct answer could be insensitive or egoistic. If we take into account the death of his mother mentioned in the previous paragraph, we can conclude that ‘insensitive’ is the more appropriate response. 

Guys I'm attaching the link below to the PTE Practise Material below (McMillan Book)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzZQKPUH3G7aTVpJTjRFaklsRFE

This covers the reading section of the PTE exam.

Last bit of Advice

Practise, practise and more practise....

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Writing Section - PTE (Part 2)

Dear Readers

In this second part of PTE Writing, I'll discuss the second element of the Writing Section

Essay (20mins) 

What to expect

In this section, you have 20 minutes to write an Essay on the topic given. You are judged on how well you develop a position, organize your ideas, present supporting details, and control the elements of standard written English. Your essay should be between 200-300 words.

There will usually be a single essay question in the exam. 

Scoring

Your Essay is scored on the following parameters:
Grammar, vocabulary, spelling, written discourse, Content; development, structure and coherence; form, general linguistic range

Content:
3 Adequately deals with the prompt
2 Deals with the prompt but does not deal with one minor aspect
1 Deals with the prompt but omits a major aspect or more than one minor aspect 
0 Does not deal properly with the prompt

Scan through the prompt and understand it clearly. Get a clear sense of what the topic is and what key points you have been asked to cover. Make sure you take in any points of view that may have been asked.
In the unlikely event that you do not deal with any of the content in the prompt, you are not scored further on the remaining parameters.

Form:
2 Length is between 200 and 300 words
1 Length is between 120 and 199 or between 301 and 380 words
0 Length is less than 120 or more than 380 words. Essay is written in capital letters, contains no punctuation or only consists of bullet points or very short sentences 

Development, structure and coherence:
2 Shows good development and logical structure
1 Is incidentally less well structured, and some elements or paragraphs are poorly linked 
0 Lacks coherence and mainly consists of lists or loose elements 

Grammar:
2 Shows consistent grammatical control of complex language. Errors are rare and difficult to spot
1 Shows a relatively high degree of grammatical control. No mistakes which would lead to misunderstandings
0 Contains mainly simple structures and/or several basic mistakes

General linguistic range:
2 Exhibits smooth mastery of a wide range of language to formulate thoughts precisely, give emphasis, differentiate and eliminate ambiguity. No sign that the test taker is restricted in what they want to communicate

1 Sufficient range of language to provide clear descriptions, express viewpoints and develop arguments 
0 Contains mainly basic language and lacks precision 

Vocabulary range:
2 Good command of a broad lexical repertoire, idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms
1 Shows a good range of vocabulary for matters connected to general academic topics. Lexical shortcomings lead to circumlocution or some imprecision
0 Contains mainly basic vocabulary insufficient to deal with the topic at the required level

Spelling:
2 Correct spelling
1 One spelling error

0 More than one spelling error

 Tips & Strategy on Writing a Winning Essay

Making your sentences effective

What is style?
Many good ideas are lost because they are expressed in a dull, wordy, involved way. We often have difficulty following—we may even ignore—instructions that are hard to read. Yet we find other instructions written in such a clear and simple way that a child could easily follow them. This way of writing—the words we choose and the way we use them—we call style.
No two people write exactly alike. Even when writing about the same thing, they probably will say it differently. Some will say it more effectively than others, of course; what they say will be more easily read and understood. But there is seldom any one best way to say something. Rather, there are usually several equally good ways. This flexibility is what makes English such a rich language.
Style can’t be taught; each person’s style is like personality—it is unique to him or her. But we can each improve our style. Let us consider how we can improve our writing style by improving our sentences.

How to Write effective sentences

We speak in sentences; we write in sentences. A single word or phrase sometimes carries a complete thought, but sentences are more often the real units of thought communication.
Writing good sentences takes concentration, patience, and practice. It involves much more than just stringing words together, one after another, as they tumble from our minds. If writers aren’t careful, their sentences may not mean to the reader what they want them to; they may mean what they didn’t want them to—or they may mean nothing at all.
This section discusses five things writers can do to write better sentences—or improve sentences already written. These are:

1. Create interest.
   
2. Make your meaning clear.
   
3. Keep your sentences brief.
   
4. Make every word count.
   
5. Vary your sentence patterns.
   
   Let’s consider interest first.
   

1. Create Interest.
We can make our writing more interesting by writing in an informal, conversational style. This style also makes our writing easier to understand and our readers more receptive to our thoughts.
Listen to two men meeting in the coffee shop. One tells the other, “Let me know when you need more paper clips.” But how would he have written it? Probably as follows: Request this office be notified when your activity’s supply of paper clips, wire, steel gem pat- tern, large type 1, stock No. 7510-634-6516, falls below 30-day level prescribed in AFR 67-1, Vol. II, Section IV, subject: Office Supplies. Requisition will be submitted as expeditiously as possible to preclude noncompliance with appropriate directives.

Judging from the formal, academic style of much of our writing, we want to impress rather than express. There seems to be something about writing that brings out our biggest words, our most complex sentences, and our most formal style. Obviously this is not effective writing. We wouldn’t dare say it aloud this formally for fear someone would laugh at us, but we will write it.

WRITE TO EXPRESS
One of the best ways to make our writing more interesting to the reader—and, hence, more effective—is to write as we talk. Of course we can’t write exactly as we talk, and we shouldn’t want to. We usually straighten out the sentence structure, make our sentences complete rather than fragmentary or run-on, substitute for obvious slang words, and so on. But we can come close to our conversational style without being folksy or ungrammatical or wordy. This infor- mal style is far more appropriate for the kind of writing we do and for the kind of readers we have than the old formal style. And it certainly makes better reading.

BE DEFINITE, SPECIFIC, AND CONCRETE
Another way—and one of the surest—to arouse and hold the interest and attention of readers is to be definite, specific, and concrete.

2. Make Your Meaning Clear.
You do not need to be a grammarian to recognize a good sentence. After all, the first require- ment of grammar is that you focus your reader’s attention on the meaning you wish to convey. If you take care to make your meaning clear, your grammar will usually take care of itself. You can, however, do three things to make your meaning clearer to your reader: (1) emphasize your main ideas, (2) avoid wandering sentences, and (3) avoid ambiguity.

EMPHASIZE THE MAIN IDEAS
When we talk we use gestures, voice changes, pauses, smiles, frowns, and so on to emphasize our main ideas. In writing we have to use different methods for emphasis. Some are purely mechanical; others are structural.
Mechanical devices include capital letters, underlining or italics, punctuation, and head- ings. Printers used to capitalize the first letter of a word they wanted to emphasize. We still occasionally capitalize or use a heavier type to emphasize words, phrases, or whole sentences. Sometimes we underline or italicize words that we want to stand out. Often we label or head main sections or subdivisions, as we have done in this book. This effectively separates main ideas and makes them stand out so that our reader doesn’t have to search for them.
But mechanical devices for emphasizing an idea—capitalization, particularly—are often overused. The best way to emphasize an idea is to place it effectively in the sentence. The most emphatic position is at the end of the sentence. The next most emphatic position is at the beginning of the sentence. The place of least importance is anywhere in the middle. Remember, therefore, to put the important clause, phrase, name, or idea at the beginning or at the end of your sentences, and never hide the main idea in a subordinate clause or have it so buried in the middle of the sentence that the reader has to dig it out or miss it altogether.
Unemphatic: People drive on the left side instead of the right side in England. Better: Instead of driving on the right side, people in England drive on the left. 

AVOID WANDERING SENTENCES
All parts of a sentence should contribute to one clear idea or impression. Long, straggling sen- tences usually contain a hodgepodge of unrelated ideas. You should either break them up into shorter sentences or put the subordinate thoughts into subordinate form. Look at this sentence:
The sergeant, an irritable fellow who had been a truck driver, born and brought up in the corn belt of Iowa, strong as an ox and 6 feet tall, fixed an angry eye on the recruit.
You can see that the main idea is “The sergeant fixed an angry eye on the recruit.” That he was an irritable fellow, strong as an ox, and 6 feet tall adds to the main idea. But the facts that he had been a truck driver and had been born in Iowa add nothing to the main thought, and the sentence is better without them.
The sergeant, an irritable fellow who was strong as an ox and 6 feet tall, fixed an angry eye on the recruit.

AVOID AMBIGUITY
If a sentence can be misunderstood, it will be misunderstood. A sentence that says that “The truck followed the jeep until its tire blew out” may be perfectly clear to the writer, but it will mean nothing to the reader until the pronoun its is identified.

MAKE SURE THAT YOUR MODIFIERS SAY WHAT YOU MEAN
“While eating oats, the farmer took the horse out of the stable.” This sentence provides little more than a laugh until you add to the first part of the sentence a logical subject (“the horse”): “While the horse was eating oats, the farmer took him out of the stable.” Sometimes simple misplacement of modifiers in sentences leads to misunderstanding: “The young lady went to the dance with her boyfriend wearing a low-cut gown.” You can clarify this sentence by simply rearranging it: “Wearing a low-cut gown, the young lady went to the dance with her boyfriend.”

3. Keep Your Sentences Brief.
Sentences written like 10-word advertisements are hard to read. You cannot get the kind of brevity you want by leaving out the articles (a, an, and the). You can get brevity by dividing complex ideas into bite-size sentences and by avoiding unnecessary words and phrases and needless repetition and elaboration. Here are some suggestions that will help you to write short, straightforward sentences.

USE VERBS THAT WORK
The verb—the action word—is the most important word in a sentence. It is the power plant that supplies the energy, vitality, and motion in the sentence. So use strong verbs, verbs that really work in your sentences.

USE THE ACTIVE VOICE
Sentences written in the basic subject-verb-object pattern are said to be written in the active voice. In such sentences someone or something does something to the object—there is a forward movement of the idea. In sentences written in the passive voice, the subject merely receives the action—it has something done to it by someone or something, and there is no feeling of forward movement of the idea.
The active voice, in general, is preferable to the passive voice because it helps to give writing a sense of energy, vitality, and motion. When we use the passive voice predominantly, our writing doesn’t seem to have much life, the actor in the sentences is not allowed to act, and verbs become weak. So don’t rob your writing of its power by using the passive voice when you can use the active voice. Nine out of ten sentences will be both shorter (up to 25 percent shorter) and stronger in the active voice.

Let’s compare the two voices:
Active: The pilot flew the aircraft.
(Actor) (action) (acted upon) Passive: The aircraft was flown by the pilot.
(Acted upon) (action) (actor)
Now let’s see some typical passive examples:
The committee will be appointed by the principal.
Reports have been received...
Provisions will be made by the manager in case of a subway strike.
Aren’t these familiar? In most of these we should be emphasizing the actor rather than leaving out or subordinating him or her.
See how much more effective those sentences are when they are written in the active voice.
The principal will appoint the committee.
We have received reports...
The manager will make provisions in case of a subway strike.

AVOID USING THE PASSIVE VOICE
The passive voice always takes more words to say what could be said just as well (and probably better) in the active voice. In the passive voice the subject also becomes less personal and may seem less important, and the motion of the sentence grinds to a halt.
There are times, of course, when the passive voice is useful and justified—as when the person or thing doing the action is unknown or unimportant.
When we use the lifeless passive voice indiscriminately, we make our writing weak, inef- fective, and dull. Remember that the normal English word order is subject-verb-object. There may be occasions in your writing when you feel that the passive voice is preferable. But should such an occasion arise, think twice before you write; the passive voice rarely improves your style. Before using a passive construction, make certain that you have a specific reason. After using it, check to see that your sentence is not misleading.

TAKE A DIRECT APPROACH
Closely related to passive voice construction is indirect phrasing.
It is requested...
It is recommended...
It has been brought to the attention of... It is the opinion of...
Again, this is so familiar to us that we don’t even question it. But who requested? Who recommended? Who knows? Who believes? No one knows from reading such sentences!
This indirect way of writing, this use of the passive voice and the indirect phrase, is perhaps the most characteristic feature of the formal style of the past. There are many explanations for it. A psychiatrist might say the writer was afraid to take the responsibil- ity for what he or she is writing or merely passing the buck. The writer may unjustifiably believe this style makes him or her anonymous, or makes him or her sound less dogmatic and authoritarian. 

Express your ideas immediately and directly. Unnecessary expressions like it is, there is, and there are weaken sentences and delay comprehension. They also tend to place part of the sentence in the passive voice. It is the recommendation of the sales manager that the report be forwarded immediately is more directly expressed as The sales manager recommends that we send the report immediately.

Change Long Modifiers
Mr. Barnes, who is president of the board, will preside.
Vehicles that are defective are...
They gave us a month for accomplishment of the task.

Break Up Long Sentences
There is not enough time available for the average executive to do everything that might be done and so it is necessary for him to determine wisely the essentials and do them first, then spend the remaining time on things that are “nice to do.”

4. Make Every Word Count.

to Shorter Ones
Mr. Barnes, the board president, will preside.
Defective vehicles are...
They gave us a month to do the job.
The average executive lacks time to do everything that might be done. Consequently, he must decide what is essential and do it first. Then he can spend the remaining time on things that are “nice to do.”

Don’t cheat your readers. They are looking for ideas—for meaning—when they read your let- ter, report, or directive. If they have to read several words that have little to do with the real meaning of a sentence, or if they have to read a number of sentences to get just a little meaning, you are cheating them. Much of their time and effort is wasted because they aren’t getting full benefit from it. They expected something that you didn’t deliver.

MAKE EACH WORD ADVANCE YOUR THOUGHT
Each word in a sentence should advance the thought of that sentence. To leave it out would destroy the meaning you are trying to convey.
“Naturally,” you say. “Of course!” But reread the last letter you wrote. Aren’t some of your sentences rather wordy? Couldn’t you have said the same thing in fewer words? And finally, how many times did you use a whole phrase to say what could have been said in one word, or a whole clause for what could have been expressed in a short phrase? In short, try tightening up a sentence like this:
The reason that prices rose was that the demand was increasing at the same time that the production was decreasing.
Rewritten:
Prices rose because the demand increased while production decreased.
Doesn’t our rewrite say the same thing as the original? Yet we have saved the reader some effort by squeezing the unnecessary words out of a wordy sentence.
Now try this one:
Wordy: The following statistics serve to give a good idea of the cost of production. Improved: The following statistics give a good idea of the production costs.
or

These statistics show production costs. 

And this one:
Wordy: I have a production supervisor who likes to talk a great deal.
Improved: I have a talkative production supervisor.
In all of those rewritten sentences we have saved our reader some time. The same thing has been said in fewer words.
Of course, you can be too concise. If your writing is too brief or terse, it may “sound” rude and abrupt, and you may lose more than you gain. You need, then, to be politely concise. What you are writing, what you are writing about, and whom you are writing for will help you decide just where to draw the line. However, the general rule, make every word count, still stands. Say what you have to say in as few words as clarity and tact will allow.

CONSOLIDATE IDEAS
A second way to save the reader’s effort is to consolidate ideas whenever possible. Pack as much meaning as possible into each sentence without making the sentence structure too complicated. Each sentence is by definition an idea, a unit of thought. Each time the readers read one
of these units they should get as much meaning as possible. It takes just about as much effort to read a sentence with a simple thought as it does to read one with a strong idea or with two or three strong ideas.
There are several things we can do to pack meaning into a sentence. In general, they all have to do with summarizing, combining, and consolidating ideas.
Some people write sentences that are weak and insignificant, both in structure and thought. Ordinarily several such sentences can be summarized and the thought put into one good, mature sentence. For example:
We left Wisconsin the next morning. I remember watching three aircraft. They were F-4s. They were flying very low. I felt sure they were going to crash over a half a dozen times. The F-4 is new to me. I hadn’t seen one before.
Rewritten:
When we left Wisconsin the next morning, I remember watching three F-4s, a type of aircraft I had never seen before. They were flying so low that over a half dozen times I felt sure they were going to crash.
When summarizing like this, be sure to emphasize the main action. Notice in the next example how we have kept the main action as our verb and made the other actions subordinate by changing them to verbals.
Poor: It was in 1959 that he retired from teaching and he devoted his time to writing his autobiography. (three verbs, one verbal)
Improved: In 1959 he retired from teaching to devote his time to writing his autobiography. (one verb, two verbals)
Here is an example similar to ones we might find in a directive:
Poor: The evaluation forms will be picked up from your respective personnel office. You should have these completed by 1700 hours, 18 May. They will be delivered imme- diately to the security section.
Notice that in the above instructions all of the actions are to be performed by the reader or “you.” Now let’s put these into one sentence, placing the things to be done in a series and using a single subject. 

Improved: Pick up the evaluation forms from your personnel office; complete and deliver them to the security section by 1700 hours, 18 May. (The subject [you] is understood.)
The same thing can be done with subjects or predicates:

Poor:
Improved:

Horror stories shown on television appear to contribute to juvenile delinquency. Comic books with their horror stories seem to have the same effect. Even the reports of criminal activities which appear in our newspapers seem to contribute to juvenile delinquency.
Television, comic books, and newspapers seem to contribute to juvenile delin- quency by emphasizing stories of horror and crime.

There is one more thing we can do to make our sentences better. We can vary their length and complexity. The following paragraphs suggest ways to do this.

5. Vary Your Sentence Patterns.
We should, as a general rule, write predominantly short sentences. Similarly, we should keep our sentences simple enough for our readers to understand them easily and quickly.
But most people soon get tired of nothing but simple, straightforward sentences. So, give your reader an occasional change of pace. Vary both the length and the construction of your sentences.

VARY SENTENCE LENGTH
Some writers use nothing but short, choppy sentences (“The road ended in a wrecked village. The lines were up beyond. There was much artillery around.”) In the hands of a Hemingway, from whom this example is taken, short sentences can give an effect of purity and simplicity; in the hands of a less skillful writer, choppy sentences are usually only monotonous.
The other extreme, of course, is just as bad. The writer who always writes heavy sentences of 20 to 30 words soon loses the reader. Some great writers use long sentences effectively, but most writers do not.
The readability experts suggest that, for the most effective communication, a sentence should rarely exceed 20 words. Their suggestion is a good rule of thumb, but sentence length should vary. And an occasional long sentence is not hard to read if it is followed by shorter ones. A fair goal for most letter-writers is an average of 21 words per sentence, or less. For longer types of writing, such as regulations and manuals, sentences should average 15 words or less. The sentences in opening paragraphs and in short letters may run a little longer than the average.

VARY SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION
Just as important as varied sentence length is variety of construction. Four common sentence categories are simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex.
A simple sentence consists of only one main (independent) clause:
Rain came down in torrents.
Rain and hail started falling. (Simple sentence with compound subject)
The storm began and soon grew in intensity. (Simple sentence with compound predicate)
A compound sentence has two or more main clauses:
Rain started falling, and all work stopped. The storm began; all work stopped. 

The storm began, the workers found shelter, and all work stopped.

A complex sentence has one main clause and at least one subordinate (dependent) clause. (Subordinate clauses are underlined in the following sentences.)
They were just starting their work when the rain started. Before they had made any progress, the rain started falling. The storm, which grew rapidly in intensity, stopped all work.
A compound-complex sentence has two or more main clauses and at least one subordinate clause. (Subordinate clauses are underlined in the following sentences.)
Rain started falling, and all work stopped before they had made any progress.
Although the workers were eager to finish the job, the storm forced them to stop, and they quickly found shelter.
They had made some progress before the storm began, but, when it started, all work stopped.
The names of the categories are really not important except to remind you to vary your sentence construction when you write. But remember that sentence variety is not just a mechanical chore to perform after your draft is complete. Good sentence variety comes naturally as the result of proper coordination and subordination when you write.
For example, if two or more short sentences have the same subject, combine them into one simple sentence with a compound verb.
The men were hot. They were tired, too. They were also angry. The men were hot and tired and angry.
If you have two ideas of equal weight or parallel thought, write them as two clauses in a compound sentence.
The day was hot and humid. The men had worked hard. The men had worked hard, and the day was hot and humid. The day was hot and humid, but the men had worked hard.
If one idea is more important than others, put it in the main clause of a complex sentence: Poor: The men were tired, and they had worked hard, and the day was hot.
Better: The men were tired because they had worked hard on a hot day. or
Although the day was hot and the men were tired, they worked hard.
If the adverbial modifier is the least important part of a complex sentence, put it first and keep the end position for the more important main clause:
Instead of: The men finished the job in record time, even though the day was hot and humid and they were tired.
Better: Even though the day was hot and humid and the men were tired, they finished the job in record time.
But be careful about having long, involved subordinate clauses come before the main clause. The reader may get lost or confused before getting to your main point or give up before getting to it. Also beware of letting too many modifying words, phrases, or clauses come between the subject and the verb. This is torture for the reader. The subject and the verb are usually the most important elements of a sentence; keep them close together whenever possible.

Readers, this now completes the Writing Section on PTE. In my first post I shared the TOEFL actual 650+ essays. Make sure you use that book. Read through the book and all the topics. See how each essay is written. Use the style, practise writing on MS Word. I know its impractical to be able to write all 650 essays but do read them all for ideas. if you would follow this even 75% you will end up on 80+ in PTE.

Keep an eye out for my next post which will cover PTE Reading.

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