PTE Core · Reading · R4
PTE Core Reading: Fill in the Blanks
Reading: Fill in the Blanks shows a short text with gaps and a word bank below it. You drag one word into each gap. The bank contains more words than gaps, so some options are distractors. PTE Core includes 4 to 5 of these items in Part 2.
- Items per test
- 4–5
- Response
- Drag words from a shared word bank
- Word bank
- More words than gaps
- Timing
- Shares the Part 2 Reading time
How it works
- 1Skim the text to understand its topic.
- 2Decide what kind of word each gap needs, such as noun, verb or adjective.
- 3Drag the best-fitting word from the bank into each gap.
- 4Read the completed text once to confirm it makes sense.
Sample task
Original sample · not from an official test
"The café offers a ___ on coffee to customers who bring their own cup. The scheme aims to ___ the number of paper cups thrown away." Word bank: discount, reduce, price, increase, reduction.
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Outline: discount … reduce
"Offers a ___ on coffee" needs a noun meaning a lower price, so "discount". "Aims to ___" needs a verb, and the meaning calls for "reduce", not "increase". "Reduction" is a noun and cannot follow "to" here.
Tips that work
- Label each gap with the part of speech it needs before you look at the word bank.
- Fill the gaps you are sure of first; that shrinks the bank for the harder ones.
- Watch for pairs such as "reduce" and "reduction" where only one form fits the grammar.
- Do not leave a gap empty. An empty gap cannot score, and there is no penalty for a wrong word here.
Common mistakes
- Using a word just because it matches the topic, without checking the grammar.
- Forgetting that each word from the bank can be used only once.
Questions candidates ask
Is there negative marking in Reading Fill in the Blanks?
No. Each correctly filled gap earns credit and a wrong word simply earns nothing, so fill every gap.
How is this different from the dropdown task?
Here all gaps share one word bank, so you must decide which word goes where, not just pick from a short list.
Does EnglishHub offer practice for this task?
Yes. There are exam-style practice sets with drag-and-drop gaps and a word bank, plus explanations.
Other PTE Core Reading tasks
PTE Core overviewPTE Core Reading: all partsPTE Core full mock testsPTE Core articles on the blog