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PTE Listening Tips

Question Type #14 PTE Listening: Multiple Choice (Choose Multiple Answers)

Familiarise with how the question is formed

  • There are 2-3 questions, each of which refers to a brief lecture of less than 90 seconds.
  • The question usually centres on any one of the following: Topic/ gist, general purpose of lecture (why), relationship between two points in the lecture, details (Who, which, where, when), specific reason (why something is mentioned), inference (conclusion) and tone (attitude, feeling or certainty).
  • You need to choose up to 2 or 3 correct responses.
  • You have 7 seconds to preview the question and options before the lecture starts.

 

Understand how this question is scored

  • Each correct response will earn 1 mark
  • Each wrong response will lose 1 mark.
  • Maximum mark: 2 or 3; minimum mark: 0

 

Avoid these common mistakes

  1. Reading the options while listening. Most people cannot do this well. Instead, take notes while listening. You still have time to read the options and make your choices after the lecture is over.
  2. Skipping the whole question. You must choose at least one answer.
  3. Using your feeling when choosing. Instead, eliminate the wrong ones before deciding the right ones.
  4. Rushing when choosing options. Remember, it’s good practice to spend 40 seconds on this question type after the lecture.  
  5.  Always choosing 2 or 3 even when unsure. Instead, choose only when you’re sure to avoid losing marks!.

 

Practise the best way to do it

  1. Skim read the question and some key words in the options if possible to help you focus on the topic.
  2.  To help you focus, take notes while listening. Ask yourself what the topic is and what the main points are. Notice how the lecture is organised: is it a comparison, cause and effect, problem and solution, definition and examples, sequence of events or a combination of some of these? Take notes accordingly in line with the text organisation
  3. When taking notes, use short cuts and symbols, such asà, <, >, abbreviations, simple diagrams, bullet points and  key words only.
  4. After the lecture, take around 40 seconds to systematically eliminate answer choices which contradict, are irrelevant, half correct or seem outlandish.
  5. The remaining choices may be true. Choose only 1 if you’re unsure of the rest. However, if you can eliminate properly, you may choose 1 more (in case of 5-6 options) or up to 3 (if there are 7 options).

Question type #15 PTE Listening: Fill in the blanks

Familiarise with how the question is formed

–       There are 2-3 paragraphs, each of which refers to a brief lecture of 60 seconds.

–       The paragraph will be on the screen for you to view, and there are up to 7 gaps / blanks for you to type in ONE word.

–       You have 10 seconds to preview the text before the lecture starts.

–       You need to put your mouse pointer in the gap, follow the text as it is read to you, and type in the missing word in the gap exactly as you hear it.

 

Understand how this question is scored

–       Each correct word (for each blank), spelled correctly will earn 1 small mark

–       No extra penalty for wrong answer.

–       Maximum mark: 1; minimum mark: 0

 

Avoid these common mistakes

  1. Miss hearing the word. This can happen if you type in the word instead of write down first. Always write down first if you’re not a fast typist!
  2. Type all in capital letters or the first letter in the capital. Only do this for the first letter if it is a proper name or the gap is the first word in a new sentence.
  3. Miss the plural form of a noun when it is a count noun.
  4. Miss the –s/es for a verb when you have a singular subject.
  5. Use the wrong word form. (e.g., a noun when you need an adjective, a verb or an adverb).

 

Practise the best way to do it

 

  1. Preview the text before the lecture starts. Take mental note of the story, S-V agreement, word form required, and singular/plural form required.
  2. Write down the word in order as you hear each of them.
  3. After the lecture, transfer your word in its respective gap on the screen.
  4. Proofread quickly to make sure the spelling and the grammar is correct.

Question type #17 PTE Listening: Multiple choice (Choose single
answer)

Familiarise with how the question is formed

–       There are 2-3 questions, each of which refers to a brief lecture of less than 90 seconds.

–       The question usually centres on any one of the following: Topic/ gist, general purpose of lecture (why), relationship between two points in the lecture (how), details (Who, which, where, when), specific reason (why something is mentioned),or inference (conclusion)

–       You need to choose 1 correct response only.

–       You have 5 seconds to preview the question and options before the lecture starts.

 

Understand how this question is scored

–       Each correct response will earn 1 mark

–       No extra penalty for wrong answer.

–       Maximum mark: 1; minimum mark: 0

 

Avoid these common mistakes

  1. Not reading the question carefully. Sometimes an option may be correct, but that is not what the question asks.
  2. Reading the options while listening. Most people cannot do this well. Instead, take notes while listening.
  3. Using your feeling when choosing. Instead, eliminate the wrong ones before deciding the right ones. Very often, exact word(s) which appear in the option and the lecture means that the option is wrong!
  4. Rushing when choosing options. Remember, it’s good practice to spend up to 30 seconds on this question type after the lecture.  

 

Practise the best way to do it

 

  1. Skim read the question and some key words in the options if possible to help you focus on the topic.
  2. Take notes while listening. Ask yourself what the topic is and what the main points are. Take down key words based on how the lecture is organised: is it a comparison, cause and effect, problem and solution, definition and examples, sequence of events or a combination of some of these?
  3. When taking notes, use short cuts and symbols, such asà, <, >, abbreviations, simple diagrams, bullet points and key words only. Practise a system unique to you.
  4. After the lecture, take around 25-30 seconds to systematically eliminate answer choices which are opposite, irrelevant, half correct or seem outlandish and does NOT answer the question.

Question type #18 PTE Listening: Select missing word

Familiarise with how the question is formed

–       There are 2-3 questions, each of which refers to a brief lecture of 40-90 seconds.

–       The Topic will be on the screen in the instruction part.

–       You have 7 seconds to preview the topic and the 4-5 options before the lecture starts.

–       The lecture will be cut off when the time gauge reaches the end in the middle of the screen, when you hear a beep.

–       You need to choose 1 best response which logically finishes the lecture.

 

Understand how this question is scored

–       Each correct response will earn 1 mark

–       No extra penalty for wrong answer.

–       Maximum mark: 1; minimum mark: 0

 

Avoid these common mistakes

  1. Not reading the TOPIC. Doing this will help you tune in to the lecture.
  2. Get carried away while listening. Taking down some key words pertaining to the topic and main points should help you to concentrate.
  3. Choosing the option with the exact word(s) which you hear in the lecture. In fact, this is the obvious wrong answer!
  4.  Rushing when choosing options. Remember, it’s good practice to spend up to 20 seconds on this question type after the lecture.  

 

Practise the best way to do it

 

  1. Skim read the topic and the options to help you focus on the topic.
  2. Take brief notes while listening. Ask yourself what the topic is and what the main points are.
  3. As you take notes, notice the use of linking words (e.g., however, because, therefore, but, in conclusion, etc).
  4. Concentrate on the linking word and content when the lecture is nearing the end.
  5. After the lecture is cut off (the beep), take around 20 seconds to systematically eliminate answer choices which are opposite in tone.
  6. Let’s say the tone of the lecture is favourable, but you hear ‘However’ towards the end, so you need to find a word/phrase with a negative sense. Also, note whether you have to choose a strong or weak word. 

Question type #19 PTE Listening: Highlight incorrect words

Familiarise with how the question is formed

–       There are 2-3 paragraphs, each of which refers to a brief lecture of 60-90 seconds.

–       The paragraph will be on the screen for you to view and you have 10 seconds to preview the text before the lecture starts.

–       You need to slide your mouse pointer along the text as it is read to you, and click on the word (up to 7 of them) which is printed differently to what you hear.

–       To unselect a word, simply click on it again.

 

Understand how this question is scored

–       Each correct word clicked will earn 1 small mark

–       Each wrong word clicked will lose 1 small mark.

–       Maximum mark: 5-7; minimum mark: 0

 

Avoid these common mistakes

  1. Guessing after the lecture is over. Most people cannot remember the detail of the words used in the lecture after it is over. Remember, you’ll lose marks if you click on the wrong word(s).
  2. Clicking on the maximum, which is 7 words. In fact, most of the time, there are only 5-6 errors.
  3. Clicking on a word because the grammar or spelling is ‘wrong’. Note that, the grammar and spelling is never wrong in this type, just that the word is different. It may be the synonym, the antonym, a different number, or with(out) a prefix.

 

Practise the best way to do it

 

  1. Preview the text before the lecture starts. Take mental note of the story.
  2. Click on the different word the instant you hear each of them.
  3. After the lecture, proofread quickly to make sure you don’t pick a grammatical mistake or more than 6 or 7 words.
  4. Never make a guess even if you only have 3 or 4 words.

Question type #20 PTE Listening & Writing: Write from Dictation

Familiarise with how the question is formed

–       There are 3-4 sentences, each of which has up to around 12 words.

–       You have 5 seconds to mentally prepare yourself before the sentence is read to you.

–       You need to type the sentence exactly as you hear it into the dialog box on the screen.

 

Understand how this question is scored

–       Each correct word (for each sentence), spelled correctly and in the correct order will earn 1 small mark

–       No extra penalty for wrong answer.

–       Maximum mark:9-12; minimum mark: 0

 

Avoid these common mistakes

  1. Write down the sentence and transfer later. Instead, type in directly as soon as you hear it as you may not have enough time to do this, since this is the last question type in the listening section.
  2. Type all words in capital letters. Only do this for the first letter if it is a proper name or it is the first word in the sentence.
  3. Miss the plural form of a noun when it is a count noun.
  4. Miss the –s/es for a verb when you have a singular subject.
  5. Use the wrong word form. (e.g., a noun when you need an adjective, a verb or an adverb).
  6. Swap the word order or try to paraphrase a word. Remember, you’ll only earn marks if the words are spelled correctly and also are in the correct sequence as it is read by the speaker.

 

Practise the best way to do it

 

  1. Picture the sentence structure and sentence meaning in your mind before you start typing. Take mental note of the ‘story’, S-V agreement, and the position of time expression, adverb of places and linking word used.
  2. Type in the sentence as accurately as possible.
  3. Proofread quickly to make sure the spelling, grammar and the word forms are correct.
  4. You should spend around 30 seconds doing this, time permitting.

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