PTE Reading: Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
A passage with one question and one correct option. There is no negative marking here, which makes it the simplest item in PTE Reading to handle: never leave it blank.
Eliminate rather than select
Be able to say why each rejected option fails. The four reasons cover nearly every PTE distractor, and naming the reason is faster than weighing all the options on meaning.
- True but not what was asked — answers a different question.
- Overstated — turns a hedged claim absolute.
- Not supported — plausible, and not in the passage.
- Half right — one clause good, one wrong.
Pace
- Read the question before the passage; a single question gives you a target.
- Find the relevant lines.
- Answer in your own words first.
- Match to an option, commit, move on.
PTE is a two-hour test with no section-by-section timing you control after the fact. Time spent deliberating on a no-penalty item is time taken from items that do carry a penalty.
Multiple Choice, Single Answer — FAQs
2 questions
No. Only the multiple-answer item penalises wrong selections.
Less than the multiple-answer item, which is where the care belongs.
More reading question types
Sources
Written from the test board's own published material and checked on 1 October 2026.