PTE Core · Part 2 · Reading
PTE Core Reading: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers
One or two texts, each with a question and a list of options where more than one is correct. It is the reading task with negative marking, so it rewards a particular discipline: choose only what you can point to in the text, and nothing you merely believe.
- Questions in the test
- 1–2
- Time
- shares the reading clock
- Scoring
- Partial credit, minus one per wrong option
- Traits scored
- Correct options
18 real Reading: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers questions inside
A glimpse of the bank. The full prompt, audio and scoring open after you sign in.
- 1Child labor remains a pervasive issue in many parts of the…
- 2Vocational school training provides students with practical…
- 3Plastic bags are among the most common forms of pollution…
What the task asks
A text appears on the left of the screen and a question with a list of options on the right. The instruction tells you that more than one option is correct and asks you to select all of them. You click to select, click again to deselect, and move on when you are done. There is no timer for the item itself; it runs on the shared Part 2 reading clock along with every other reading task, so the minutes you spend here come out of the same pot.
The texts are the same kind of practical, informational writing found across PTE Core: a company's return policy, a guide to a city's bike lanes, a description of how a community programme is funded. Questions ask what the text states, what the writer suggests, or which statements are supported by it. The options are written so that some are clearly in the text, some contradict it, and some sound sensible but are never actually said. The last group is where the points go missing.
How it is scored
This is one of the few PTE Core items with negative marking. Each correct option you select earns a point; each incorrect option you select loses a point; the score for the item can never fall below zero. It contributes to your Reading score only.
| Trait | What is measured | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Correct options | Each correct option selected adds one; each wrong option selected subtracts one; the item score has a floor of zero. | 0 to the number of correct options |
Work through what that means. If two options are correct and you pick both, you score 2. Pick both plus one wrong one, and you score 1. Pick one correct and two wrong, and you are at zero, the same as if you had answered nothing. Selecting everything that seems possible is the single worst strategy, because every extra click is a point at risk. Selecting only the options you are sure of, even if that means leaving a correct one behind, protects what you have.
How our practice scorer grades it
When you submit an answer here it is marked automatically and exactly by the Pearson rule: plus one for every correct option selected, minus one for every wrong one, never below zero. The answer is revealed instantly, with each option marked as correct, wrong, or correct-but-missed, and a short explanation that points to the line in the text that supports or contradicts it. Your score across items is shown on the 10 to 90 scale alongside the CLB level.
It is a practice estimate. The marking rule is the real one; the questions are ours; nothing here sees your actual test.
A worked example
From next month, staff may work from home up to two days a week, provided their manager agrees in advance and the days are recorded in the shared calendar. Home-working days cannot be carried over to a later week. Employees in customer-facing roles are excluded from the scheme for now, though the company says it will review this after six months. Equipment for home use will be provided on request, but the company will not reimburse internet costs.
Which of the following does the policy state?
A. Staff can work from home on any two days they choose without approval.
B. Unused home-working days do not carry over to the following week.
C. Customer-facing employees are not currently covered by the scheme.
D. The company pays a monthly allowance for home internet.
E. The scheme will be made permanent after six months.
B and C are stated almost word for word. A is contradicted by provided their manager agrees in advance. D is contradicted directly. E is the trap: the text says the exclusion will be reviewed after six months, which is not the same as the scheme being made permanent. A reader who picks B, C and E scores 2 minus 1, which is 1. A reader who picks only B and C scores 2. The difference between those two readers is not knowledge of English; it is the habit of checking that a statement is actually in the text before clicking it.
Five habits that raise the score
- Read the question before the text. Knowing whether you are looking for what is stated, what is suggested, or what the writer's purpose is tells you what to read for.
- Treat each option as a true-or-false claim. Go to the text and find the sentence that makes it true. If you cannot find one, it is not a safe pick.
- Watch for one-word changes. Review becomes make permanent, up to two becomes any two, may becomes must. Most wrong options are a true sentence with one word turned.
- Two is the usual answer; three is possible; five is never right. If you have selected most of the list, you have almost certainly included a wrong one.
- Set a time cap. Two to three minutes is enough for one of these. The reading clock is shared, and the fill-in-the-blanks items that follow carry more points per minute.
The mistakes that cost the most
- Selecting everything plausible. With negative marking, the plausible-but-unstated option is the one that erases a correct one.
- Answering from general knowledge. Whether a company should pay for internet is irrelevant. Only what this text says counts.
- Choosing a single option out of caution. The task tells you more than one is correct. If two are clearly stated, picking only one leaves a safe point on the table.
- Reading the text first and the options last. You end up reading the text twice. Question, then text with the options in mind, is faster.
- Losing five minutes to one item. Everything after it in Part 2 pays the price.
Quick answers
How many Reading: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers items are in PTE Core?
One or two, in Part 2. The exam guide shows how the reading section is put together.
Can my score for the item go negative?
No. The floor is zero. But a wrong click can take a point you had already earned down to nothing.
How many options are correct?
At least two, and the question does not tell you how many. Choose on evidence, not on a target number.
Is this the same rule as the listening version?
Yes. Listening: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers uses the same plus-one, minus-one scoring with the same zero floor, applied to a recording instead of a text.