Strategies to deal with P2: R&W Fill in the Blanks

Part 2: R&W: Fill in the Blanks is one of the five-item types in Part 2: Reading, which contributes to Reading and Writing communicative skills in both PTE Academic and PTE Core. Whether you aim to sit for PTE Academic or PTE Core, we will face this question type. In case you want to know the differences between PTE Academic and PTE Core, kindly take a look at this comparing article.

If you are looking for a strategy to help you deal with all questions in this part. You have come to the right place, let’s get started immediately. 

Fundamental information

• Task: Text shows up on the screen with several blanks, PTE takers pick words from a box below to fill in the gaps
• Prompt length: Text up to 300 words in PTE Academic and 200 words in PTE Core
• Recommended timer: 2.5 minutes
• Frequency: 5-6 questions
• Skills assessed: Reading, Writing

If you are concerned about the Recommended timer, we believe you have reasons! According to the test format, Part 2: Reading lasts for around 30 minutes with no specific timer for any item type. So why do we recommend 2.5 minutes for each question? There are reasons too! 

Part 2: Reading in both PTE Academic and PTE Core lasts around 30 minutes including the frequency of item types as you can see from the above image. We recommend a specific timer because that is the amount of time PTE takers should spend on one question in order to have enough time to complete the rest. It depends on how many times one item type appears in the test and the prompt length to decide how many minutes should we devote to them. For details, PTE takers can review our Time Management Strategy. 

Furthermore, Pearson also recommends that PTE takers spend 2.5 minutes on each question while practising on its Official website because they know it's the best way to prepare for this item type in particular and the rest generally.

This is the sample question that we will be using to the end of this strategy – Question number 1, Part 2: R&W Fill in the Blanks in the PTE Practice Platform.

Taking care of kids is a delightful yet responsible task that requires patience, empathy, and attentiveness. It is a role that comes with its ___ and rewards, demanding a keen understanding of a child's unique needs and development stages. Providing a ___ and safe environment is of paramount importance to foster their physical, emotional, and ___ growth. Attentive supervision is crucial, ensuring their safety and preventing accidents while allowing them to explore and learn through play. A key aspect of caring for kids is active engagement and ___. Listening to their thoughts and concerns fosters trust and open communication, enabling them to express themselves freely. Spending quality time with children not only strengthens the caregiver-child bond but also positively impacts their overall development. Encouraging creativity through storytelling, arts and crafts, and ___ play can stimulate their imagination and cognitive abilities. 

Nutrition plays a vital role in their growth and well-being. Offering a ___ diet rich in essential nutrients ensures their physical health and supports optimal brain development. Furthermore, instilling healthy eating habits from an early age sets the foundation for a lifetime of wellness. A nurturing environment includes setting boundaries and establishing consistent routines. Children thrive in ___ and structure, which promotes a sense of security and stability. Encouraging good habits such as regular sleep schedules, proper hygiene, and tidying up after themselves instills a sense of responsibility and self-discipline. As children explore the world, they may encounter challenges and conflicts. As caregivers, it is essential to teach them problem-solving skills and conflict resolution strategies to navigate these situations effectively. Encouraging empathy and kindness towards others cultivates emotional intelligence and social skills, helping them form meaningful relationships.

A unique step-by-step strategy

Step 1: Skim for the general content

Have you heard of the “skim through” technique yet? We are pretty sure that you have heard of it at least once. But if you haven’t here is the simple explanation: Skim through is a technique to read through the passage quickly to find the main content. 

Yes, we will skim through this step in order to comprehend the main content of the passage, which helps us choose correct words in the blanks as the word options always have a connection to the main content. To illustrate, after skimming through our sample question, we realised that the main content is about how to teach kids effectively for physical and emotional growth. You may use different words, it’s no problem as we only skim through the passage and get the main content.  

In this blank, we have Exaggerating, Nurturing, Exciting, and Delighted. At first, we may concern between Nurturing and Exciting (Delighted is grammatically incorrect, please check in detail in Tip 2.2, and Exaggerating is contextually incorrect). But if we get the general content of the passage, which is about how to teach kids effectively for physical and emotional growth, then the most suitable word is Nurturing - to care for and protect somebody (kids) while they are developing.

DO NOT fill in the blanks before skimming through the passage, which is too risky as we may pick incorrect words because we haven’t comprehended the whole passage yet.

Time management: We have around 2.5 minutes to fill in all the blanks including the skimming time. Yes, the prompt length could be up to 300 words and have from five to seven blanks. It hinges on the prompt length and the number of blanks to decide how many minutes we should use for that question. Some questions could need 2.5 minutes, but others may only need 1.5 minutes. Therefore, PTE takers need to be flexible in dealing with this question type. Regarding this step, we can only spend around 30 to 45 seconds to skim through and use the rest of the time to fill in the blanks.

Step 2: Fill in the Blanks

Tip 2.1: Read before and after the blank

After comprehending the main content, it’s time to fill in the blanks. PTE takers have to read before and after the blanks to understand the contextual meaning of that sentence. In addition to the main content, we have a better understanding of the key ideas in order to fill in the blanks correctly. 

For example, we have Happiness, Understanding, Encouragement, and Challenges in the first blank. 

PTE takers should read the whole sentence which includes the blank first. If some blanks are hard to complete, we need to read sentences before and after the sentence including the blank for more information. In our example, apparently, “challenges” is the correct one because we have the word “rewards” right after it. In most cases, Challenges and Rewards always go together. 

One more example is here, we have Exaggerating, Nurturing, Exciting, and Delighted in the second blank.

Delighted is not correct because it’s grammatically wrong. We cannot use adj-ed in this case, only adj-ing works because the adjective here supports the word “environment” right after it. We have three words left, however, it’s super easy to pick “nurturing” as it’s used to talk about children's upbringing. 

Tip 2.2: Consider grammatical structures 

Sometimes, we don’t need to apply this tip because Tip 2.1 solves all the problems. Nevertheless, there is a better way that we can combine this tip with the previous one to make a more accurate decision.  

Firstly, let’s consider grammatical structures. We can immediately eliminate the word “fascinated” as it only applies to people, not to “play”. We have the rest three words that we need to consider the meaning of by reading the sentence: Encouraging creativity through storytelling, arts and crafts, and ___ play can stimulate their imagination and cognitive abilities. This sentence states that creativity can be fostered through arts, storytelling, and crafts. Therefore, the best word is “imaginative”, which is also related to creativity. 

Time management: Our sample question has 277 words in total, PTE takers may spend all 2.5 minutes (150 seconds) to complete this one. If so, as we already spent 45 seconds for skimming through the passage, we have 105 seconds left to fill in all the blanks. As we already know R&W Fill in the Blanks appears first in Part 2, for example, if our sample question shows up in your test, you should move on when the timer is closed to 27:30 minutes, which means we used almost 2.5 minutes. Always paying high attention to the timer gives you enough time to complete all questions! 

Again, regardless of the test you aim to take, you can apply this unique strategy to prepare for both the Pearson Test of English Academic and Core. What we need you to do is to follow every single step carefully and apply to practice on the PTE Practice Platform for the best result. 

Practice makes perfect!

Live-Interactive PTE Practice Platform

The PTE Practice Website – TADE Hub offers thousands of practice questions, and 2-hour mock tests aside from instantly detailed feedback for all question types. Feedback is genuinely essential to help PTE takers learn from their wrong answers, so they can correct them next time. For instance, the below image is sample feedback of Part 2: R&W Fill in the Blanks.

We show you the score evaluated based on the same grading procedures that Pearson uses to assess your score. You get one score if you fill in one blank correctly, and the minimum score is zero. Find out more about grading elements for all question types here. 

It’s time to boost your Pearson Test of English scores, let’s visit the PTE Practice Website, create your FREE account and experience one of the most effective websites for your PTE Preparation.