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Free PTE Core Select Missing Word Practice

Lume Test

Published on: September 4, 2026

Select Missing Word plays a recording of 20 to 70 seconds that stops before its final word or phrase, replaced by a beep. You choose from a list which option completes it.

The answer is almost never guessable from the topic. It is decided by the grammar and logic of the last sentence, which means the final ten seconds of the recording carry the whole question.

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Key Takeaways

Audio 20 to 70 seconds, ending in a beep that replaces the final word or phrase.
The answer is decided by the last sentence, not by the topic of the recording.
Grammar narrows the options first: after a preposition you need a noun phrase, after “and” you need a parallel form.
Logic narrows them second: a concessive or causal connective before the beep fixes the direction.
There is no negative marking, so always select something.

How the task works

Element	Detail
Audio	20-70 seconds, played once
The gap	The final word or phrase, replaced by a beep
Options	A list to choose from — one answer
Skill scored	Listening
Scoring	Correct or incorrect; no deduction
Part	Part 3, Listening

Where to concentrate

Portion of the audio	What it gives you	Attention
First 10 seconds	Topic and register	Light
Middle	Supporting detail, rarely tested	Light
Final sentence	The grammar and logic that decide the answer	Full
Last five words before the beep	The part of speech required	Absolute

Read the options during the audio if you can, but never at the cost of the closing sentence.

Set 1

“Coastal salt marsh performs three functions worth noting. It slows waves, so less energy reaches the sea wall. It traps sediment, gaining height over time, which lets it keep pace with rising sea level. And it stores carbon in waterlogged soils. That third benefit, however, continues only while the marsh stays wet: a marsh that is drained does not simply stop storing carbon, it actively [BEEP].”

Option	Verdict
(A) releases it	Correct — “does not simply stop…, it actively” demands a stronger opposite
(B) stores less	Wrong — that is “stopping”, which the sentence has just excluded
(C) recovers slowly	Wrong — not an opposite of storing
(D) requires funding	Wrong — changes the subject

“Not simply X, it actively Y” is a fixed escalating structure. Y must be stronger than X and in the same direction, which rules out three options before you consider the topic.

Set 2

“Employers fund far more training than they did a decade ago, though the motive is retention rather than generosity. But there is a mismatch. Firms want training specific to their own systems, because it feeds straight into productivity. Employees want transferable qualifications, which are valuable precisely because you can take them elsewhere. That tension explains why so much corporate training is [BEEP].”

Option	Verdict
(A) compulsory rather than requested	Correct — follows from firms wanting something employees do not
(B) delivered by external providers	Wrong — no mention of providers
(C) increasingly popular with staff	Wrong — contradicts the mismatch just described
(D) funded from central budgets	Wrong — true of the topic but not what the tension explains

“That tension explains why” means the answer must be a consequence of a disagreement. Option C reverses it and option D ignores it.

Set 3

“Several cities have built consolidation centres at the edge of their controlled delivery zones, where parcels from different carriers are combined and taken in by a single vehicle. The engineering is straightforward. The obstacle is commercial: carriers compete on delivery speed and are reluctant to hand the final leg to a shared operator. Where consolidation has actually worked, it has been because the local authority [BEEP].”

Option	Verdict
(A) made zone access conditional on using it	Correct — the reluctance means voluntary cooperation is ruled out
(B) subsidised the carriers generously	Wrong — plausible in the world, unsupported by the logic
(C) persuaded carriers to cooperate	Wrong — directly contradicts “reluctant”
(D) built the centres itself	Wrong — the centres already exist in the sentence

Set 4

“Cities measure tree canopy from aerial imagery, which is cheap and repeatable. It has one systematic weakness: narrow street trees whose crowns are hidden by buildings are undercounted. Lidar avoids this, because it captures height and therefore volume, but it costs around ten times as much. The choice of method matters more than it appears, because canopy targets are set against whatever the baseline method reported, so a city that changes method halfway through a programme can [BEEP].”

Option	Verdict
(A) appear to lose canopy it never lost	Correct — a measurement change producing an apparent change
(B) reduce its monitoring costs substantially	Wrong — lidar is more expensive, not less
(C) plant more trees than it needs	Wrong — unconnected to measurement baselines
(D) meet its targets more easily	Wrong — the sentence sets up a problem, not a benefit

“Matters more than it appears” signals a problem. An option describing a benefit is wrong on tone alone before the content is checked.

Set 5

“Contingent valuation asks people directly what they would pay for an environmental improvement. The answers are systematically distorted: people name higher figures for a gain than they will accept for the identical loss, and their answers shift with whatever number the survey mentions first. Defenders point out that the method captures values no market records, which is true. But that defence establishes only that the method measures something. It does not establish that [BEEP].”

Option	Verdict
(A) what it measures is accurate	Correct — the contrast is between measuring something and measuring it correctly
(B) surveys are cheaper than alternatives	Wrong — cost is not discussed
(C) markets record environmental values	Wrong — contradicts the sentence before
(D) respondents understand the questions	Wrong — plausible but not the contrast being drawn

Signals in the final seconds

You hear before the beep	The answer must
“not simply X, it actively…”	Be a stronger version of X in the same direction
“That tension explains why…”	Be a consequence of a conflict already described
“it has been because the authority…”	Be an action by that authority, not by the reluctant party
“matters more than it appears, so…”	Describe a problem, not a benefit
“It does not establish that…”	Be the stronger claim the weaker evidence cannot support
“and therefore…”	Follow logically from the immediately preceding clause
“although…”	Contrast with the main clause
A preposition immediately before the beep	Be a noun phrase or gerund
“and” immediately before the beep	Match the form of the item it is joined to

Method

Read the options quickly before the audio if the interface allows it, so you know what kind of answer to expect.
Listen lightly to the first half. It gives you topic and register, and rarely more.
Concentrate completely from the last connective onwards — “but”, “so”, “because”, “although”, “that tension”.
Identify the structure the sentence has set up before checking the options against it.
Eliminate options that reverse the direction, change the subject, or contradict an earlier sentence.
Choose. There is no deduction, so a blank is strictly worse than a guess.

What loses marks

Error	Why	Fix
Choosing by topic relevance	Two or three options are always topically relevant	Decide by the structure of the final sentence
Missing the last connective	It sets the required direction	Full attention from “but”, “so”, “because”
Reading the options during the closing sentence	You lose the sentence that decides the answer	Read them earlier or after, not during
Choosing a factually true option	True in the world is not the same as required by the sentence	Test against the sentence, not against knowledge
Leaving it unanswered	No deduction applies	Always select

FAQ

What is PTE Core Select Missing Word?

A Part 3 Listening task where a recording of 20 to 70 seconds ends in a beep replacing its final word or phrase, and you choose the option that completes it. It contributes to your Listening score.

Is there negative marking on Select Missing Word?

No. Negative marking in PTE Core applies to the Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers tasks in Reading and Listening. Select Missing Word has one answer and no deduction, so you should always choose something.

Which part of the recording matters most?

The final sentence, and especially the last connective before the beep. The topic and the middle of the recording rarely decide the answer, while structures such as “not simply X, it actively” or “that tension explains why” narrow the options immediately.

Should I read the options while the audio plays?

Only during the early part. Reading options while the closing sentence plays is the most common way candidates lose this item, because that sentence contains the whole question.

Why do wrong options sound plausible?

Because they are built to be topically relevant. Two or three options usually fit the subject of the recording perfectly and fail on direction, subject or logic instead, which is why testing them against the sentence rather than against the topic is the method.

Is this task the same in PTE Academic?

Select Missing Word appears in both tests with the same format. The audio length and the single-answer scoring are the same, so practice transfers between them.

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