PTE Answer Short Questions: Follow These Tips to Improve Your PTE-A Speaking Score

The PTE Scores calculation is done through AI. This is a reason to be thorough in answering each question that a candidate knows in a correct manner. The marking in the PTE Answer Short Questions task is absolute which means the answers are not marked on subjective correctness, it is either right or wrong, unlike other tasks where marking is based on the degree of correctness. For example, in PTE Speaking Skills if the candidate does not speak clearly, they may lose marks even if they are answering correctly because of the inaudibility of the answer. 

For PTE Speaking Skills improvement, one has to focus on the proper delivery of speech along with vocabulary, grammar, etc. Tasks based on Speaking Skills often have other English language skills ingrained in them. Answer Short Questions is one such task. 

PTE full form	Pearson’s Test for English
Other Name	PTE Academic
Conducting Body	Pearson’s PLC Group
PTE General Exam Dates	Throughout the year
Application Fees	INR 15,900
Mode of Exam	Computer-based Test (CBT)
Official Website	https://www.pearsonpte.com/

What is the Answer Short Questions Task in PTE?

The PTE Answer Short Questions task integrates Listening and Speaking skills. The Speaking section is more relevant to this task. To understand this integrated PTE task better, one can imagine it as a round of Rapid Fire questions. In this section, an audio is played which directs a set of questions at the candidate. The candidates have to quickly answer this series of questions within a few seconds. 

The question and answer, both are short, crisp and direct in these questions. PTE has now started including some relevant videos and images with the questions. These are questions that the candidate does not necessarily know the answer to but has to observe and answer quickly. Some details about this PTE Task are listed below:

Name of Task	Answer Short Questions
English Language Skill	Speaking Skills Assessment
Duration of Question	~9 seconds Per Question
Number of Questions	10-12
Answering Span	10 seconds
Add ons	Video and Images

Also Read: PTE Exam: Fee, Dates, Preparation Material and More

Tips to Improve Scores in PTE Answer Short Questions Task

Apart from basic learning for an exam, there are always some tips that can help in speeding up learning, retaining better, or help in using available knowledge to the best of possibilities. As the PTE test is a major stepping stone in the study abroad journey of many candidates, it is important to ensure that it is well prepared for. 

PTE Listening skills, PTE Reading skills, PTE Writing skills and PTE Speaking skills together constitute the overall PTE Scores that represent a candidate’s proficiency in the language. Each skill should be given equal practice and attention no matter how confident one is because the pattern of questions is sometimes surprising without practice and one can lose marks due to poor time management. 

Here are some tips to improve PTE Speaking Skill Scores in the Answer Short Questions task. 

Don’t Overthink the Question

The questions in this section are direct and do not need much thinking. Basically in every question in this section, one either knows the answer or not, there is nothing in between. The candidates can still choose to give a safe answer if they do not know the correct answer as there is no negative marking in the PTE Marking scheme. 

Answer Promptly

As soon as the audio of the question stops, the status of the microphone on the screen changes to recording. The candidate should answer impromptu and not wait for a verbal cue to answer. This saves time but more importantly if the answer is not delivered within 3 seconds the microphone stops sensing sound, and then the status changes to complete. 

It is better to not think much as these are direct questions and the answer is generally what comes to the mind first. 

Listen Carefully

It is an under-rated suggestion to ask candidates to listen carefully as mostly at the time of examination, the candidates often lose focus and are worried about the time, or thinking about the previous answer. This lack of attention may lead to wrong answers to simple questions like that of Synonyms and Antonyms. 

There is no harm in practising focusing exercises for this task, it will also be beneficial for a lot of other PTE Listening skills tasks. 

Do not Try to Give Witty Answers

The answers are often so simple that candidates look for other words or options as an answer. This completely goes wrong as the made-up answers wander far from context. Thinking carefully is not what helps in this task, thinking quickly does. It is completely based on what one knows already so to answer better practising thinking faster is a better option. 

Stay Calm and Focussed

Maybe the previous question has completely gone wrong or the exam time is running out of hand, stressing about such things can never help in getting better scores. It is wise to stay focused and answer whatever is left correctly and in the best way to save time. 

Basic anxiety relief practices can be taken up during exam preparation to build focus and practising time management while answering is also helpful. At the time of the exam, one should calm their nerves before the exam starts. 

Correct the Answers

Until the status of a question changes to complete, one can give their answers. The answer might fumble on the first attempt, and the examinee can use the remaining time to speak the answer clearly again. The answers are recorded for evaluation and the whole audio is considered before marking. 

Speak Clearly

It is a good practice to clear one’s throat before the questions begin as the voice often crackles if a person is quiet for a long time. Speaking clearly includes a clear voice, no mumbling, pauses between words, and the right pronunciation. If any one of these goes wrong, one should re-speak the answer immediately. 

Don’t Take Notes

To start with, there is no important information in the questions to be used in the answer which is why there is no point in taking notes. Furthermore, the duration of the questions is only a few seconds and taking notes might only confuse the examinee. And lastly, the answer is only one or two words mostly which means it needs no formation and hence making notes will be a useless effort. 

Practise the Most Common Questions

The most common questions are the ones that repeatedly make it to the PTE Answer Short Questions list. There are types of these questions and some directly repeated questions in which the candidates can practice from the sample test papers. 

The questions related to synonyms, antonyms, word meanings, and general awareness are the most popular and repeated in this section of the PTE Speaking Skills evaluation. 

Improve Vocabulary and Pronunciation

As most of these questions are subject to familiarity with the language, improving one’s vocabulary is the most appropriate tip to crack this section. If the pronunciation of a word goes wrong, the word will not be recognised by the system. This will result in a loss of marks for the examinee. 

FAQs

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