# PTE Reading Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers: negative marking explained

This PTE reading task has more than one correct option and deducts a point for every wrong one. How the negative marking works and how many options to select.

## The short answer

Reading: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers gives you a text of up to 350 words and a question with more than one correct option. There are 2 to 3 in a test. This is one of only two tasks in PTE Academic with negative marking: you earn a point for each correct option and lose one for each incorrect option, with the item's score floored at zero.

## Key facts

- **Items per test:** 2-3
- **Prompt length:** Text up to 350 words
- **Skills scored:** Reading
- **Scoring:** +1 per correct option, -1 per incorrect option
- **Minimum score:** 0 for the item

Timings and scoring rules come from Pearson's task pages and the July 2025 Score Guide, checked 28 September 2026.

## How it's scored

The arithmetic drives the strategy. Selecting two correct options and one wrong one nets one point, while selecting only the two you are sure of nets two. Guessing widely is worse than answering narrowly on this task, which is the opposite of every other reading task in the test.

Because the score cannot fall below zero for the item, a disastrous answer costs you that item but not your section. Even so, the reliable play is to select only the options you can point at a line in the text for.

> Select what you can prove. If you cannot find the sentence in the text that supports an option, leaving it unselected is usually worth more than selecting it.

## Reading: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers examples

Worked examples written for this page. Answer each one before you open the model response: memorizing a response is scored as an irrelevant answer in the real test.

**Example 1 -- the arithmetic of a third tick**

> A four-year study of remote work at a large insurer found that employees saved an average of 51 minutes a day in travel, and that self-reported output rose slightly in the first year. Managers reported more difficulty spotting problems early, and new staff took longer to reach full productivity. The company now asks everyone in for two days a week, a compromise neither side calls ideal.

Prompt: Which two statements are supported by the text? Each wrong tick costs a point.

- A. Employees spent less time traveling
- B. New staff took longer to become fully productive
- C. Output fell during the first year
- D. Managers preferred fully remote work
- E. The company has ended remote work
Answer: A and B. Each wrong tick costs a point.

Model response: A and B: two points. A third tick you are unsure of hands one of them straight back.

Why it scores: Scoring is +1 for each correct option and -1 for each wrong one, with the item floored at zero. Chase a third option only when you are as sure of it as you were of the first two.

**Example 2 -- a paraphrase, not a repeat**

> The city's bike-share scheme has 200 docking stations, but use is concentrated in a narrow band along the river. Planners blame the hills: the outer districts sit up to 90 meters above the center, and riders return bikes downhill far more often than they ride them up. Vans now move about 400 bikes back uphill every night.

Prompt: Which two statements does the text support?

- A. Bikes tend to end up at stations near the river
- B. Staff move bikes between stations overnight
- C. The scheme has 200 docking stations along the river
- D. Riders in the outer districts cycle 90 meters a day
- E. Planners intend to close the hill stations
Answer: A and B. Each wrong tick costs a point.

Model response: A and B. Both restate the text in other words. C borrows its numbers and adds a claim the text never makes.

Why it scores: Correct options usually paraphrase; wrong ones borrow the passage's vocabulary. Matching words is exactly what makes a distractor attractive when you are reading at speed.

**Example 3 -- the half-true option**

> A trial of the four-day week at 61 companies ended with 56 of them keeping the shorter week. Revenue across the trial was broadly flat, while staff turnover fell sharply. The organizers caution that most participants were small service firms, and that manufacturers were barely represented.

Prompt: Which two statements are supported? Each wrong tick costs a point.

- A. Most of the companies kept the four-day week
- B. The findings may not carry over to manufacturing
- C. Revenue rose sharply during the trial
- D. All 61 companies were small service firms
- E. Staff turnover rose during the trial
Answer: A and B. Each wrong tick costs a point.

Model response: A and B. C swaps turnover for revenue, and D turns "most" into "all".

Why it scores: Half-true options are the standard trap: the subject matches and the scope does not. Under negative marking a half-match costs you the point you earned somewhere else.

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## Common mistakes

| What costs marks | Do this instead |
| --- | --- |
| Selecting everything that looks plausible. | Each wrong option cancels a right one. Select only what the text supports. |
| Selecting only one option to be safe. | There is more than one correct answer by design. One certain option leaves points unclaimed. |
| Matching words instead of meaning. | Options that repeat the text's wording are often the distractors. Look for accurate paraphrases. |
| Forgetting which tasks penalize guessing. | Only this task and Highlight Incorrect Words deduct points. Everywhere else, answer everything. |

**Know the score you are aiming at** Put a target into the PTE score calculator to see the visa band it reaches, the points it is worth, and how far off you are. [Open the PTE score calculator](/pte/score-calculator)

## How to practice

1. Practice marking, for each option, the exact line in the text that proves or disproves it.
2. Score your practice with the real rule (+1 and -1) so the cost of over-selecting is visible.
3. Study the distractors you fell for: scope, time and certainty are the three usual twists.
4. Cap yourself at two minutes per item so a hard one does not eat the section.

## Common questions

### Does PTE reading have negative marking?

On this task, yes: one point for each correct option and minus one for each incorrect one, with a minimum of zero for the item. Highlight Incorrect Words in the listening section works the same way.

### How many options should I select?

Only those you can support from the text. Two correct and one wrong scores the same as two correct alone.

### How long is the text?

Up to 350 words, the longest text in the reading section.

**Sources**
- [Pearson: PTE Academic Reading task types (checked 28 September 2026)](https://www.pearsonpte.com/pte-academic/test-format/reading)
- [Pearson: PTE Academic Test Taker Score Guide, July 2025 (PDF)](https://www.pearsonpte.com/ctf-assets/yqwtwibiobs4/WUcBAMkYCC9Dj5vs2HfVA/941d88d07ba7c2a5007f7ce1b18eedbf/Score_Guide__Test_Taker__-_PTE_Academic_-_July_2025__web_.pdf)

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