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PTE Trainer

Listening

Select Missing Word

Choose the word or phrase that completes the recording.

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Listening

Sample item

Choose the option that completes the recording.

…and so while the initial results looked promising, the sample size was too small for the finding to be considered _____
  1. conclusive.
  2. conclusion.
  3. concluding.
  4. conclude.

conclusive.

The grammar decides it: 'considered' takes an adjective complement. The other three options are phonetically similar by design.

How to approach Select Missing Word

  1. Read the options during setup

    Read the options before playback and notice how they differ, particularly whether they continue the same idea or introduce a new one. Options here are often built to sound alike, so knowing the differences in advance stops you deciding by ear.

  2. Follow the speaker's direction

    The recording plays once and ends with a beep where words have been removed. Listen for where the argument is heading rather than for isolated facts, because the missing phrase completes that line of thought rather than starting a new one.

  3. Hold the final clause

    Pay close attention to the last sentence before the beep and keep its grammar in mind: what the verb needs, whether a plural or singular follows, whether a preposition is left hanging. That structure eliminates options faster than meaning does.

  4. Match logic, not sound

    Choose the option that both fits the grammar of the unfinished sentence and continues the speaker's conclusion. Reject anything that merely resembles what you heard phonetically, and commit immediately, since there is no second playback to settle a lingering doubt.

The method

Focus on the final sentence's grammar and the speaker's overall direction. The correct option almost always continues the argument's logic rather than introducing a new idea.

The mistake that costs most

Choosing on sound alone. Options are often phonetically similar by design.

Other Listening tasks

Frequently asked questions

Use the grammar of the final sentence and the direction of the speaker's argument. The correct option continues the logic; distractors are often phonetically similar but change the meaning.