Why the First Blank in PTE Reading Is Always the Hardest In many PTE Reading passages, the first or second blank is intentionally made more difficult. This is a time-management trap—students spend too long debating the first blank and lose focus on the rest of the passage. The key is to use the passage to your advantage instead of wasting time early. PTE Reading Strategy: How to Tackle the First Blank Trap: Eliminate obvious misfits in the first Skip it and solve the easier blanks Use context from the passage to come back and choose Full Example Paragraph (5 Blanks): The sudden change

Why Anchor Blanks Matter One of the most common mistakes PTE candidates make is trying to solve every blank in order, juggling all options at the same time. This often leads to confusion and guesswork. The Anchor Blank Strategy solves this problem by identifying the clearest, most obvious blanks first and using them as “anchors” to guide the rest of the passage. What Are Anchor Blanks? Anchor blanks are the blanks with: Only one logically correct option Strong collocation or grammar clues Clear context that locks in the meaning of the sentence Once you fill these anchors, they help set the tone, grammar