Sample answers · Reading MCSA
PTE Multiple Choice, Single Answer · Reading section
PTE Reading MCSA sample: Band 79 single-answer pick.
A worked Reading MCSA item: a 221-word academic passage on Southern Ocean phytoplankton, five options analysed one by one against the text, the Band 79 pick, and the binary scoring math. RMCSA has NO negative marking – unlike MCMA, decisive guessing is the correct strategy.
Last verified 17 July 2026 · Written for PTE Academic post-August 2025 format · Verified against Pearson's July 2025 Score Guide.
The passage
221 words · inside Pearson's ≤300 word limit for Reading MCSA · authored to match real-exam density and register.
Phytoplankton, the microscopic algae that drift near the surface of the Southern Ocean, are among the most productive photosynthesisers on Earth. Together with their cousins in other ocean basins, they fix roughly half of the planet's annual carbon-dioxide uptake into carbon-based biomass. The mechanism is straightforward. When phytoplankton photosynthesise they combine dissolved CO2 with sunlight to build cell material. When they die, most sink slowly toward the seabed rather than being consumed at the surface. This 'biological carbon pump' moves atmospheric carbon into deep-ocean sediments on timescales of centuries to millennia, where it is effectively removed from the near-surface climate system. The size of this carbon sink is not fixed. Southern Ocean phytoplankton productivity is limited chiefly by iron, an element scarce in seawater but present in mineral dust blown from continental deserts. In years when Patagonia and southern Africa produce more dust, iron delivery to the Southern Ocean rises and phytoplankton blooms intensify. Iron fertilisation experiments in the 2000s, in which vessels dumped tonnes of iron sulphate into designated ocean patches, confirmed that added iron does trigger blooms. Whether the CO2 those blooms fix stays sequestered in the deep ocean rather than being respired back to the surface within a few months is the crucial open question, and the reason iron fertilisation has not become a legitimate climate policy tool.
The question
Only one of the 5 options below is correct. Pearson's task instruction on the real exam states this explicitly: “only one response is correct”.
Per-option analysis
Each option evaluated against the passage.
Reading MCSA distractors are usually true-sounding statements that are not IN the passage, or claims that invert something the passage says. Your job is to pick the option the passage directly supports – not the one that sounds smartest, and not the one that matches your prior knowledge.
The 2000s experiments failed to trigger phytoplankton blooms despite large iron inputs.
Evidence: The opposite is stated. Paragraph 4 says the experiments "confirmed that added iron does trigger blooms". This distractor tests whether the reader is remembering the paragraph or inventing a fail-narrative that sounds plausible for an abandoned policy tool.
It is uncertain whether the carbon fixed by iron-triggered blooms actually stays in the deep ocean.
Evidence: Directly stated as the answer. Paragraph 4 identifies "whether the CO2 those blooms fix stays sequestered in the deep ocean rather than being respired back to the surface within a few months" as "the crucial open question, and the reason iron fertilisation has not become a legitimate climate policy tool".
Iron sulphate is prohibitively expensive to produce at the scale required for global impact.
Evidence: Not stated. The passage never discusses the cost of iron sulphate, its production or scale-up economics. A plausible real-world objection to iron fertilisation, but this is Reading MCSA – you can only pick what the passage supports, not what sounds true from general knowledge.
The Southern Ocean is legally protected from all forms of chemical dumping.
Evidence: Not stated. The passage mentions that the 2000s experiments dumped iron sulphate into designated patches; it does not discuss any legal protection or regulatory framework. Plausible-sounding distractor built on real-world environmental-law intuition.
Iron fertilisation cannot compete with land-based reforestation in cost per tonne of CO2 sequestered.
Evidence: Not stated. The passage never compares iron fertilisation to reforestation or to any other climate policy tool. Distractor tests whether the reader is filling in a comparison the passage does not make.
Band 79 answer
The single pick that earns the mark.
“It is uncertain whether the carbon fixed by iron-triggered blooms actually stays in the deep ocean.”
1 correct pick. Raw score: +1. 1/1 – full marks.
Scoring math (why guessing is always net-positive)
Reading MCSA is binary: 1 for the correct pick, 0 for anything else.
| Strategy | Picks | Raw math | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band 79 pick (B) | 1 correct pick | +1 | 1/1 – full marks |
| Wrong pick (any of A, C, D, E) | 0 correct picks | 0 | 0/1 – no penalty, just zero |
| No answer selected | 0 correct picks | 0 | 0/1 – SAME as guessing wrong. Always pick. |
The rule: 1 for the correct pick, 0 for any wrong pick or no pick. No negative marking. This is the opposite of Reading MCMA, where wrong picks subtract – on MCSA, decisive picking (even guessing) always beats not picking.
The Band 79 selection strategy
6 steps to pick the right one without losing the section clock.
Read the passage first, then the question, then the options
Read the passage twice at natural pace before touching the options. Options are designed to prime you toward specific passages and away from the whole; reading them first biases you.
For each option, hunt for the exact evidence in the passage
Correct MCSA options are directly stated or a straightforward paraphrase of one sentence in the passage. Distractors are almost always "true statements about the world that are not in the passage", not "lies".
Rule out options in two passes
First pass: eliminate anything not mentioned in the passage at all ("prohibitively expensive", "legally protected", "compared to reforestation"). Second pass: eliminate anything the passage says the opposite of ("experiments failed" when they succeeded). What remains is your answer.
Anchor on evaluative phrases in the passage
MCSA questions often ask "why is X the case" or "which is the main point" or "what best explains Y". The answer is usually anchored to an evaluative phrase in the passage like "the crucial open question", "the main reason", "the primary driver". Underline those phrases on your first read.
Always pick an answer, even if uncertain
RMCSA has no negative marking. Picking wrong scores 0. Picking nothing also scores 0. Guessing gives you a 20% chance (1 in 5) of +1 with zero downside. Never leave an item unanswered.
Budget 90 seconds to 2 minutes per RMCSA item
Reading is 22 to 30 minutes for roughly 15 to 20 items across five task types. RMCSA is medium-cost: faster than MCMA (no negative-marking calculation) but slower than the fill-in-the-blanks tasks (whole-passage read + option elimination).
5 common Reading MCSA mistakes
The failure modes that drag a Band 79 to a Band 60.
| Mistake | What it costs you |
|---|---|
| Confusing MCSA with MCMA and looking for multiple correct answers | MCSA is single-answer. There is exactly one correct pick. Selecting two treats the interface as MCMA (which it is not), and the second selection replaces the first. If you're indecisive, your final pick is the one that scores – choose deliberately. |
| Picking based on real-world truth rather than the passage | Distractors C, D and E in this item are all plausibly true about iron fertilisation in the real world. None of them are IN the passage. Reading MCSA scores your comprehension of THIS passage, not your general knowledge. |
| Not spotting the inverted-claim distractor | Option A here says experiments "failed to trigger blooms" when the passage says they "confirmed that added iron does trigger blooms". Fast readers who scan for keywords ("experiments", "blooms") without checking the verb direction get caught here. |
| Leaving the item unanswered because "none feel certain" | No answer scores 0. A wrong answer also scores 0. A correct guess scores +1. There is no reason to leave an MCSA item blank – you always have a 20% chance of a mark by picking your best guess. |
| Spending 4+ minutes trying to eliminate the last two options | The Reading section is 22 to 30 minutes for 15 to 20 items across five task types. Losing 4 minutes to one MCSA item forces rushing on MCMA or Reorder, which are more expensive to rush. |
FAQ
Reading MCSA, answered.
How is Reading Multiple Choice, Single Answer scored?
Binary: correct or incorrect, no partial credit and no negative marking. The correct pick scores +1; any wrong pick scores 0; leaving the item blank scores 0. Because there is no penalty for wrong picks, you should always select an answer even when uncertain.
How is Reading MCSA different from Reading MCMA?
MCSA has exactly one correct answer from 4 to 5 options, scored correct-or-zero with no negative marking. MCMA has 2 to 4 correct answers from 5 to 7 options, scored with partial credit (+1 correct, -1 wrong, minimum 0). Different tasks, different strategies: MCSA rewards decisive guessing; MCMA rewards careful selection with skipping.
How many correct options are there in Reading MCSA?
Exactly one, chosen from 4 to 5 total options. Pearson's task instruction on the real exam explicitly says "only one response is correct". If you find yourself convinced two options are equally correct, you have misread one of them – re-check against the passage.
How many Reading MCSA items are on the PTE Academic test?
2 to 3 items per test per Pearson's July 2025 Score Guide. It sits in Part 2 (Reading) alongside Reorder Paragraphs, both types of Fill in the Blanks, and Multiple Choice Multiple Answers.
What is the passage length for Reading MCSA?
Up to 300 words per Pearson's Score Guide. Most passages fall in the 200 to 280 word range – comparable to R&W FIB (also ≤300) and shorter than MCMA (which goes to 350 words).
Should I read the options before the passage?
No. Read the passage twice at natural pace, then read the question, then read the options. Reading options first biases you toward specific passages, primes distractor language, and makes real evidence harder to find. This is the same order recommended for MCMA.
Should I always pick an answer in Reading MCSA?
Yes. There is no negative marking. A wrong pick scores 0, a blank item scores 0, and a correct guess scores +1. Guessing gives you at worst a 20% chance of a mark (1 in 5 options), with zero downside. Never leave an MCSA item unanswered.
Keep going with Multiple Choice, Single Answer (Reading)
One pattern, three depths.
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Reusable framework
Multiple Choice, Single Answer (Reading) template
The reusable answer framework — structure, sentence starters, timing marks — that fits any Multiple Choice, Single Answer (Reading) prompt.
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Related tools.
- → Reading MCMA sample – the sibling task with multiple correct answers and negative marking.
- → Re-order Paragraphs sample – the sequencing task with adjacent-pair partial credit.
- → Reading section overview – all 5 reading task types.
- → Take a free scored mock – real Reading MCSA items with AI scoring.