Sample answers · Select Missing Word
PTE Select Missing Word · Listening section
PTE Select Missing Word sample – Band 79.
A worked SMW item: the 55-second audio rendered as transcript with a beep in place of the final word, all 5 options analysed for grammatical fit and argument trajectory, and the Band 79 prediction method that turns SMW into a repeatable process rather than a lucky guess.
Last verified 17 July 2026 · Written for PTE Academic post-August 2025 format · Verified against Pearson's July 2025 Score Guide.
The stimulus recording
The economics of global coffee price volatility
55 seconds audio · plays once, no replay control · the final word is replaced by an audible beep.
Global coffee prices are notoriously volatile, with wholesale spot prices frequently doubling or halving within a single trading year. Three main factors drive this pattern. First, coffee is dominated by two producer countries, Brazil and Vietnam, meaning that a single frost event in Brazil or a drought in the Vietnamese central highlands can send global supply falling by ten to fifteen percent overnight. Second, coffee is a perennial tree crop with a three to four year lag between planting and first commercial harvest, meaning that supply cannot respond quickly to price signals; when prices spike, farmers cannot plant more coffee this season and expect it to arrive at market this season. Third, demand is remarkably inelastic; coffee drinkers do not typically stop drinking coffee when the price rises, they simply pay more or shift to cheaper blends. These three factors, together with the concentrated buying power of a handful of multinational beep
Rendered here for study only. On the real exam the audio plays once, ending in an audible tone in place of the final word. The options below appear on screen from the start.
Context analysis (what the blank must be)
Grammar, domain, argument, exclusions.
| Check | What the blank must satisfy |
|---|---|
| GRAMMAR | Blank follows "multinational" (adjective). Must be a plural noun (or singular if a mass noun) that names an actor with "concentrated buying power". |
| DOMAIN | Coffee value chain: growers → traders → ROASTERS → retailers/cafes. The concentrated buying power in commodity coffee sits with the industrial roasters (Nestle, JDE Peet's, Starbucks) that turn green beans into consumer products. |
| ARGUMENT LOGIC | The paragraph lists three factors that drive price volatility, then concludes with "together with the concentrated buying power of a handful of multinational ___". The missing word must name the entity that adds the fourth pressure, i.e. that concentrates buying power on the demand side of the market. |
| EXCLUSIONS | Any word that is grammatically fine but semantically wrong (e.g. countries, farmers, governments) should be excluded, because they either don't name coffee buyers or don't have concentrated buying power in that market. |
The four checks together isolate the correct option before you even look at the shortlist. If more than one option survives all four, pick the one with the tightest domain fit.
The question
Exactly one word is correct. Binary scoring: 1 for the right pick, 0 for any of the others.
Per-option analysis
Each candidate word tested against the four context checks.
distributors
Evidence: Grammatically fits, and distributors are part of the coffee supply chain, but they do not hold the concentrated buying power the sentence is naming. Distribution is downstream of roasting and is fragmented across many players.
roasters
Evidence: The concentrated buying power in commodity coffee sits with a small number of very large industrial roasters: Nestle, JDE Peet's, Starbucks and a handful of others. They buy green beans in enormous volumes and set the effective wholesale price. This is the standard framing in commodity economics of coffee, and matches every clue in the sentence: multinational, concentrated buying power, and the position immediately after the three supply-side factors that produce volatility.
farmers
Evidence: Farmers are the SELLERS in this market, not the buyers. Using "farmers" here inverts the sentence entirely, and coffee farmers are notoriously fragmented (millions of smallholders), not "a handful". Both semantic checks fail.
countries
Evidence: Countries do not have "buying power" in commodity markets in the usual sense; corporations do. Coffee-consuming countries (US, Germany, Japan) are not typically the actor commodity economists describe as concentrated buyers. Semantic fit weak.
governments
Evidence: Governments regulate coffee trade in some jurisdictions but do not have the concentrated buying power the sentence names. This is a distractor that sounds plausible on a fast read but fails the domain check.
Band 79 answer
The word that completes the argument.
Correct word picked. Item score: 1/1. Any of A, C, D or E would have scored 0. SMW is scored binary with no negative marking.
The Band 79 timing plan
Four beats across a 55-second window.
Before audio starts (5 to 10 seconds)
Read the 4 or 5 word options once. This primes you to catch the trajectory the speaker is building toward. On SMW, unlike MCSA, the options are usually visible before playback.
During the audio (20 to 70 seconds)
Listen for the speaker's argument arc. The missing word is almost always the payoff of the argument, not a random noun. Pay close attention to the final 5 to 10 seconds before the beep.
The moment the beep plays
Mentally predict the word from context before looking at the options. Then compare your prediction to the options. If your prediction matches one option exactly, that is almost always the answer.
Final check before Next
Test your pick by mentally reading the whole final sentence with your chosen word inserted. If the sentence reads naturally and completes the argument, commit and click Next. SMW is scored binary with no negative marking.
6 common Select Missing Word mistakes
The failure modes that drag a Band 79 to a Band 60.
| Mistake | What it costs you |
|---|---|
| Picking the option with the closest sound to something in the audio | SMW options never appear verbatim in the audio (the missing word is beeped out). The options test your ability to predict, not to match sound. |
| Ignoring the sentence pattern and picking on "vibes" | The missing word almost always plays a specific grammatical role (subject, object, predicate noun). Options that don't fit that role are wrong regardless of how plausible they sound. |
| Not listening for the argument's trajectory | The 20 to 70 second audio is building toward a specific final point. The correct missing word completes that point. Options that break the trajectory or introduce a new topic are wrong. |
| Panicking on unfamiliar domain vocabulary | If the topic is unfamiliar (coffee economics, marine biology, urban planning), the domain-specific option can feel wrong just because it is unfamiliar. Trust the context clues over your comfort level. |
| Leaving the item blank when unsure | SMW has no negative marking. A guess is always better than a blank. Rule out the options you can dismiss, then pick from the remainder. |
| Choosing the same word class as the last word before the beep | Common trap: the sentence ends "...of a handful of multinational ___", so candidates pick another adjective. The blank almost always takes the noun that follows the preceding adjective, not another adjective. |
FAQ
Select Missing Word, answered.
How is Select Missing Word scored?
Binary correct or incorrect per Pearson's July 2025 Score Guide. Pick the correct word and the item scores 1. Pick any wrong word (or leave the item blank) and the item scores 0. There is no partial credit and no negative marking.
How many options are shown in Select Missing Word?
Usually 4 or 5 word options per item, with exactly one correct. Options are typically visible before the audio starts, which is unusual for Listening tasks and lets you prime your ear to the shortlist as the audio plays.
How many Select Missing Word items are on the PTE Academic test?
1 to 2 items per test per Pearson's July 2025 Score Guide. It sits in Part 3 (Listening) alongside Summarize Spoken Text, Listening MCMA, Listening FIB, Highlight Correct Summary, Listening MCSA, Highlight Incorrect Words, and Write from Dictation.
How long is the audio for Select Missing Word?
20 to 70 seconds per Pearson's Score Guide, ending in a beep in place of the final word. The audio plays once with no replay control. The beep is a clear tone (not a bleep or a click) and is impossible to miss.
Does the missing word ever appear verbatim earlier in the recording?
Occasionally, but not usually. The missing word is more often the logical payoff of the argument, appearing for the first time at the end. Do not rely on remembering an earlier mention; treat every SMW item as a prediction task.
Should I look at the options before the audio starts on Select Missing Word?
Yes, if they are visible on your screen. Reading the shortlist primes your ear to catch context cues that discriminate between the options. This is different from MCSA and MCMA, where options are hidden during audio.
What is the difference between Select Missing Word and Listening Fill in the Blanks?
SMW gives you 4 or 5 word options to pick from for a single missing word at the END of the audio. Listening FIB gives you no options and requires you to TYPE 3 to 5 missing words as they occur throughout a longer audio. Different tasks, different skills; SMW is prediction, FIB is precision listening.
Keep going with Select Missing Word
One pattern, three depths.
You've just read the band 79 worked example. Here's the rest of the loop for this task.
Reusable framework
Select Missing Word template
The reusable answer framework — structure, sentence starters, timing marks — that fits any Select Missing Word prompt.
Read the template →Interactive drill
Practise Select Missing Word
Free interactive drills — do the reps yourself with the model answer revealed after each attempt.
Start the drill →Further reading
Related tools.
- → Listening MCSA sample – sibling one-correct-answer task with a longer audio.
- → Listening Fill in the Blanks sample – type-in missing words across a longer clip.
- → Listening section overview – all 8 Listening task types.
- → Take a free scored mock – real SMW items with AI scoring.