A recording describes an early result, adds two limitations, and ends:
For these reasons, the researchers regard the conclusion as [beep].
Options include definitive, tentative, unrelated, and predominant. The word immediately before the beep does not decide the answer. The whole discourse points to limited confidence, and tentative completes the meaning and collocation.
In Pearson’s current PTE Academic Listening format, Select Missing Word plays a 20–70-second recording once. The final word or group of words is replaced by a beep. You choose from three to five options, only one of which is correct. Pearson says the task assesses Listening and scores the response as correct or incorrect; no credit is given for an incorrect response or no response.
The task is prediction from contextual clues, but prediction does not mean guessing from the final sound. Use the PTE Academic vocabulary hub and Exam English hub for more task paths.
Build a discourse forecast
Before the beep, identify four signals:
- Topic: What is being discussed?
- Direction: Is the speaker concluding, contrasting, qualifying, explaining, or exemplifying?
- Grammar: What form can complete the frame?
- Claim strength: How certain or broad is the speaker’s position?
Only then compare the options. Topic match alone is weak: every option may belong to the same academic field.
1. Infer: derive, but do not invent
To infer is to reach a conclusion from evidence rather than from an explicit statement.
From the repeated qualifications, we can infer that the conclusion remains uncertain.
In this task, you infer the missing ending from the recording. The inference must be constrained by what the speaker said. Background knowledge cannot override a clear contrast or conclusion.
Do not confuse infer with imply. A speaker or statement may imply something; a listener infers it.
2. Tentative: fit limited confidence
Tentative describes a conclusion, plan, date, or agreement that is not confirmed or final.
Signals include initially, so far, may, preliminary, further work, remains unclear, and explicit limitations.
The sample was small, so any conclusion must remain tentative.
The word does not simply mean negative or unlikely. A tentative conclusion can be the current best interpretation while remaining open to revision.
3. Provisional: identify an interim status
Provisional describes something used or accepted for now, subject to confirmation or revision.
Pending the final count, the figures remain provisional.
The named next step—final count—supports the interim-status meaning. Tentative may overlap, but answer options are decided by the exact recording and collocation. If the speaker describes figures that are formally issued for current use pending verification, provisional may fit better than a word about cautious judgment.
4. Plausible: possible and believable, not established
Plausible describes an explanation or account that could reasonably be true.
This offers one plausible explanation, although alternatives remain.
The alternatives matter. Plausible does not mean proven, probable, or correct. If a speaker evaluates several explanations and calls one consistent with available evidence, expect an ending that preserves possibility rather than certainty.
5. Corroborate: recognize additional support
Corroborate means support an existing claim or account with additional evidence.
A second dataset would be needed to corroborate the finding.
If the recording moves from an initial result to independent supporting evidence, an ending about corroboration may fit. The word is transitive and normally takes the supported claim directly: corroborate the finding, not corroborate with the finding.
Corroboration strengthens a claim; it does not necessarily prove it conclusively.
6. Predominant: require a ranking
Predominant means main, strongest, or most common within a stated set.
Cost was the predominant concern among respondents.
This ending requires evidence that cost outranked the alternatives. Mere frequent mention does not establish predominance. If the recording lists several equal concerns, the option may be topically relevant but semantically too strong.
Understanding is only the first step.
Lyra Practice helps you retrieve and use high-value workplace expressions in realistic situations until they feel natural.
Start a practice session →7. Underscore: emphasis, not proof
Underscore means emphasize or draw attention to.
The contrast underscores the need for more detailed data.
A final clause may state the implication the speaker wants to emphasize. Do not confuse underscore with undermine, which means weaken. Also do not read proof into it: evidence can underscore a need without establishing a causal claim.
Grammar narrows the field
Suppose the final frame is:
These findings ___ the importance of early planning.
An inflected verb such as underscore fits. Tentative and plausible do not. If the frame is “the explanation remains ___,” an adjective is required.
Check:
- part of speech;
- agreement and tense;
- required prepositions;
- whether the option accepts the following object;
- whether a multiword option completes the full clause.
Grammar removes impossible options, but two grammatical choices may remain. Discourse then decides.
Collocation must match the message
Common frames include:
- a tentative conclusion;
- provisional figures;
- a plausible explanation;
- corroborate a finding;
- the predominant factor;
- underscore the need for;
- infer from the evidence.
Do not select an option only because it forms a common phrase. “A plausible explanation” is natural, but wrong if the speaker has just rejected that explanation.
Track discourse turns
Listen for functional markers:
- therefore, consequently, overall: conclusion;
- however, nevertheless, yet: contrast or qualification;
- for example, specifically: illustration;
- in other words: restatement;
- because, due to: explanation;
- although, while: concession.
The missing ending may complete the last move, but the correct interpretation can depend on earlier material. A beep after therefore does not make every conclusion option correct.
Worked item
Recording summary:
A small pilot found lower waiting times. The speaker notes that staffing also changed and that no comparison site was used. More data will be collected next year. Therefore, the causal explanation remains [beep].
Options: tentative / predominant / corroborated / negligible.
Elimination:
- Grammar: all four could appear after remains only if grammatically adjective-like; corroborated can, so grammar is not enough.
- Topic: all relate loosely to evaluation.
- Discourse: limitations and future data reduce certainty.
- Meaning: tentative accurately marks a current but revisable explanation.
Corroborated would require additional support already supplied; predominant requires a ranking; negligible evaluates size or importance, not confidence.
Controlled practice
1. Conclusion strength
The speaker presents one explanation, calls it consistent with the data, and says other explanations remain possible. The best ending is plausible, not proven.
2. Evidence sequence
The speaker describes an initial survey and an independent dataset that reports the same pattern. “The second dataset helps ___ the original finding.”
Answer: corroborate.
3. Ranking
Three barriers are discussed; cost is reported by 62% of respondents, more than either alternative.
Answer: Cost is the predominant barrier. The ranking evidence supports the word.
4. Interim status
The totals have been released for planning but await a final audit.
Answer: The totals are provisional.
5. Emphasis versus weakening
The speaker says contrasting outcomes draw attention to the need for local analysis.
Answer: The outcomes underscore that need. Undermine would reverse the relation.
A compact listening grid
During practice, note only what helps prediction:
| Stage | Note |
|---|---|
| opening | topic and question |
| middle | main support or contrast |
| final turn | conclusion, limit, or implication |
| beep frame | required grammar and collocation |
Avoid transcribing everything. This task asks you to understand the recording’s direction well enough to restore its ending.
Review wrong options by boundary
After an item, do not record only the correct word. Explain why each serious competitor fails. A useful error log has four columns: option, grammatical fit, discourse fit, and claim-strength fit. An option may be grammatically flawless yet contradict the speaker’s conclusion. Another may match the topic but require a ranking that the recording never provides.
This process protects you from memorizing superficial pairings. Provisional figures is a strong collocation, but provisional is still wrong if the recording says the figures have been fully verified. Plausible explanation is natural, but it fails when the speaker has ruled that explanation out. Review the evidence that defeats the option, not merely the option’s distance from the answer.
On a second listen during practice—not on test day, where the item plays once—mark the exact phrase that changes the discourse direction. This might be however, a correction, a limitation, or a concluding clause. Over time, you build sensitivity to structure rather than a list of favored endings.
Final decision ladder
Before clicking an option, ask:
- Does it complete the grammar?
- Does it form the right collocation?
- Does it follow the final discourse move?
- Does it preserve the speaker’s certainty and scope?
- Does it fit the whole recording, not just the last phrase?
If you want to practise matching vocabulary to discourse direction and claim strength, try Lyra Practice.
Sources
- Pearson PTE Academic Listening test format
- Pearson PTE Academic test tips
- Pearson PTE Academic preparation
Related
- PTE Highlight Correct Summary Vocabulary
- PTE Summarize Spoken Text Reporting Verbs
- PTE Retell Lecture Vocabulary
- PTE Listening Fill in the Blanks Vocabulary
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