Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks · Part 2: Reading

Language Extinct

13 students marked "I sat this"Added 25 Jan 2021Question #120367

Choose the word for each blank.

At the moment, there are between six and seven thousand languages in the world. According to linguists, fifty percent of these are in danger 1 extinct. The speed of language loss has accelerated over the past few decades because businesses that need to communicate with a range of people from other cultures 2 to employ more widely used languages, such as English, Chinese, or Spanish. This attitude is understandable, but it means that many local languages are dying out before anyone 3 the opportunity to study them. According to linguists, some of these languages could reveal a great 4 of useful information about language learning and cognitive development. In addition, a local language that has been built on the local culture contains words and phrases that express that culture; lose the language and you arguably may lose the culture, too. And finally, historians will 5 that a language contains evidence of a region's history and should, for that reason alone, be preserved.

Options for each gap (alphabetical)

  • 1 became · have become · of becoming · to become
  • 2 fancy · must · prefer · select
  • 3 has had · have · having had · would have
  • 4 capacity · deal · load · size
  • 5 argue · explore · speak · tell

More Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks questions

Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks format (Pearson)

Pearson's name: Fill in the Blanks (Dropdown)

PromptText up to 200 words
Time to answerNot set per question (Part 2 lasts 23–30 minutes)
Skills assessedReading, Writing

How it is scored

  • Partial credit applies: a partly correct response still scores.

Source: Pearson, PTE Academic & UKVI test format, Part 2: Reading, checked 9 October 2026.