What do you need to do?
- Several text boxes from one passage appear in a random order.
- You move the boxes until they form a coherent original sequence.
- There is no separate item timer, so the task uses the Reading section time.
Keep in mindPreparation: Section-timed. Response: No separate item timer. Scored skills: Reading.
What should your answer do?
Rebuild a coherent passage using strong links between boxes.
How to answer
- Find a plausible opening
Look for an introduction that makes sense without an earlier reference. Check any pronoun or phrase such as this change before placing it first.
- Build connected pairs
Link a claim to its explanation, a noun to its later reference, or an event to its consequence. Use more than a repeated topic word.
- Connect the pairs
Use chronology, cause, contrast and general-to-specific development to join your blocks.
- Read the whole sequence
Check every adjacent transition and the passage ending. Reconsider a locally plausible pair if it breaks the larger meaning.
Practise each part of Reorder Paragraph
Use these focused exercises to work on one part at a time, then bring them together in a complete attempt.
Reference chains
Trace pronouns, definite articles and phrases such as this finding back to an introduced idea.
Argument and sequence
Distinguish a problem from its response, and an observation from the explanation that depends on it.
Sample-style text boxes
As a result, several cities began converting unused road space into protected cycle lanes.
During the early months of the trial, researchers recorded a steady rise in bicycle journeys.
The transport trial was introduced to test whether safer routes would change commuting habits.
This increase was strongest in neighbourhoods directly connected to the new network.
This is an original PrepEx example designed to demonstrate the response format. It is not an official Pearson test item.
Common mistakes to watch for
- Choosing the broadest sentence without checking whether it refers backwards
- Ordering by repeated vocabulary while ignoring logical meaning
- Trying to solve the full sequence before finding strong pairs
- Failing to read the final sequence from beginning to end
How to improve your next answer
Order one passage and annotate the evidence for each adjacent pair. After checking, explain the first broken link. Repeat with a new text rather than memorising the numerical order.
- Check adjacent links as well as the first and last boxes.
- Identify the exact referent or logical relationship that makes one order stronger than another.
Change one thing, then try a new question. A better repeat on a familiar prompt is useful rehearsal; a fresh prompt shows whether you can apply the skill.
Review previous attempts to see whether the same issue keeps returning.
What your response is scored on
Text organisation
The task assesses whether you understand cohesion and the logical organisation of an academic text.
Partial credit
A fully correct order earns maximum credit, while partially correct ordering can still earn points.
Reading only
This task contributes to Reading; Listening, Speaking and Writing are not assessed.
Read the feedback alongside the number and use it to choose your next exercise. A PrepEx score is a practice estimate, not an official PTE score. Only Pearson can issue an official result.
Check the rules before test day
Read the official Pearson task instructions before your test. Follow Pearson's current instructions if the format changes.
Task instructions and timing checked October 15, 2026. The exercises and study suggestions on this page are independent preparation guidance.