A2–C2 · PTE Academic
PTE Academic Practice Test 26
AI-generated practice paper in the style of PTE Academic — original material, not a reproduction of any real exam paper, following the official task types. Listening audio is read aloud by your browser's voice. For Speaking you can record yourself and compare with a model answer, and Writing tasks include a model answer — neither is scored automatically, since that needs real speech and writing evaluation this site does not offer for this exam.
Speaking
Read Aloud
Look at the text below. In 30 seconds, you must read this text aloud as naturally and clearly as possible.
Glaciers are enormous rivers of ice that flow slowly downhill under their own weight. As they move, they grind the rock beneath them, carving deep valleys and leaving behind scattered boulders. Many of the lakes and fjords we see today were shaped by glaciers during the last ice age.
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Model answer: Read at a slightly slower, descriptive pace. Stress "enormous", "slowly" and "deep". Pause after "downhill" and after "them". Watch the pronunciation of "boulders" and "fjords". For the final sentence, lift on "lakes and fjords" and fall on "last ice age".
The invention of the bicycle in the nineteenth century gave ordinary people a new kind of freedom. Cheap, reliable and needing no fuel, it allowed workers to live further from factories and, for many women, it became a symbol of independence.
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Model answer: Say "nineteenth century" clearly. Pause after "century" and after "fuel". Treat "Cheap, reliable and needing no fuel" as a rhythmic list. Stress "further from factories" and "symbol of independence", and fall on the last word.
Repeat Sentence
You will hear a sentence. Please repeat the sentence exactly as you hear it.
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Model answer: My neighbour grows vegetables in a tiny garden behind her house.
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Model answer: Attendance at the workshop is compulsory for all first-year students.
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Model answer: He has lived in Canada for almost eleven years.
Describe Image
Describe the image in detail.
Sleep — 33%
Classes — 17%
Self-study — 13%
Socialising — 12%
Travel — 8%
Meals — 10%
Exercise — 7%
Look at the image below. In 25 seconds, prepare, then describe in detail what the image is showing. You will have 40 seconds to speak.
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Model answer: This chart shows how a student divides a 24-hour day. Sleep takes the biggest slice, 33 percent, or about eight hours. Classes account for 17 percent and self-study for 13. Socialising comes to 12 percent, meals to 10, travel to 8, and exercise has the smallest share at 7. Study of both kinds adds up to 30 percent, nearly the same as sleep.
Re-tell Lecture
Listen to the lecture and retell it.
Listen to the lecture. Then retell it in your own words. You will have 40 seconds to speak.
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Model answer: The lecture explains that before steam power, factories depended on wind or water and had to be located accordingly. James Watt's improved steam engine let factories run on coal instead, freeing them from rivers and enabling faster, more flexible production. This shift helped drive the rapid growth of industrial cities in the following century.
Answer Short Question
You will hear a question. Type your answer in one or a few words.
1. Type what you hear.
2. Type what you hear.
3. Type what you hear.
4. Type what you hear.
Summarize Group Discussion
Listen to a group discussion and summarise it.
Listen to the discussion. Then summarise it, covering each speaker's main point. You will have 70 seconds to speak.
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Model answer: Carla argues competitive gaming deserves recognition as a sport given its reaction speed and strategic demands. David doubts this due to a lack of physical exertion. Emma compares gaming to chess, a recognized mental discipline without heavy physical activity. They agree the real question is whether gaming deserves serious recognition as a competitive discipline, regardless of the exact label.
Respond to a Situation
Listen to the situation and respond as if you were in it.
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Model answer: I know these comments about my accent are probably meant as harmless fun, and I don't think you intend anything unkind, but honestly they've started making me feel a bit uncomfortable, especially since I'm still new here. Would you mind holding off on those jokes going forward? I'd really appreciate it.
Writing
Summarize Written Text
Read the passage and write a one-sentence summary.
Radiologists interpret X-rays, scans and other images to detect disease, a task that requires years of training and intense concentration. Artificial intelligence systems trained on millions of labelled images have begun to match, and in some narrow tasks exceed, human specialists. Algorithms can now identify lung nodules on chest scans, flag suspected fractures and detect early signs of breast cancer in mammograms, and hospitals that use them as a second reader have reported fewer missed diagnoses. Because the software does not tire, it can also prioritise urgent cases, moving a scan that shows a possible brain haemorrhage to the top of a busy queue. Some commentators predicted a decade ago that radiologists would soon become obsolete, but that has not happened. Current systems perform well only on the specific task and type of equipment for which they were designed, and their accuracy can decline when applied to patients or machines that differ from the training data. They also cannot explain their reasoning in terms a doctor can readily verify, nor can they integrate the patient's history, examine unusual findings or communicate with colleagues and patients. The prevailing view is therefore that AI will change the profession rather than replace it, relieving specialists of repetitive screening so that they can spend more time on complex cases, provided that regulators demand rigorous testing of these tools in real clinical conditions.
Read the passage and summarise it in ONE sentence of no more than 75 words.
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Model answer: Although AI can match specialists in narrow imaging tasks and help prioritise urgent cases, its limited flexibility and lack of clinical judgement mean that it will probably transform rather than replace radiologists, provided regulators require thorough testing under real clinical conditions.
Write Essay
Write an essay of about 200-300 words on the topic.
Some teachers believe that homework is essential for children's progress, while others think that it does more harm than good. Discuss both views and say which you agree with.
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Model answer: Few topics divide parents and teachers as reliably as homework. In my opinion, a moderate amount of well-designed homework is useful, but the quantity and quality matter far more than the principle itself.
Those who support homework argue that it consolidates what pupils have learned in class, since practising a skill at home strengthens memory and reveals areas of confusion. It also teaches valuable habits, such as managing time and working independently, and it allows parents to see what their children are studying. In subjects like mathematics and languages, regular practice is almost indispensable.
Critics answer that children already spend six or seven hours at school, and that large amounts of homework leave little time for play, sport, family life and sleep, all of which are important for healthy development. Research suggests that for younger children, the benefits are very small. Homework can also cause stress and arguments at home, and it disadvantages pupils who lack a quiet space, a computer or parents able to help.
Balancing these arguments, I believe that primary school pupils should have little homework, perhaps some reading and a short exercise, while older students can take on more demanding tasks. Assignments should be purposeful rather than repetitive, such as projects or preparation for the next lesson. Homework designed this way supports learning without taking over children's lives.
Reading
Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks
Select the best word for each blank.
Tidal power stations generate electricity by capturing the movement of water as tides rise and fall along a coastline, the kinetic energy of moving water into electrical power through underwater turbines. Because tides follow a highly predictable schedule governed by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun, tidal energy is considerably more consistent than depend heavily on variable weather conditions. Suitable locations for large tidal projects, however, are relatively rare, since an especially strong tidal range is to generate meaningful amounts of electricity economically. Construction of tidal barriers can also disrupt local marine ecosystems, altering the natural flow of sediment and affecting fish and bird populations that estuary habitats. Despite these limitations, several countries continue to invest in tidal technology as one part of a broader strategy diversify renewable energy supplies.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Read the text and select all the correct answers.
Many people experience noticeable muscle soreness in the day or two following unfamiliar or particularly intense exercise, a phenomenon commonly known as delayed onset muscle soreness. For many years, this soreness was widely attributed to a buildup of lactic acid in the muscles during exercise, but lactic acid is actually cleared from the muscles within an hour or two of finishing a workout, long before soreness typically peaks, so this explanation has largely been abandoned by exercise scientists. The current leading explanation instead points to microscopic damage within individual muscle fibres, caused especially by exercises involving lengthening muscle contractions, such as the downward phase of a squat, which triggers a localised inflammatory repair response that produces the sensations of stiffness, tenderness and reduced strength associated with soreness. Rather than indicating harmful long-term damage, this repair process is now understood as a normal and even beneficial part of how muscles adapt and grow stronger in response to unfamiliar physical stress. Gentle movement, light stretching and adequate rest are generally more effective at easing the discomfort than complete inactivity, though no remedy has been shown to eliminate the soreness entirely once the underlying muscle damage has occurred.
1. Which THREE statements are supported by the passage?
Re-order Paragraphs
Click the sentences to put them in the correct order.
2. Put the paragraph in the correct order.
Reading: Fill in the Blanks
Choose the best word for each blank.
In many deserts around the world, exposed rock surfaces gradually develop a thin, dark coating known as desert varnish, formed over centuries as microscopic organisms living on the rock surface tiny amounts of manganese and iron drawn from windblown dust. This coating forms so slowly, often less than a hair's width over a thousand years, that its presence can help archaeologists roughly how long a rock carving or arrangement of stones has been exposed to the elements. Because the varnish is fragile and can be scratched away easily, researchers studying ancient rock art must take great care not to the surrounding surface while examining a carving. Scientists remain interested in desert varnish partly because similar mineral coatings have been on the surface of Mars, raising intriguing questions about comparable processes potentially occurring on other planets.
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Read the text and choose the best answer.
A digital twin is a detailed, continuously updated virtual model of a genuinely physical object, system or entire process, built using real-time data collected directly from sensors embedded within its physical counterpart, allowing engineers to closely monitor, thoroughly analyse and safely test changes to the virtual model before ever attempting to physically implement those same changes on the actual, real-world equipment itself. Manufacturers increasingly use digital twins of complex machinery specifically to predict precisely when a particular physical component is likely to fail, by continuously comparing real-time sensor data against detailed historical patterns, allowing maintenance teams to proactively replace a genuinely worn part before it actually fails and unexpectedly halts an entire, often costly production line. Digital twins can also assist engineers in safely testing significant proposed changes to an existing complex system, such as substantially adjusting a factory's overall production process, within a purely virtual environment first, meaningfully reducing both the cost and the very real risk associated with experimenting directly and irreversibly on expensive physical equipment. As sensor technology and available computing power have both continued to improve considerably, digital twins have grown correspondingly more sophisticated and accurate, and the underlying approach has since expanded well beyond manufacturing into other fields, including urban planning and even certain areas of modern medicine.
3. According to the passage, how do digital twins help predict equipment failure?
Listening
Summarize Spoken Text
Listen to the recording, then write a summary.
Transcript (available after checking)
When people first hear jazz, they often assume the musicians are simply making everything up. Improvisation is actually more structured than that. Players usually start with a familiar tune and its chord progression, which acts as a shared framework. After the melody has been played, each soloist takes a turn to invent new melodies over the same chords, drawing on scales, patterns and phrases they've practised for years. It's a bit like a conversation, where you don't script your sentences but you do rely on grammar and vocabulary. Just as important is listening. The pianist, bassist and drummer respond to the soloist in real time, changing the rhythm or harmony, and the soloist responds back. That interaction is why no two performances of the same piece are identical, and it's what makes live jazz so exciting.
Write a summary of the lecture in 50–70 words.
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Model answer: Jazz improvisation is structured rather than random: musicians share a tune and chord progression, then soloists invent new melodies using practised patterns, much as speakers use grammar and vocabulary in conversation. Constant listening and responding among players makes each performance unique, which is what gives live jazz its particular energy and excitement for audiences.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Listen and select all the correct answers.
Transcript (available after checking)
The zipper went through several unsuccessful versions before becoming the reliable fastener we know today. An early design patented in the eighteen nineties tended to pop open unexpectedly and was mainly used on boots, not clothing. It wasn't until nineteen thirteen that an engineer significantly improved the design, adding more teeth per inch and a sturdier mechanism, which made it dependable enough for wider use. Even so, adoption was slow, and for years the fastener was marketed mainly for tobacco pouches and boots. The turning point came in the nineteen thirties, when the fashion industry began using zippers in children's clothing, on the argument that children could dress themselves more easily, and later in men's trousers. The word zipper itself came from a company that used it to describe the sound the fastener made when it was closed.
1. Which of the following statements are true according to the lecture?
Fill in the Blanks
Listen to the recording and type the missing words.
Desert oases exist because groundwater, sometimes rain that fell on distant mountains decades earlier, travels slowly underground through porous rock until it rises to the , or is reached by digging a well. This steady supply lets date palms grow in an otherwise extremely dry , supporting settlements that have relied on the same oases for thousands of . Many desert societies developed careful systems for sharing this limited water fairly, including timed rotations and underground channels called qanats that carry water long distances while limiting evaporation along the .
Highlight Correct Summary
Listen and choose the paragraph that best summarises the recording.
Transcript (available after checking)
Many Arctic animals, including the Arctic fox and the ptarmigan, a type of grouse, change the colour of their fur or feathers seasonally, appearing white during the snowy winter months and shifting to brown or grey tones that blend with bare rock and vegetation once the snow melts in summer. This transformation isn't instantaneous; it's triggered gradually by changing day length rather than by temperature or the presence of snow itself, which occasionally causes a mismatch if snow arrives unusually late or melts unusually early, leaving a white animal starkly visible against dark ground, or a brown one exposed against remaining snow. Researchers studying this mismatch are concerned that a warming climate, which increasingly shifts snowfall timing without changing day length, could make this seasonal camouflage system less reliable for the species that depend on it.
2. Which paragraph best summarises the recording?
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Listen and choose the best answer.
Transcript (available after checking)
The Cloaca Maxima, one of the world's earliest large sewer systems, was built in ancient Rome originally as an open channel to drain marshy land in the city centre, before later being covered over and expanded into a network of tunnels carrying wastewater and stormwater out of the city and into the river. The system relied on Rome's naturally sloping terrain to let gravity carry waste away, much like the aqueducts that supplied the city's water, without any mechanical pumping. Some sections of the original structure have survived remarkably well and, remarkably, portions of the ancient network still carry stormwater beneath the streets of modern Rome today.
3. What does the speaker say about the original purpose of the Cloaca Maxima?
Select Missing Word
The recording ends with a beep. Choose the option that best completes it.
4. Choose the word or phrase that best completes the recording.
Highlight Incorrect Words
Listen to the recording and select the words in the text that differ from what you hear.
5. The text below differs from the recording in some words. Select the words that are DIFFERENT from what you hear. Owl feathers have a distinctive soft, fringed edge that breaks up the turbulent airflow normally generated as a bird's wing moves through air, which is what usually causes an noticeable whooshing sound during flight. This specialised feather structure lets owls glide almost silently toward prey, and it also slightly reduces overall flight efficiency, a trade-off most owls evidently consider well worth the hunting advantage.
Write from Dictation
Listen to the sentence and type it exactly as you hear it.
6. Type what you hear.
7. Type what you hear.
Keep your streak going
Up next: PTE Academic Practice Test 27