A2–C2 · PTE Academic
PTE Academic Practice Test 35
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.
Good customer service is not simply about solving problems; it is about making people feel heard. Research shows that customers who receive a quick, sincere apology often remain loyal even after a mistake. Companies that ignore complaints, by contrast, lose both revenue and reputation.
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Model answer: Stress "not simply" and "heard" to bring out the contrast. Pause at the semicolon after "problems". Say "sincere apology" and "loyal" warmly. Pause before "by contrast", stress "ignore", and end firmly on "reputation".
Urban planners increasingly favour mixed-use neighbourhoods, where housing, shops and offices sit side by side. Residents can walk to daily necessities, which reduces traffic and encourages social contact. Critics, on the other hand, point out that such areas can push up rents and displace long-standing communities.
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Model answer: Group the three nouns "housing, shops and offices" as a list with rising tone on the first two and falling on the last. Stress "reduces" and "encourages". Pause clearly before "Critics" and after "on the other hand". Emphasise "displace" and end with a firm falling tone on "communities".
Repeat Sentence
You will hear a sentence. Please repeat the sentence exactly as you hear it.
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Model answer: We will meet outside the main entrance at a quarter to ten.
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Model answer: Cotton was once the most important export of the southern states.
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Model answer: The instructor demonstrated how to set up the microscope correctly.
Describe Image
Describe the image in detail.
| Average temperature (C) | Rainfall (mm) | Sunshine (hours) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai | 28 | 95 | 3550 |
| Reykjavik | 5 | 800 | 1330 |
| Singapore | 27 | 2340 | 2022 |
| Madrid | 15 | 440 | 2770 |
| Vancouver | 10 | 1150 | 1930 |
| Cape Town | 17 | 515 | 3100 |
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: The table gives temperature, rainfall and sunshine for six cities. Dubai is very hot, at 28 degrees, with little rain, only 95 millimetres, and the most sunshine, 3,550 hours. Singapore is nearly as warm at 27 degrees but is extremely wet, with 2,340 millimetres of rain. Reykjavik is the coldest, at 5 degrees, and also the least sunny, with 1,330 hours. Madrid and Cape Town have moderate climates.
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 Fleming's nineteen twenty-eight discovery of penicillin began with an accidentally contaminated culture plate, but it took Florey and Chain's later work, urgently needed during World War Two, to purify and mass-produce it as a usable drug. This launched the antibiotic era, dramatically raising life expectancy worldwide within decades.
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: Jack supports genetically engineered crops for improving food security amid climate change. Anna worries about ecological effects of modified genes spreading to wild plants. Ben notes health risk fears are largely unsupported but ecological concerns remain valid. They agree engineering can help if paired with thorough ecological testing and regulation addressing corporate seed patent control.
Respond to a Situation
Listen to the situation and respond as if you were in it.
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Model answer: It's been a long time, and I know things ended badly between us, but tonight is really about celebrating the couple, so I'd rather we get through it civilly than make things awkward for everyone else at the table. Are you okay with just keeping things pleasant for the evening?
Writing
Summarize Written Text
Read the passage and write a one-sentence summary.
Loneliness is often dismissed as an unpleasant feeling, but epidemiologists increasingly treat it as a risk to physical health. A large analysis combining dozens of studies concluded that people with weak social connections had a significantly higher risk of early death than those with strong ties, an effect comparable to smoking and larger than that of obesity. Researchers distinguish between loneliness, the distressing sense that one's relationships are inadequate, and social isolation, the objective lack of contact with others. The two overlap but are not identical; a person may live alone and feel content, while another may be surrounded by people and feel unseen. Chronic loneliness is associated with raised levels of stress hormones, poorer sleep, inflammation and a greater risk of heart disease and dementia, although establishing which is cause and which is effect is difficult, since illness itself can lead to withdrawal. Rates are highest among young adults and the very old, contradicting the stereotype that loneliness is chiefly a problem of later life. Some governments have responded by appointing ministers for loneliness and by supporting programmes that connect people through shared activities, such as community gardens and walking groups. Doctors in some countries can now prescribe social activities alongside medicines. Evidence for the effectiveness of these schemes is still developing, but early results suggest that interventions that build genuine, regular contact are more successful than those that merely provide information.
Read the passage and summarise it in ONE sentence of no more than 75 words.
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Model answer: Loneliness, which is distinct from social isolation, is associated with serious health risks comparable to smoking and affects young adults as much as the elderly, so governments and doctors are introducing social programmes, although evidence suggests that only interventions creating regular genuine contact are effective.
Write Essay
Write an essay of about 200-300 words on the topic.
Advertisements aimed specifically at children, for toys, sugary snacks and fast food, are banned or restricted in some countries. Should this practice be adopted everywhere?
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Model answer: Restricting advertisements aimed at children has already been adopted in several countries, and I believe other governments should follow this example, though the details of such regulation matter greatly.
Children, especially those under about eight, generally cannot distinguish clearly between entertainment and persuasion, and advertisers exploit this by using cartoon characters, bright colours and emotional appeals to promote products, many of them sugary or fatty, that offer little nutritional value. Studies consistently link exposure to food advertising with children's food preferences and requests to parents, which can contribute to poor diet and rising rates of childhood obesity. Since children cannot reasonably be expected to make informed purchasing decisions, protecting them from targeted persuasion seems a legitimate role for government.
Opponents argue that responsibility should rest with parents, who control household spending and can teach children to be critical of advertising, and that broad restrictions could damage industries that depend on advertising revenue, including children's television and sports sponsorship. Enforcement is also difficult given how much advertising now occurs through social media influencers rather than traditional channels.
Despite these concerns, I believe the public health case is strong enough to justify firm regulation, similar to existing restrictions on tobacco marketing. Clear rules on timing, content and online influencer marketing, combined with continued efforts to support parents and improve food education in schools, would protect children without eliminating advertising for adult audiences.
Reading
Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks
Select the best word for each blank.
In 1953, the scientists James Watson and Francis Crick proposed that the DNA molecule is like a twisted ladder, a structure now widely known as the double helix. Their model drew heavily on X-ray images produced by fellow researcher Rosalind Franklin, whose data revealed consistent with a helical structure long before its exact form was confirmed. The two strands of the helix are held together by chemical bonds between paired bases, and the precise sequence of these bases the genetic instructions needed to build and operate a living organism. Once the structure was understood, scientists could begin to explain how genetic information is copied accurately each time a cell . This discovery is widely regarded as one of the most significant breakthroughs in the history modern biology.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Read the text and select all the correct answers.
Psychologists have documented numerous systematic patterns, known as cognitive biases, that cause people to depart from purely rational decision-making in predictable ways. Confirmation bias, for instance, describes the tendency to seek out and remember information that supports a belief one already holds, while giving less weight to evidence that contradicts it, which can entrench mistaken opinions even when contrary evidence is readily available. Anchoring bias occurs when an initial piece of information, even an arbitrary one, disproportionately influences a later judgement, as when a shopper's willingness to pay for an item is shaped by an inflated original price displayed alongside a discount. Because these biases operate largely below conscious awareness, simply knowing about them does not automatically prevent a person from falling victim to them; deliberate strategies, such as actively seeking out disconfirming evidence or consulting independent advisors before major decisions, tend to be more effective than willpower alone. Businesses and governments have both applied insights from this research, sometimes to help people make better decisions for themselves, and sometimes, more controversially, to exploit these same biases in ways that benefit the organisation rather than the individual.
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.
Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle argued that tragic drama could produce a valuable emotional effect on its audience, a process he called catharsis, in which watching characters suffer intense misfortune allowed spectators to their own pent-up emotions of pity and fear in a safe, controlled setting. According to this theory, experiencing these emotions vicariously through a tragic performance could leave an audience feeling emotionally rather than merely distressed by the events they had witnessed on stage. Greek tragedies typically centred on a central character of high status whose own flaws or misjudgements gradually their downfall, a structure intended to provoke reflection on human vulnerability rather than simple entertainment. Although scholars continue to debate exactly what Aristotle meant by catharsis, the concept remains widely in discussions of why audiences are drawn to fictional stories filled with suffering and loss.
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Read the text and choose the best answer.
Companies periodically consider rebranding, a process that can range from a comparatively modest visual refresh of an existing logo and colour scheme to a far more drastic overhaul involving an entirely new company name, identity and public positioning. Businesses typically pursue rebranding for several distinct reasons, including a need to shed a damaged reputation following a serious public scandal, a desire to appeal to a new target demographic the existing brand no longer resonates with, or simply the practical necessity of merging two previously separate and distinct company identities following a corporate acquisition or merger. Rebranding carries genuine, well-documented risks, however, since an established company typically already possesses accumulated customer loyalty and public name recognition built up gradually over many years, both of which can be partially or substantially lost overnight if a rebrand alienates existing loyal customers who specifically preferred the company's previous, more familiar identity and visual presentation. Marketing researchers studying past corporate rebranding attempts generally recommend that companies thoroughly test any proposed new brand identity with real representative customer groups before a full public launch, and that companies clearly communicate the genuine underlying reasons for a change well in advance, since a rebrand that appears abrupt, poorly explained or entirely unnecessary to existing customers is considerably more likely to provoke public backlash than one grounded in a clearly articulated and easily understood rationale.
3. According to the passage, what genuine risk does corporate rebranding carry?
Listening
Summarize Spoken Text
Listen to the recording, then write a summary.
Transcript (available after checking)
You may have read that the human attention span has shrunk to eight seconds, less than that of a goldfish. This claim has been repeated in articles and presentations for years, but there's no reliable scientific evidence behind it. In fact, attention isn't a single fixed quantity. People can concentrate for hours on something they find engaging, such as a film or a video game. What varies is how easily we're distracted and how strongly the situation demands our attention. Researchers who track people's screen use do find that we switch between tabs and apps frequently, and that constant switching reduces the quality of our work. So the issue isn't that our brains have changed. It's that our environment is full of interruptions. Simple solutions, like turning off notifications during study sessions, can therefore make a real difference.
Write a summary of the lecture in 50–70 words.
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Model answer: The claim that human attention spans have shrunk below a goldfish's has no scientific support. People can concentrate for hours on engaging activities. The real problem is frequent distraction and task switching caused by digital environments, so practical steps such as turning off notifications while studying can genuinely improve concentration and the quality of work.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Listen and select all the correct answers.
Transcript (available after checking)
Coffee is one of the most traded commodities in the world, yet many of the farmers who grow it earn very little. Prices fluctuate widely, and when they fall, small growers may receive less than it costs to produce a kilogram. The fair trade movement tries to address this by guaranteeing a minimum price and paying an additional premium for community projects, such as schools or clean water. Farmers must form cooperatives and meet certain environmental standards. Results are mixed. Certified farmers generally earn somewhat more and enjoy greater stability, but the benefits can be limited by the fact that certification costs money, and that much of the extra price paid by consumers doesn't reach the farmers. Critics add that hired labourers, who don't own land, benefit least.
1. Which THREE points are made in the talk?
Fill in the Blanks
Listen to the recording and type the missing words.
Long before electronic calculators, merchants across many ancient civilisations used the abacus, a frame holding rows of beads, to add and multiply numbers . Different regions developed their own versions; the Chinese abacus uses beads on , while the Russian version arranges beads on horizontal wires within a frame. Skilled users could calculate remarkably fast, and in parts of Asia abacus training is still taught partly because it strengthens mental even once the tool is set aside. Some studies suggest practice trains users to picture a mental abacus and manipulate it without the physical .
Highlight Correct Summary
Listen and choose the paragraph that best summarises the recording.
Transcript (available after checking)
Each year, more than a million wildebeest travel in a huge, roughly circular migration across the plains of East Africa, following the seasonal rains that determine where fresh grass is available to graze. The migration isn't a single, tidy journey but a constant, responsive movement, with herds shifting direction as rainfall patterns change from year to year, though the overall clockwise route through the Serengeti and Masai Mara has remained broadly consistent for a very long time. The journey includes dangerous river crossings, where crocodiles wait and strong currents can sweep weaker animals away, and predators such as lions and hyenas time their own behaviour around the migration's timing, since the herds' movement brings a predictable, if risky, seasonal abundance of prey through their territory each year.
2. Which paragraph best summarises the recording?
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Listen and choose the best answer.
Transcript (available after checking)
Metal, wood and fabric objects in the same room are actually at the same ambient temperature, yet metal always feels noticeably colder to the touch. The reason isn't the metal's temperature itself but how quickly it conducts heat away from your skin; metal is an excellent thermal conductor, so it rapidly draws warmth from your fingers, and your nerves interpret that fast heat loss as coldness. Wood and fabric conduct heat far more slowly, so they feel warmer even at an identical room temperature, simply because they remove heat from your skin much less quickly than metal does.
3. Why does metal feel colder than wood at the same room temperature, according to the speaker?
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. Seawater isn't actually colourless; it very weakly absorbs red light more than blue light as light travels down through it, so by the time light has passed any significant depth, mostly blue wavelengths still remain to scatter back up toward an observer. This is clearly different from the sky's blue colour, which comes from bending in the atmosphere rather than from filtering within a simple liquid.
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 36