A2–C2 · PTE Academic
PTE Academic Practice Test 42
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.
Effective leaders listen as much as they speak. They ask open questions, acknowledge different perspectives and give credit to others when a project succeeds. Studies of workplace teams indicate that such behaviour increases motivation and reduces staff turnover.
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Model answer: Stress "listen as much as they speak" to show the balance. Pause after "questions", "perspectives" and "succeeds". Say "indicate" and "turnover" clearly. The last clause should be a steady, falling statement.
Bread-making is one of humanity's oldest technologies. When yeast ferments the sugars in dough, it releases carbon dioxide, which forms bubbles and makes the loaf rise. Baking then sets the structure, while the browning of the crust creates the flavours that make fresh bread so appealing.
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Model answer: Say "technologies" and "ferments" with clear syllables. Pause after "technologies", "dough" and "rise". Stress "sets the structure" and "browning". Finish with a warm, falling tone on "appealing".
Repeat Sentence
You will hear a sentence. Please repeat the sentence exactly as you hear it.
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Model answer: I can meet you after the lecture if you like.
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Model answer: Economists disagree about how quickly interest rates should rise.
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Model answer: The deadline for the group report has been extended until Monday.
Describe Image
Describe the image in detail.
Pasture — 40%
Forest — 25%
Conservation land — 20%
Crops — 3%
Urban — 1%
Other — 11%
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 illustrates how land is used in New Zealand. Pasture for animals covers 40 percent, the largest proportion. Forest takes 25 percent and protected conservation land 20. Cropland is only 3 percent and towns and cities a mere 1 percent. The remaining 11 percent is other land. Farming for livestock dominates the country, while urban areas cover very little space.
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 bioluminescence is common among deep-sea species, serving purposes like luring prey, startling predators, and communication, with squid even using glowing ink as decoy. Chemically, luciferin reacting with oxygen produces light efficiently without heat. Researchers now use these glowing proteins as biological markers to track cells and genes in medical research.
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 supports universal basic income for providing security without stigma. David worries about the cost of paying everyone, including those who don't need it. Emma notes targeted welfare creates its own bureaucratic barriers. They agree on a compromise: universal payment recovered from higher earners through taxation, preserving dignity while addressing cost concerns.
Respond to a Situation
Listen to the situation and respond as if you were in it.
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Model answer: Hi, I hope you don't mind me mentioning this, but your dog has been barking quite loudly most nights around midnight, and it's been keeping me awake and affecting my work. I completely understand pets sometimes get restless, but is there anything we could try together to help settle him down at night?
Writing
Summarize Written Text
Read the passage and write a one-sentence summary.
In the 1990s, the British anthropologist Robin Dunbar noticed that primates with larger brains tend to live in larger social groups, and he proposed that the size of the neocortex limits the number of relationships an animal can maintain. Extrapolating from the ratio observed in apes, he calculated that humans could manage stable relationships with about one hundred and fifty people, a figure that became known as Dunbar's number. He and other researchers have since found this number, or something close to it, in a surprising variety of settings: the average size of hunter-gatherer bands, the typical village in medieval England, and the basic unit of military organisation in many armies. Within the total, relationships are arranged in layers, with perhaps five very close confidants, fifteen good friends and fifty people whom we would invite to a party. The idea has been influential in business, where some firms split their teams when they approach a certain size, and in debates about social media, where the number of online contacts often far exceeds any human limit. Critics point out that estimates depend heavily on statistical assumptions, that the confidence interval around the figure is very wide, and that later studies of primate brains have not found the same relationship. Others note that digital tools may make it easier to maintain weak ties, even if they cannot create close friendships. Whether or not the figure is exact, the notion that attention is finite resonates with everyday experience.
Read the passage and summarise it in ONE sentence of no more than 75 words.
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Model answer: Dunbar's proposal that brain size limits humans to roughly one hundred and fifty stable relationships has influenced organisational design and discussions of social media, but critics argue that its statistical basis is weak, although the general idea that social attention is limited remains intuitive.
Write Essay
Write an essay of about 200-300 words on the topic.
Some people think that governments should spend less on space exploration and use the money to solve problems on Earth, such as poverty and disease. Do you agree or disagree?
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Model answer: It is tempting to say that money spent on rockets and telescopes would be better used to feed the hungry and cure the sick. Although I understand this feeling, I disagree that space programmes should be cut sharply.
First, the amounts involved are smaller than most people imagine. Space agencies typically receive a very small share of national budgets, far less than is spent on defence, subsidies or healthcare. Eliminating them would therefore make little difference to global poverty, whereas the underlying problems require political will and reform rather than merely more money.
Second, space research has produced technologies that help people on Earth. Satellites provide weather forecasts, warn of hurricanes, guide ships and aircraft and allow farmers in remote regions to monitor their crops. Medical imaging, water purification systems and lightweight materials have also benefited from work done to support space missions. Studying other planets, moreover, teaches us how our own climate functions, which is directly relevant to the challenge of global warming.
Finally, exploration reflects a human desire to learn, and it can inspire young people to study science and engineering, skills that any society needs to solve its difficulties.
That said, governments must ensure that space projects are managed efficiently and that their goals are clear. Waste should not be excused simply because a project sounds ambitious. Balanced funding, rather than sacrifice of one goal for the other, is the wisest policy.
Reading
Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks
Select the best word for each blank.
To reduce traffic congestion in crowded city centres, several major cities have introduced congestion pricing, a system in which drivers must a fee to enter designated zones during peak hours. Supporters argue that charging drivers directly for road use during the busiest periods encourages some of them to travel at different times, share journeys, or switch public transport instead, reducing overall congestion. Cities that have introduced such schemes generally report a noticeable drop in traffic volume within the charging zone, along with improved air quality and, in some cases, faster bus journey times, since buses no longer stuck in the same congestion. Critics argue that the charge places an unfair burden on lower-income drivers who cannot easily alternative transport or a change in working hours. Cities usually respond to this concern by investing revenue from the charge directly improving public transport options within the affected area.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Read the text and select all the correct answers.
Double-entry bookkeeping, in which every financial transaction is recorded twice, once as a debit and once as a matching credit, was formally described in a printed manual by an Italian friar in 1494, although merchants in trading cities had already been using similar methods informally for over a century beforehand. The great advantage of the system is that the two entries must always balance; if they do not, an error has clearly been made somewhere in the accounts, allowing mistakes or even fraud to be detected far more easily than under simpler record-keeping methods. This reliability made the system attractive to merchants engaged in complex, long-distance trade, who needed a clear picture of profit, loss and outstanding debts across multiple transactions and partners. As double-entry bookkeeping spread across Europe, it is credited by some historians with supporting the growth of banking and joint-stock companies, since investors were far more willing to entrust money to a business whose finances could be verified through a transparent and internally consistent set of records. The basic principles of the system remain largely unchanged today, even though most bookkeeping is now performed by software rather than by hand.
1. According to the passage, which TWO of the following are true?
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.
Across many cultures, calligraphy, the art of decorative handwriting, has been valued not merely as a practical means of recording language but as a genuine artistic discipline in its own right. In several traditions, mastering calligraphy required years of disciplined practice, since even the smallest variation in pressure, angle or stroke order could the character and quality of the finished script. Calligraphers in some cultures were expected to achieve a distinctive personal style while still respecting established conventions passed down through generations of trained masters, a balance that could take a lifetime to genuinely . Religious and government documents in many historical societies were often produced by specially trained scribes, since elegant, precise script was thought to the seriousness and authority of the text itself. Although modern printing and digital text have reduced the practical need for handwritten documents, calligraphy continues to be practised and admired today as a valued artistic tradition in its own right.
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Read the text and choose the best answer.
In the near-total darkness of the deep ocean, the anglerfish has evolved one of the animal kingdom's most distinctive hunting adaptations: a long, thin appendage extending from its head, tipped with a glowing lure produced by bioluminescent bacteria living in a symbiotic relationship with the fish. Smaller fish, attracted by the faint glow mistaken for potential prey or a mate, approach closely enough for the anglerfish to seize them with a sudden lunge of its surprisingly large jaws. Because food is scarce at such depths, anglerfish have also evolved the ability to survive on remarkably little energy, remaining largely motionless for extended periods while waiting for prey to approach rather than actively expending energy on constant swimming and searching. In some anglerfish species, males are dramatically smaller than females and, in a highly unusual reproductive adaptation, permanently attach themselves to a female's body, eventually fusing with her circulatory system and essentially becoming a permanent, parasitic source of sperm for future reproduction. This extreme strategy likely evolved because finding a mate in the vast, dark emptiness of the deep ocean is so difficult that a permanent attachment ensures reproduction can occur whenever the female is ready.
3. According to the passage, why do some male anglerfish permanently attach themselves to a female?
Listening
Summarize Spoken Text
Listen to the recording, then write a summary.
Transcript (available after checking)
Tardigrades, sometimes called water bears, are microscopic animals less than a millimetre long, and they're probably the toughest creatures on Earth. They've been found on mountain tops, in deep oceans and under Antarctic ice. When their surroundings dry out, they curl into a tiny ball and shut down their metabolism almost completely, a state known as a tun. In this state, they can survive without water for years, endure temperatures close to absolute zero, and even withstand radiation doses that would kill a human hundreds of times over. Scientists have discovered that tardigrades make special proteins that protect their cells as they dry, effectively forming a glass-like shield. Researchers are studying these proteins to find new ways of preserving vaccines without refrigeration. So an animal that most of us have never seen could end up helping medicine reach remote regions.
Write a summary of the lecture in 50–70 words.
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Model answer: Tardigrades are microscopic animals that survive extreme conditions by drying out and entering a dormant state, protected by special proteins that form a glass-like shield inside their cells. Scientists are studying these proteins because they might allow vaccines to be stored without refrigeration, which would help medicine reach remote areas.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Listen and select all the correct answers.
Transcript (available after checking)
Modern sunscreen traces back to the nineteen thirties, when an Austrian chemistry student, frustrated by sunburn while mountain climbing, mixed a formula to block ultraviolet rays. Early versions offered only mild protection and often felt greasy or left a visible white residue, which discouraged regular use. Commercial sunscreen became widely popular only decades later, once researchers firmly established the link between ultraviolet exposure and skin damage, and after lightweight, water-resistant formulas were developed for swimmers and athletes. Today's sunscreens use a standardised numbering system showing roughly how much longer protected skin can be exposed before burning compared with unprotected skin, though dermatologists note that reapplying regularly matters just as much as the number on the bottle.
1. Which THREE statements are supported by the lecture?
Fill in the Blanks
Listen to the recording and type the missing words.
Biomass energy is made by burning organic material, such as wood chips or crop waste, to produce heat or . Supporters call it renewable because new plants can be grown to replace whatever was burned, in principle absorbing roughly as much carbon dioxide growing as was released during . Critics note this balance depends on details often overlooked, including how far material is transported, how quickly replacement trees actually , and whether forests are being cleared rather than genuinely . Burning farm waste that would otherwise rot anyway is generally seen as less controversial than large-scale forest .
Highlight Correct Summary
Listen and choose the paragraph that best summarises the recording.
Transcript (available after checking)
The safety pin, with its simple coiled spring and a clasp that covers the sharp point, was patented in eighteen forty-nine by an American inventor who reportedly designed it in just a few hours while trying to think of something he could sell to pay off a debt, then sold the rights outright for a relatively small sum rather than keeping royalties, missing out on the much larger fortune the design eventually generated for others. The basic design has changed remarkably little since, because the core problem it solves, holding fabric together securely without an exposed sharp point, was essentially solved correctly the first time. Safety pins remain useful for far more than clothing repairs, and have been improvised for uses ranging from cloth nappies to field first aid.
2. Which paragraph best summarises the recording?
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Listen and choose the best answer.
Transcript (available after checking)
When a honeybee scout finds an excellent source of nectar, she doesn't just report its location through the waggle dance; the vigour and duration of her dance also signals how good the find is. A richer patch produces a more energetic, longer dance that recruits more foraging bees, while a mediocre source gets a shorter, less enthusiastic performance that attracts fewer followers. This means the hive's foraging effort is automatically weighted toward the best food sources without any single bee making a top-down decision, since better sites simply generate stronger recruitment through many scouts reporting back.
3. What determines how many bees are recruited to a particular flower patch?
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. Early balloons were typically made from stretched, dried animal bladder or intestine, materials that were costly and unpleasant to produce in large quantities. A British scientist began experimenting with sheets of natural rubber in the eighteen twenties, and a toy manufacturer later patented a way to shape rubber into a thin, stretchy balloon, eventually making the colourful party balloon inexpensive enough for everyday use.
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 43