A2–C2 · PTE Academic
PTE Academic Practice Test 49
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.
Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria evolve to survive the drugs designed to kill them. Overuse of antibiotics, especially for viral infections against which they are useless, speeds up this process. Doctors are therefore urged to prescribe them only when they are genuinely needed.
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Model answer: Take care with "antibiotic" and "resistance". Pause after "them" and after "useless". Stress "overuse", "speeds up" and "genuinely needed". Fall on the last word to sound conclusive.
Many universities now offer online degrees that allow students to study while working full time. Supporters praise the flexibility and lower cost, but critics question whether virtual classrooms can match the discussion and networking that take place on campus.
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Model answer: Pause after "time" and after "cost". Stress "flexibility" and "lower cost", then change your tone at "but critics" to signal the opposing view. Say "virtual classrooms" and "networking" clearly and fall on "campus".
Repeat Sentence
You will hear a sentence. Please repeat the sentence exactly as you hear it.
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Model answer: Marine biologists track whales by recording the sounds they make.
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Model answer: Students who live off campus often spend a lot of time commuting.
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Model answer: Tourism provides jobs but can also damage fragile natural environments.
Describe Image
Describe the image in detail.
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 what proportion of adults in each age group own a smartphone. Nearly everyone aged 18 to 29 has one, at 97 percent, and the figure is almost as high, 95 percent, for those aged 30 to 44. Ownership then falls gradually to 88 percent for the 45 to 59 group and 70 percent for 60 to 74. Among people over 75 only 38 percent own a smartphone, the lowest figure.
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 describes hydrothermal vents on the deep ocean floor, which release hot, mineral-rich water and support surprising communities of shrimp, crabs, and tube worms. Instead of sunlight, these ecosystems run on chemosynthesis, bacteria converting chemicals into energy. This nineteen-seventies discovery reshaped ideas about where life can exist and how it may have originated.
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: Frank supports real identity verification to reduce trolling and misinformation. Grace warns this endangers activists and vulnerable users who rely on anonymity. Henry proposes private, pseudonymous verification that keeps accountability without exposing identities publicly. All three agree this needs strong data protection safeguards, since stored identity data would become a serious hacking or misuse target.
Respond to a Situation
Listen to the situation and respond as if you were in it.
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Model answer: Before I hand the keys back, I want to mention something honestly. I noticed a small scratch on the door, and I genuinely can't be certain whether it happened while I had the car or was already there. I'd be happy to cover repair costs if you check and it turns out I'm responsible.
Writing
Summarize Written Text
Read the passage and write a one-sentence summary.
Electric vehicles produce no exhaust emissions, but critics sometimes claim that they are not truly green because manufacturing their batteries is so energy-intensive. Life-cycle assessments, which count emissions from mining and manufacturing through years of driving to eventual scrapping, have investigated this claim thoroughly. They find that building an electric car does generate considerably more carbon dioxide than building a petrol equivalent, largely because of the battery, so a new electric car begins its life with a carbon debt. However, the deficit is repaid within the first year or two of driving, since electricity emits less per kilometre than burning fuel, and over a typical lifetime of about two hundred thousand kilometres, the electric vehicle emits between a third and two-thirds less in total, depending on how the local grid generates its power. Where electricity comes mostly from coal, the advantage shrinks considerably; where it is largely renewable, the gap widens. Other concerns are more difficult to dismiss. Mining lithium, cobalt and nickel can damage ecosystems and, in some regions, involves hazardous labour conditions, and recycling infrastructure for used batteries is still immature. Manufacturers are responding by developing chemistries that use less cobalt and by establishing systems for reusing old batteries in stationary storage. Most analysts conclude that electric vehicles are clearly better for the climate, but they remind us that reducing overall car use is better still.
Read the passage and summarise it in ONE sentence of no more than 75 words.
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Model answer: Life-cycle studies show that electric cars, despite higher manufacturing emissions, quickly repay their carbon debt and emit far less over their lifetimes, especially on clean grids, although mining impacts and immature battery recycling remain concerns, and reducing overall car use would be better still.
Write Essay
Write an essay of about 200-300 words on the topic.
Some countries prioritise immigration applicants who have skills that are in short supply, such as doctors or engineers, over other applicants. Is this a fair approach to immigration policy?
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Model answer: Selecting immigrants partly on the basis of skills that a country needs, such as medicine or engineering, is common practice in several immigration systems, and I believe it is a reasonable, though not entirely sufficient, approach to policy.
From the receiving country's perspective, admitting people whose skills address genuine shortages, whether in healthcare, technology or construction, can quickly relieve pressure on public services and support economic growth, while also making it easier to gain public support for immigration more broadly, since the direct benefits are visible. Skilled migrants themselves often benefit as well, since qualifications in short supply usually secure faster approval and stronger job prospects upon arrival.
However, this approach can be criticised on fairness grounds. It disadvantages applicants with equally valid reasons to migrate, such as reuniting with family or fleeing danger, who may have skills the receiving country does not urgently need. There is also a broader ethical concern, sometimes called a brain drain, when skilled professionals leave countries that trained them and badly need their expertise, potentially widening global inequality rather than reducing it.
I therefore believe skills-based criteria should form one strand of a balanced immigration system rather than the only route available, alongside clear provisions for family reunification and refugees fleeing danger. Wealthier countries that actively recruit skilled workers from poorer ones might also reasonably be asked to invest in training additional professionals there, so that the country of origin is not left worse off.
Reading
Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks
Select the best word for each blank.
Roman engineers built roads that were designed to heavy use for centuries, often laying several distinct layers of stone, gravel and sand beneath a smooth paved surface. Roads were typically constructed as straight as the terrain allowed, since a direct route reduced travel time for the soldiers and messengers who them most heavily. Many roads were slightly raised in the centre so that rainwater would to either side rather than pooling on the surface. This network eventually stretched across the empire, allowing armies, officials and traders to move goods and information far more quickly than would otherwise have been . Remarkably, sections of these roads have survived so well that some rural paths in Europe still the original Roman route.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Read the text and select all the correct answers.
Habits form through a process in which the brain gradually shifts control of a repeated behaviour from regions associated with deliberate decision-making to a structure deep within the brain that governs automatic, routine actions. In the early stages of learning a new behaviour, such as taking a different route to work, a person must consciously think through each step, but with enough repetition in a consistent context, the behaviour becomes triggered automatically by an environmental cue, requiring little or no conscious thought. Researchers describe this process using a three-part cycle: a cue that triggers the behaviour, the routine behaviour itself, and a reward that reinforces the association between the cue and the behaviour, strengthening the habit each time the cycle is completed. This explains why habits, once firmly established, can be extremely difficult to break simply through willpower, since the automatic pathway remains in the brain even after a person consciously decides to stop; many behavioural scientists therefore recommend changing the environment to remove or alter the triggering cue, rather than relying solely on willpower, as a more effective strategy for breaking an unwanted habit and replacing it with a more desirable routine.
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.
Termites are able to digest wood, a material almost entirely made of a tough compound called cellulose, only because their digestive tracts vast communities of specialised microorganisms capable of breaking it down. Without these microbial partners, a termite would be unable to any usable nutrition from the wood it consumes, despite spending much of its life chewing through it. In exchange, the termite provides its microscopic partners with a warm, stable environment and a supply of food. Young termites are typically unable to digest wood at all when they first hatch, and must their essential gut microorganisms by feeding on material passed directly from other members of the colony. This dependence highlights how thoroughly termite survival is with organisms too small to see with the naked eye.
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Read the text and choose the best answer.
Social historians studying opportunities for individuals to rise economically beyond the social class into which they were born have found that such mobility varied considerably across different historical periods and regions, shaped by factors including access to education, the structure of the prevailing economy, and prevailing cultural or legal attitudes toward social hierarchy itself. In many pre-industrial agricultural societies, land ownership and inherited social status were tightly linked and passed down almost exclusively within families, leaving comparatively few realistic opportunities for a person born into a lower social class to rise substantially during their own individual lifetime. The industrial revolution introduced new opportunities for economic advancement through entrepreneurship, skilled trades and, eventually, formal education, though historians caution that these new opportunities remained considerably more accessible to some groups within a given society, particularly men from at least moderately advantaged backgrounds, than to others facing significant additional structural barriers. Contemporary researchers studying social mobility generally measure it by comparing a person's economic and social position in adulthood against that of their own parents, and such comparative studies have found that mobility levels differ significantly between different countries today, shaped substantially by factors such as the relative quality and accessibility of public education.
3. According to the passage, what limited class mobility in many pre-industrial agricultural societies?
Listening
Summarize Spoken Text
Listen to the recording, then write a summary.
Transcript (available after checking)
The gig economy describes a labour market where people earn income from short-term tasks, often arranged through digital platforms, such as delivery apps and ride-hailing services. Supporters point to flexibility. Workers can choose when to work, and companies can respond quickly to changes in demand. For some people, such as students or parents, that flexibility is genuinely valuable. Critics, however, argue that gig workers are usually classed as independent contractors, so they lack sick pay, holiday pay and pension contributions. Income can be unpredictable, and the algorithms that assign tasks can feel opaque. Courts in several countries have started to examine whether some platform workers should be treated as employees. Economists note that the sector is still evolving, and that the real challenge is designing rules that protect workers without destroying the flexibility that makes gig work attractive in the first place.
Write a summary of the lecture in 50–70 words.
Show sample answer
Model answer: The gig economy offers workers flexibility and helps companies respond to demand, but gig workers are usually contractors without sick pay or pensions, and their income is unpredictable. Courts are reconsidering their status, and the real challenge is to design rules that protect workers while preserving the flexibility that makes this kind of work attractive.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Listen and select all the correct answers.
Transcript (available after checking)
Theatre in ancient Athens was part of religious festivals, especially the festival honouring Dionysus. Playwrights competed for prizes, and thousands of citizens attended. The performances took place in open-air theatres built into hillsides, with excellent acoustics, so that even spectators in the back rows could hear the actors. All performers were men, and they wore masks that made characters recognisable from a distance and allowed one actor to play several roles. A chorus of singers and dancers commented on the action. Tragedies, like those of Sophocles, explored themes such as fate and justice, while comedies, like those of Aristophanes, mocked politicians and ordinary life. The influence is still visible today. Many words in theatre, including drama, scene and orchestra, come from Greek, and many modern plays retell ancient myths.
1. Which THREE statements match the lecture?
Fill in the Blanks
Listen to the recording and type the missing words.
European eels begin life as tiny larvae drifting near the Sargasso Sea, thousands of kilometres from Europe, before slowly crossing the Atlantic on ocean , a journey that can take more than a year. On reaching European coasts, the young eels swim upstream into and lakes, where they may live for a decade, growing steadily. When they finally mature, an internal signal triggers a reversal: the eels stop feeding, transform for open-ocean , and swim back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn, completing a migratory scientists still don't fully .
Highlight Correct Summary
Listen and choose the paragraph that best summarises the recording.
Transcript (available after checking)
Before automated traffic signals existed, police officers stood at busy intersections manually directing vehicles and pedestrians with hand signals or a manually operated sign, a system that became increasingly unmanageable as the number of cars on city streets grew rapidly in the early twentieth century. Early electric traffic signals, first installed in American cities in the nineteen teens and twenties, initially used only red and green lights, without the amber warning light that's now considered essential, meaning drivers had no advance warning before a light suddenly switched from green directly to red. The three-colour system, adding an amber phase to warn drivers a change was imminent, was refined and standardised over the following decades and eventually adopted, with only minor variations, in cities around the world, becoming one of the most globally recognised pieces of urban infrastructure.
2. Which paragraph best summarises the recording?
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Listen and choose the best answer.
Transcript (available after checking)
Long before mechanical clocks existed, ancient civilisations tracked the passing hours using sundials, simple devices that cast a shadow from a raised pointer onto a marked surface as the sun moved across the sky. Egyptian sundials from more than three thousand years ago already divided daylight into segments, though the length of each segment changed with the seasons since daylight itself varies through the year. Sundials worked well in bright, sunny conditions but were useless at night or during cloudy weather, a limitation that eventually pushed inventors toward water clocks and, much later, mechanical clockwork that could keep time regardless of the weather.
3. According to the lecture, why did inventors eventually move away from relying on sundials?
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. Cloth napkins were historically the only option at a meal, requiring regular washing and therefore limiting how many a household could reasonably own. A paper company eventually began marketing disposable paper napkins in the early twentieth century, advertising them as a practical alternative for everyday use, and demand grew steadily once restaurants realised they could cut laundry costs significantly.
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
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