A2–C2 · PTE Academic
PTE Academic Practice Test 50
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.
Water scarcity affects more than two billion people worldwide. Growing populations, polluted rivers and shifting rainfall patterns all increase the pressure on limited supplies. Solutions range from repairing leaking pipes to recycling wastewater and developing crops that need less irrigation.
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Model answer: Stress "more than two billion" and pronounce "scarcity" clearly. Pause after "worldwide" and after "patterns". In the last sentence, treat "repairing leaking pipes", "recycling wastewater" and "developing crops" as three balanced items, and fall on "irrigation".
The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the late eighteenth century. Steam-powered machinery replaced manual labour in textile factories, and cities grew rapidly as workers moved from the countryside. While productivity soared, living conditions for many families were crowded, unhealthy and dangerous.
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Model answer: Say "eighteenth century" with a clear "th" sound. Pause after "Britain", "factories" and "countryside". Stress the contrast between "productivity soared" and the three adjectives at the end. Give each adjective, "crowded, unhealthy and dangerous", equal weight, with a firm falling tone on the last.
Repeat Sentence
You will hear a sentence. Please repeat the sentence exactly as you hear it.
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Model answer: Tuition fees have risen sharply over the past decade.
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Model answer: Scientists are still trying to understand why we dream.
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Model answer: The museum offers free guided tours on the first Sunday of every month.
Describe Image
Describe the image in detail.
English — 61%
Mandarin or Cantonese — 9%
Punjabi — 4%
Tagalog — 3%
Spanish — 3%
Other — 20%
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 which languages Toronto residents mainly speak at home. English is used by 61 percent, the majority. Mandarin or Cantonese follows a long way behind, at 9 percent, then Punjabi at 4, with Tagalog and Spanish each at 3 percent. A large group, 20 percent, speak other languages. The city is therefore mostly English-speaking but also very linguistically diverse.
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 repeatedly planting one crop depletes specific soil nutrients and lets pests build up. Crop rotation alternates plant families, such as following corn with nitrogen-fixing legumes, to restore fertility naturally and disrupt pest cycles, reducing pesticide need. Modern farming also adds cover crops purely to protect soil between harvests.
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: Isla found remote learning effective for absorbing lecture content at her own pace. Jack struggled without in-person accountability and routine. Anna notes discussion and collaboration suffer more online. They agree effectiveness depends on subject type and individual learning style, favoring a hybrid model rather than declaring either format universally better.
Respond to a Situation
Listen to the situation and respond as if you were in it.
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Model answer: I appreciate the offer, but I have an important meeting scheduled shortly after this flight lands, so giving up my seat isn't really an option for me today. I'd rather keep my confirmed seat as booked. If it helps, could you check whether another passenger without a tight schedule might be willing to volunteer instead?
Writing
Summarize Written Text
Read the passage and write a one-sentence summary.
The human intestine contains trillions of microorganisms, collectively called the gut microbiome, which together weigh about as much as the brain. Far from being passive passengers, these bacteria help digest fibre that our own enzymes cannot break down, produce vitamins, and train the immune system to distinguish harmful invaders from harmless substances. Research in the past decade has linked the composition of the microbiome to an astonishing range of conditions, from obesity and diabetes to allergies, depression and even Parkinson's disease. Some of the most persuasive evidence comes from experiments in which microbes from one animal are transplanted into another. Mice given bacteria from obese donors, for example, gain more weight than those receiving bacteria from lean ones. In humans, faecal transplants have proved dramatically effective against one severe intestinal infection, which has encouraged the search for further therapies. Nevertheless, scientists warn against exaggeration. Most human studies show correlations rather than causes, since illness itself alters the gut environment, and the microbiome varies so widely between healthy individuals that defining an ideal composition has proved difficult. The market has been quick to offer probiotic supplements and personalised diets, yet independent trials of these products have often produced modest or inconsistent results. The most reliable advice remains a varied diet rich in fruit, vegetables and whole grains, which nourishes a diverse community of microbes.
Read the passage and summarise it in ONE sentence of no more than 75 words.
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Model answer: Although gut bacteria influence digestion, immunity and possibly many diseases, most human evidence shows only correlation and commercial supplements remain unproven, so the soundest recommendation is still a varied, fibre-rich diet that supports a diverse microbial community.
Write Essay
Write an essay of about 200-300 words on the topic.
Young people today often look up to celebrities such as film stars and sportspeople. Some believe this has a harmful effect on society, while others think it is harmless or even positive. What is your view?
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Model answer: Admiring famous people is hardly a new phenomenon, but the constant presence of celebrities on social media has made their influence more powerful. In my view, the effect depends on who the celebrity is and what he or she represents.
There are certainly grounds for concern. Many stars project an image of glamorous, effortless success, which may lead young people to believe that wealth and appearance are the most important measures of a person's value. Followers who compare their own lives with carefully edited photographs can feel inadequate, and some teenagers copy unhealthy diets or risky behaviour they see promoted.
On the other hand, celebrities can be positive role models. A footballer who grew up in poverty and speaks about the years of training behind his success can motivate children to persevere. Well-known actors and singers who campaign for causes such as education or the environment draw the attention of millions of people who might otherwise ignore these issues. Some have also encouraged open discussion of mental health, which helps to reduce stigma.
It seems to me, therefore, that the problem lies less in admiration itself than in uncritical imitation. Parents and teachers should encourage young people to look at what a public figure has actually achieved, and to recognise that fame is not the same as character. With that awareness, admiration for celebrities can be harmless and sometimes even inspiring.
Reading
Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks
Select the best word for each blank.
Michelangelo began carving his statue of David from a single block of marble that other sculptors had already as flawed. Working almost entirely alone, he spent more than two years the enormous figure into its final form. The finished work, admired for its anatomical precision, quickly the political independence of the city of Florence. Unlike earlier depictions of the biblical hero, Michelangelo chose to show David before his battle rather than after it, a moment of tense anticipation rather than triumph. Art historians still regard the statue as one of the finest of Renaissance sculpture, admired for both its scale and its psychological depth.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Read the text and select all the correct answers.
Many organisms living in the deep ocean, where sunlight never reaches, produce their own light through a chemical reaction known as bioluminescence, using it for a variety of purposes depending on the species. Some fish use light-producing organs to attract prey in the darkness, effectively luring smaller creatures close enough to be caught, while others use sudden flashes of light defensively, startling a predator or illuminating it briefly so that a larger predator nearby might be drawn to attack the original threat instead. Certain species use bioluminescence for communication, producing specific light patterns to attract a mate of the same species in an environment where visual signals would otherwise be impossible to detect. Scientists have also identified organisms that release a cloud of glowing chemicals into the water when threatened, similar to how squid release ink, temporarily distracting or disorienting a predator while the organism escapes into the surrounding darkness. Researchers studying the chemistry behind bioluminescence have found practical applications beyond marine biology, including using similar light-producing compounds as markers in certain medical and laboratory testing procedures.
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.
Psychologists have long observed that an individual witnessing an emergency is often less likely to intervene when other bystanders are present, a phenomenon known as the bystander effect. One explanation suggests that each bystander unconsciously that someone else in the crowd will take responsibility for helping, reducing any single person's sense of personal obligation to act. Another factor involves a fear of embarrassment: a bystander may hesitate to intervene in an ambiguous situation for fear of overreacting or misreading a scene that others do not appear to consider . Researchers have found that this effect can be reduced when a bystander is directly addressed rather than left in an anonymous crowd, since being singled out makes it far harder to that responsibility lies elsewhere. This research has practical implications for first-aid training, which now often the importance of pointing directly at a specific bystander and assigning them a clear task during an emergency.
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Read the text and choose the best answer.
Large distribution warehouses increasingly rely on autonomous robots to transport goods between storage shelves and human workers responsible for packing customer orders, a significant shift from earlier warehouse models in which human workers themselves walked considerable distances across a large warehouse floor to physically retrieve each individual item required for an order. In many modern automated warehouses, mobile robots instead navigate autonomously between densely packed storage shelves, retrieving an entire shelving unit containing a specific requested item and delivering it directly to a stationary human worker, who then simply picks the correct specific item from the delivered shelf and proceeds to pack it, substantially reducing the total walking time previously required of human workers throughout an entire working shift. This particular division of labour plays to the respective strengths of humans and machines: robots efficiently and tirelessly handle the repetitive physical task of transporting heavy shelving across the warehouse floor, while human workers continue to perform the more genuinely complex task of accurately visually identifying and correctly selecting a specific item, a task that still generally requires better visual judgement and dexterity than most current warehouse robots reliably possess. Warehouse operators report that this specific combination of robotic transport and human picking has measurably increased overall order fulfilment speed while simultaneously reducing physically repetitive strain on human workers.
3. According to the passage, what task do human workers typically still perform in automated warehouses?
Listening
Summarize Spoken Text
Listen to the recording, then write a summary.
Transcript (available after checking)
Learners of English often complain that spelling makes no sense, and they have a point. Why is the combination o-u-g-h pronounced differently in through, though, tough and cough? The explanation is historical. English pronunciation changed dramatically in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in a process called the Great Vowel Shift, but printing was spreading at the same time, and printers standardised spelling based on the older pronunciation. As a result, the written words froze while speech carried on evolving. Add to this the fact that English borrowed words from French, Latin, Greek and many other languages, often keeping their original spelling, and you get a system with many exceptions. Reformers have proposed simplified spelling many times, but with little success, because changing it would make existing books harder to read. So English learners just need to memorise patterns and exceptions.
Write a summary of the lecture in 50–70 words.
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Model answer: English spelling seems illogical because pronunciation changed greatly during the Great Vowel Shift just as printers were standardising spelling, leaving written forms fixed to older sounds, and because many words were borrowed with their original spellings. Spelling reform has repeatedly failed since it would make existing books harder to read, so learners must memorise patterns and exceptions.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Listen and select all the correct answers.
Transcript (available after checking)
The Dead Sea, on the border between Israel and Jordan, is the lowest point on land, more than four hundred metres below sea level. It's also about nine times saltier than the ocean, which is why swimmers float so easily and why almost no fish can survive there, hence the name. The sea has no outlet. Water arrives mainly from the River Jordan, and leaves only by evaporation, which leaves minerals behind. Unfortunately, the sea is shrinking by about a metre a year, because so much water is diverted from the Jordan for farming and drinking. As the level drops, sinkholes have appeared along the shore, swallowing roads and buildings. Proposals to pipe in seawater from the Red Sea have been discussed for years, but they're expensive and environmentally risky.
1. Which THREE facts are given about the Dead Sea?
Fill in the Blanks
Listen to the recording and type the missing words.
In eighteen hundred, a French soldier found a slab of granite near the town of Rosetta in Egypt. It carried the same decree written three times: in , in a later Egyptian script, and in ancient Greek. Because scholars could already read Greek, the stone let them work out what the meant. It took over twenty years of comparison before a scholar announced a , opening up thousands of years of Egyptian writing that had been unreadable for centuries. The stone now sits in a London , though Egypt has repeatedly asked for its .
Highlight Correct Summary
Listen and choose the paragraph that best summarises the recording.
Transcript (available after checking)
For most of the nineteenth century, portable timepieces meant pocket watches, and wristwatches were considered a woman's fashion accessory, seen as too delicate or impractical for serious use by men. That view changed dramatically during the First World War, when soldiers needed to check the time quickly without fumbling in a pocket while coordinating attacks, so officers began strapping pocket watches to their wrists using leather cases, and manufacturers soon started producing purpose-built wristwatches with sturdy cases and luminous dials for visibility at night. After the war, veterans continued wearing wristwatches as civilians, and the stigma faded rapidly, so that within a couple of decades the wristwatch had overtaken the pocket watch as the standard timepiece for men as well as women.
2. Which paragraph best summarises the recording?
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Listen and choose the best answer.
Transcript (available after checking)
Certain dragonfly species undertake surprisingly long migrations, with some individuals in North America flying south for the winter in a pattern broadly similar to that of monarch butterflies, though a single dragonfly typically completes only part of the full journey before a later generation continues it further. Unlike birds, which navigate using cues built up over a lifetime, dragonflies migrate successfully despite living only a few months, relying instead on instinctive responses to cues such as day length and temperature that are inherited rather than learned. Researchers track migration partly using tiny numbered tags glued gently to a wing, allowing sightings to be reported from different locations.
3. How do dragonflies manage to migrate despite their short lifespan, according to the lecture?
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. A giraffe's heart must generate unusually high blood pressure simply to force blood all the way up its long neck to the brain, roughly double the pressure found in a typical human heart. Thick, elastic blood vessel walls and tight skin around the lower legs help stop blood from pooling dangerously when a giraffe suddenly lowers its head to drink, a position that would otherwise risk a sudden rush of blood.
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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