A2–C2 · PTE Academic
PTE Academic Practice Test 7
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.
Ancient Egyptian civilisation depended on the annual flooding of the Nile. Each summer the river deposited rich silt across its banks, allowing farmers to grow wheat and barley in an otherwise arid landscape. This predictable abundance supported a large population and a powerful state.
Show sample answer
Model answer: Watch "civilisation" and "annual". Pause after "Nile", "silt" and "barley". Stress "rich silt" and "otherwise arid landscape". The last sentence should sound like a conclusion: emphasise "predictable abundance" and drop your pitch on "powerful state".
Regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes and depression. Health authorities recommend at least one hundred and fifty minutes of moderate exercise each week, such as brisk walking or cycling. Even short bursts of movement, spread throughout the day, can bring measurable benefits.
Show sample answer
Model answer: Keep a steady, reassuring pace. Say "one hundred and fifty minutes" fluently without pausing in the middle. Pause after "depression", "week" and "movement". Stress "Even short bursts" and finish with a falling tone on "measurable benefits".
Repeat Sentence
You will hear a sentence. Please repeat the sentence exactly as you hear it.
Show sample answer
Model answer: Applicants will be notified of the outcome within two weeks.
Show sample answer
Model answer: Without enough sleep, even the brightest students struggle to concentrate.
Show sample answer
Model answer: Students must present a valid identity card to enter the examination room.
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.
Show sample answer
Model answer: The line graph shows the price of a litre of petrol between 2005 and 2023. It started at 85 pence and rose sharply to 110 in 2008 and 135 in 2011, its first peak. Prices then eased to 128 in 2014, 117 in 2017 and 116 in 2020. The final period saw the biggest jump, to 165 pence in 2023, nearly double the price in 2005.
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.
Show sample answer
Model answer: The lecture explains that around forty percent of languages are endangered, risking loss of unique worldviews, oral history, and ecological knowledge, not just vocabulary. Successful revival examples include Hebrew, restored as a first language, and immersion programs for Welsh and Māori that have grown young speaker numbers, typically combining school instruction with community immersion for real fluency.
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.
Show sample answer
Model answer: Ben criticizes remote exam proctoring for invading students' privacy at home. Carla defends it as necessary for exam integrity online. David suggests redesigning exams to reduce cheating incentives instead. They agree invasive monitoring should be a last resort reserved for cases like professional certification exams, not a routine default for ordinary coursework.
Respond to a Situation
Listen to the situation and respond as if you were in it.
Show sample answer
Model answer: Sorry to bother you, I know you're allowed to recline, but I have some urgent work I need to finish on my laptop and there's barely any room right now. Would you mind bringing your seat up just partway for a little while so I can get this done? I'll let you know once I'm finished.
Writing
Summarize Written Text
Read the passage and write a one-sentence summary.
Long before compasses or satellites, Polynesian voyagers crossed thousands of kilometres of open Pacific in double-hulled canoes, settling islands as far apart as Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand. European explorers who encountered these societies in the eighteenth century found it hard to believe that such feats were deliberate, and for much of the twentieth century some scholars argued that the islands must have been colonised by accidental drift. Experimental voyages have since refuted this view. In 1976, the canoe Hōkūle'a sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti guided by a navigator from Micronesia, using no instruments at all. Traditional wayfinders memorise the rising and setting points of dozens of stars, which they use as a compass; they read the direction and shape of ocean swells, which remain steady over long distances even when the wind changes; and they observe clouds, which tend to gather above land, and the flight paths of seabirds, which fly out to sea at dawn and return to shore at dusk. Some navigators are said to detect distant islands from the way swells are reflected. This body of knowledge was passed down orally through years of apprenticeship and nearly died out in the twentieth century, but it has been revived by a generation of sailors who regard it as both a technical achievement and an essential part of their cultural identity.
Read the passage and summarise it in ONE sentence of no more than 75 words.
Show sample answer
Model answer: Polynesian voyagers deliberately crossed vast stretches of ocean using memorised stars, swell patterns, clouds and birds, a skill that was almost lost but has been revived through modern voyages as both a technical accomplishment and a source of cultural identity.
Write Essay
Write an essay of about 200-300 words on the topic.
Many young people now take a gap year, travelling or working, between finishing school and starting university. Do the benefits of this practice outweigh the drawbacks?
Show sample answer
Model answer: Delaying university for a year to travel, volunteer or work has become common in many countries, and I believe the benefits generally outweigh the drawbacks, provided the time is used purposefully.
Supporters point out that school leavers are often only seventeen or eighteen, and a year of independent living, whether through travel, employment or voluntary work abroad, can build confidence, resilience and practical skills that a classroom rarely teaches. Students who take a gap year sometimes return with a clearer sense of what they want to study, which can reduce the number who drop out or change degree after starting. Earning money before university can also ease financial pressure once term begins.
The drawbacks are real, however. Some students lose academic momentum and find it harder to return to structured study, particularly in subjects such as mathematics that depend on continuous practice. A poorly planned gap year, spent without clear goals, can amount to little more than a delay, and not every family can afford the cost of extended travel, which risks making the option available mainly to wealthier students.
On balance, I believe a gap year is valuable when it involves genuine responsibility, whether paid work, structured volunteering or a demanding personal project, rather than simply postponing decisions. Universities and employers increasingly recognise this, and with careful planning the year need not disadvantage a student academically or financially.
Reading
Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks
Select the best word for each blank.
When a search engine receives a query, it does not scan the entire internet in real time; instead, it consults an index that has already been by automated programs called crawlers. These programs continuously visit web pages, following links from one to another, and record what they find so that results can be almost instantly. Ranking algorithms then decide which pages to display first, taking into account factors such as how many other reputable sites a given page. Search companies rarely disclose the full details of their ranking formulas, partly to prevent website owners from their results unfairly. As a result, understanding exactly why one page outranks another remains, to a large extent, even for experienced web designers.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Read the text and select all the correct answers.
The rapid growth of online shopping has placed unprecedented pressure on logistics networks responsible for moving goods from warehouses to customers' doors, often within a day or two of an order being placed. To meet rising customer expectations for fast delivery, many retailers have invested heavily in networks of smaller warehouses located closer to major population centres, reducing the distance a package must travel compared with relying on a small number of large, centrally located distribution centres. Automated systems, including robotic shelving units and computer-guided sorting equipment, now handle much of the work inside these warehouses that human workers previously performed entirely by hand, substantially increasing the speed at which orders can be processed. This transformation has not been without controversy: labour organisations have raised concerns about the intense pace demanded of warehouse workers who must keep up with automated systems, while environmental campaigners point to the substantial number of delivery vehicles now travelling shorter, more frequent routes as a growing source of urban traffic and emissions. Some companies have responded by testing delivery by electric vehicle or bicycle in dense city centres, though such alternatives currently handle only a small fraction of total delivery volume nationwide.
1. According to the passage, which THREE 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.
Sociologists use the term social capital to describe the networks of relationships, trust and mutual obligation that allow individuals and communities to goals that would be far more difficult to pursue alone. Communities with high levels of social capital, characterised by dense networks of trust and frequent cooperation among neighbours, have been found in various studies to better outcomes across measures ranging from public health to local economic resilience during difficult periods. Some researchers distinguish between bonding social capital, which strengthens ties within a tightly knit group, and bridging social capital, which otherwise separate groups that might not interact under normal circumstances. Critics note that social capital can also have a darker side, since tightly bonded groups can sometimes outsiders or reinforce narrow group loyalty at the expense of wider social cohesion. Policymakers interested in strengthening communities increasingly consider how new infrastructure, such as public libraries or community centres, might help social capital rather than focusing purely on individual economic outcomes.
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Read the text and choose the best answer.
The Bauhaus, a highly influential German school of art and design founded in 1919, sought to break down traditional distinctions between fine art, craft and industrial design, training students to design objects, buildings and typography that combined visual elegance with genuine, practical functionality suited to mass production. Rejecting the elaborate decorative styles that had dominated much of the preceding century, Bauhaus designers instead favoured clean geometric forms, a restrained, limited colour palette, and an underlying design philosophy often summarised by the phrase form follows function, meaning that an object's visual design should emerge directly and logically from its intended practical purpose rather than being applied decoratively afterward. Although the school itself operated for only fourteen years before political pressure eventually forced its closure in Germany, many of its former teachers and students subsequently emigrated and continued spreading its core design principles internationally, profoundly shaping mid-twentieth-century architecture, furniture and graphic design across much of the world. Design historians continue to regard Bauhaus principles as foundational to modern design education, and many contemporary product and building designs still visibly echo the movement's characteristic emphasis on geometric simplicity and clear practical functionality.
3. What does the phrase 'form follows function' mean in the context of Bauhaus design?
Listening
Summarize Spoken Text
Listen to the recording, then write a summary.
Transcript (available after checking)
Suppose I ask you whether Mount Everest is taller or shorter than twelve thousand metres, and then ask you to estimate its exact height. Now suppose I ask a different group whether it's taller or shorter than six thousand metres. On average, the first group will guess a much higher number than the second, even though everybody knows the first figure was arbitrary. This is called anchoring. When we make a numerical judgment, we tend to start from whatever number we've just encountered and adjust insufficiently. It affects real decisions. Sellers list high asking prices so that later discounts look generous, and in negotiations whoever names a figure first often influences the final agreement. Studies show that even experts, like judges and real estate agents, are susceptible. The best defence is awareness, along with looking for independent information before forming an estimate.
Write a summary of the lecture in 50–70 words.
Show sample answer
Model answer: Anchoring is the tendency to base numerical judgments on the first figure encountered, even when it is arbitrary; people given a high number guess higher than those given a low one. It influences prices and negotiations and affects experts, so awareness and seeking independent information before making an estimate are the best protection against it.
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers
Listen and select all the correct answers.
Transcript (available after checking)
Iceland sits on a boundary between two tectonic plates, which gives it intense volcanic and geothermal activity, and the country has turned this into an energy advantage. Around ninety percent of homes are heated using geothermal water pumped directly from underground, and roughly a quarter of the country's electricity comes from geothermal power plants. The process involves drilling wells to reach naturally heated water or steam, which either heats buildings directly through pipes or drives turbines to generate electricity. Leftover hot water isn't wasted; some is used to heat greenhouses that grow vegetables year-round in a cold climate, and some feeds public geothermal pools. The approach isn't easily copied everywhere, though, because it depends on geology that most countries simply don't have, so most nations must rely on other renewable sources such as wind or solar.
1. Which of the following are mentioned in the lecture?
Fill in the Blanks
Listen to the recording and type the missing words.
The word quarantine comes from the Italian for forty days, the period ships arriving from plague-affected ports were required to wait offshore before being allowed to , a practice adopted by Mediterranean city-states in the fourteenth century. Officials had noticed, without understanding the biology, that isolating new arrivals reduced outbreaks, since most infected would show symptoms or recover within that window. Dedicated quarantine islands were later built near major ports specifically to house arriving during the waiting period. The basic principle, isolating people until a disease's incubation period has , still underlies quarantine policy used in modern .
Highlight Correct Summary
Listen and choose the paragraph that best summarises the recording.
Transcript (available after checking)
Cuneiform, one of the earliest known writing systems, developed in ancient Mesopotamia around five thousand years ago, initially as a practical tool for recording trade transactions, taxes and stored grain rather than for literature or storytelling. Scribes pressed a cut reed stylus into soft clay tablets, producing distinctive wedge-shaped marks; the tablets were then left to dry or baked, and thousands have survived remarkably well in the region's dry climate. Over time the system evolved from simple pictographs representing physical objects into a more abstract script capable of recording spoken language, including administrative records, legal codes, and eventually literary works such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest surviving pieces of literature in the world.
2. Which paragraph best summarises the recording?
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer
Listen and choose the best answer.
Transcript (available after checking)
Unlike large hydroelectric dams, which flood a wide valley to create a reservoir, micro-hydro systems generate electricity from small, fast-flowing streams without needing a dam, often diverting a portion of the water through a pipe to a small turbine before returning it downstream. Because these systems are small, typically powering a single farm or village rather than a whole region, they cause far less environmental disruption than a large dam, and they suit remote communities not connected to a national grid. The main limitation is that output depends heavily on how much water the stream carries.
3. According to the lecture, what is one advantage of micro-hydro systems over large dams?
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. As autumn temperatures drop, a hedgehog's internal body temperature falls dramatically to conserve energy, and its heart rate can dip to just a few beats per minute during deep hibernation. Hedgehogs typically build a sheltered nest of leaves and grass called a hibernaculum, and they periodically wake for brief spells throughout winter to move position or occasionally forage, rather than sleeping continuously until spring returns.
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 8