PTE Reading: Practice Questions - 3 | Practice Tests for PTE PDF Download

Reading & Writing: Fill In The Blanks

Q1: Below is a text with blanks. Fill the appropriate answer choice from the given options for each blank.

Founded in 1923, Interpol is an international police organisation made up of 194 member countries. It is not a police force in the traditional sense-its agents are not able to ________(1)________ criminals. ________(2)________, it is more of an information-sharing network, providing a way for national police forces to co-operate effectively and tackle international crime ranging from human trafficking and terrorism to money laundering and illegal art dealing. The organisation, ________(3)________ in France, operates centralised criminal databases that contain fingerprint records, DNA samples and stolen documents: a treasure trove so _____ ___(4)________  that police consulted it 146 times every second in 2017. Interpol's other main function is to issue notices: alerts to member states for missing or wanted persons.
Given below are the answer choices for the blanks in the passage. Choose one option for each blank.
1. suggest / prevent / arrest / trick
2. Instead / Yet / Although / Hence
3. framed / based / honed / bound
4. valuable / costly / nasty / attractive

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Q2: Below is a text with blanks. Fill the appropriate answer choice from the given options for each blank.

In the early 1920s, aviators would fly with little navigational aid. Lost pilots would simply descend to read the signs on railway stations. Some relied on hand-signals, flags or giant concrete arrows on the ground to show them ___(1)___ to land. In 1935, with pilots now able to communicate through cockpit radios, the American government ___(2)___ the first air-traffic control facility to regulate the skies. The invention of radar, just before the second world war, brought even more changes, enabling air-traffic controllers to determine the position of aircraft at all times. The danger posed by other aircraft is now, arguably, trumped by that posed by drones. ___(3)___ light, they are capable of harming an airliner's engine, wing or windscreen. Regulations prevent drones from flying near airports, but some operators ___(4)___ these rules while others are simply unaware of them.
Given below are the answer choices for the blanks in the passage. Choose one option for each blank.
1. where / what / which / whether
2. tracked / tied / backed / spied
3. Despite / Although / In spite of / Since
4. forget / ignore / follow / know

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Q3: Below is a text with blanks. Fill the appropriate answer choice from the given options for each blank.

As fires rage in the Amazon, people have latched onto the phrase that the Amazon is the 'lungs of the earth'. Our hearts collectively burst for the burning rainforest for two reasons: One was for the ___(1)____ and ancestral tragedy of watching an iconic location burn, and the other for the fact that this 6 to 8 million square kilometres of forest plays a ___(2)____ role in removing world-heating carbon dioxide out of the air. The longer the fires burn, the ___(3)____ natural air filtration the Earth will have. But while the Amazon plays a pivotal role in global carbon absorption, between 1994 and 2007, our oceans absorbed 34 gigatons of the world's carbon through algae, vegetation, and coral. In ___(4)____ words, the trees might not save us - but the oceans could.

Given below are the answer choices for the blanks in the passage. Choose one option for each blank.
1. dubious / environmental / visible / natural
2. tragic / vital / ferocious / volatile
3. fewer / meagre / little / less
4. other / more / some / short

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Q4: Below is a text with blanks. Fill the appropriate answer choice from the given options for each blank.

Lead is a soft, gray, lustrous metal with a high density and low melting point. Humans have been extracting and using lead for over 6000 years. Ancient Egyptians were likely the first to ___(1)____ lead, which they used to make small sculptures. In China, lead was used to ___(2)____ coins by 2000 BC. The Greeks were the first to recognize lead's ___(3)____ resistant properties and applied lead as a protective covering on ship hulls (an application in which lead compounds are still used for to this day). The Romans, consequently, began extracting large ___(4)____ of lead for their expansive water systems.

Given below are the answer choices for the blanks in the passage. Choose one option for each blank.
1. extract / join / mint / invent
2. mine / buy / forge / discover
3. erosion / corrosion / mission / vision
4. numbers / basins / figures / quantities

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Q5: Below is a text with blanks. Fill the appropriate answer choice from the given options for each blank.

Those who pick the winners of Nobel science prizes do sometimes plump for big and obvious names. Often, though, they seem to take great joy in shining the ___(1)____ of fame onto researchers little ___(2)____ outside their own fields, let alone to the general ______(3)________. This year's prize in physiology or medicine is a classic of the genre. The laureates have each contributed to a discovery that, though crucial to understanding how human bodies work, is almost invisible to the ___(4)___ world. This discovery is about how cells detect and adjust to the level of oxygen available to fuel their activities.
Given below are the answer choices for the blanks in the passage. Choose one option for each blank.
1. flame / spotlight / light / candle
2. known / recognized / familiar / found
3. people / crowd / mankind / public
4. wider / particular / human / science

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Reading: Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers

Q6: Read the text and answer the question by selecting all the correct responses. More than one response is correct.

Which of these statements hold true with reference to the passage?

Question Passage:
In the context of the nature vs. nurture debate, "nature" refers to biological/genetic predispositions' impact on human traits, and nurture describes the influence of learning and other influences from one's environment. The debate over whether the strengths and weaknesses of people are the result of nature or nurture has, and somewhat continues to rage on between scholars and lay people alike. This debate has had significant social implications, particularly concerning what is thought to determine people's ability to learn/intelligence.

While certain physical traits like skin and eye colour and diseases like sickle cell anaemia and Huntington's chorea have been found to be the result of direct genetic inheritance, virtually any pattern of thinking or behaviour can be understood from the perspective of a combination of nature and nurture. In the animal kingdom, domestication of many species is understood to be the result of encouraging domesticated behaviours (nurture), then having animals that most successfully adopt those behaviours breed with each other so it becomes part of their nature. In humans, many studies in more than the past 20 years involve identical or fraternal twins who are separated at birth. The question of nature vs. nurture somewhat continues to be debated concerning human behaviour, intelligence, and in the development of personality traits.

As with most human traits, intelligence is now understood to be the result of some combination of both nature and nurture. While genes have a great influence on the size and biochemistry of the brain, its full development does not usually occur until after the first 20 years of life. Intelligence and subsequent learning also are viewed as being largely moulded by the environment the person grows up in, both before and after birth.

Options:
1. It is becoming increasingly obvious that nurture plays a more important role than nature. 
2. Human intelligence is found to be dependent on both nature and nurture. 
3. Studies involving identical twins separated at birth indicate that nature is more compelling than nurture. 
4. Inbreeding amongst animals who have nurtured a certain behaviour may result in it becoming part of their nature.
5. The nature vs. nurture debate is largely philosophical with minor implications on the understanding of human behaviour. 

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Q7: Read the text and answer the question by selecting all the correct responses. More than one response is correct.

Which of these are true with reference to the text?

Question Passage:
According to the World Meteorological Organisation, a heatwave is a "marked warming of the air, or the invasion of very warm air, over a large area; it usually lasts from a few days to a few weeks". That sounds downright pleasant to residents of cooler climes and does not capture the lethal menace of the weather phenomenon.

Governments have been late to the game when it comes to establishing exact criteria for heatwaves and public heat-warning systems. A survey in 2015 found that around one-third of countries still lacked criteria for defining and reacting to heatwaves. Worryingly, there is no commonly accepted definition for the point at which the public should be alerted.

Some differences are logical because heatwave warnings depend in part on what residents are used to. The temperatures currently keeping Parisians sweating on the Metro would barely warrant a mention in Furnace Creek, California, which has recorded the world's highest temperature (56.7°C, or 134°F, in 1913). It makes sense to tailor warnings to local conditions. But maximum temperature is only one of a number of variables that can add up to a killer heatwave. Others include humidity, air pollution, wind conditions, the minimum night-time temperature and how long the hot spell lasts. National definitions vary widely, depending on which of these variables are included, how they are measured, and even on the timing of warnings. An alert in England means the heatwave is expected within three days. In Belgium, it means the hot weather has already arrived.

Options:
1. The temperature at which a heatwave is declared hardly depends on where one lives.
2. Governments do not yet have a standard for defining or measuring a heatwave in many countries.
3. A single definition and barometer of measurement should ideally be implemented across a nation.
4. When a heatwave alert is sounded may also be dependent on where one lives.
5. There are many other atmospheric indicators that weigh in on whether there is a heatwave.
Ans:
Option 1 is factually incorrect as the passage states the opposite: 'Some differences are logical because heatwave warnings depend in part on what residents are used to.'
Option 3 is incorrect since the passage clearly mentions how a unifying definition for what constitutes a heatwave cannot be applied across areas that experience widely varying average temperatures. Sometimes these areas may fall within the boundaries of a single nation, therefore 'It makes sense to tailor warnings to local conditions.'

Reading: Re-order Paragraphs

Q8: The text items below have been placed in a random order. Restore the original order by Choosing the correct sequence.
1. Thanks to aircraft that could provide accurate data on the position of a hurricane, and the development of nascent computer technology, hurricane forecasting became a lot easier.
2. Things began to change in the 1950s when the science of storm prediction took a radical leap forward.
3. Scientists used these and other techniques to develop statistical and atmospheric models of the storms.
4. It didn't take long for scientists to predict, with reasonable certainty, the exact track of a hurricane.
5. Earlier, the only time people knew a hurricane was going to strike was when the wind started blowing and the rain began. By then it was too late. Entire cities and towns were swept away.

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Q9: The text items below have been placed in a random order. Restore the original order by Choosing the correct sequence.
1. Even though the question seems simple, it can be a make or break and determine the final outcome of your interview.
2. One question you can expect to encounter during almost every job interview is: Why do you want to work here?
3. Here's how to capitalize on this moment and secure your chances at getting the job.
4. The ideal answer will showcase enthusiasm for the position and reinforce the idea that you're uniquely qualified for the position.
5. With a little forethought, your answer will help establish your credibility, convince a hiring manager to like you, and prove your value to an organization.

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Reading: Fill In The Blanks

Q10: In the text below some words are missing. choose words from the given options appropriate place in the text.

Failures to meet deadlines often come from less predictable, more general factors—such as new distractions from other tasks, difficulties with travel or ___(1)___ the necessary supplies, or illness—that could all contribute to a delay. It's these kinds of difficulties that probably caused us to ___(2)___ deadlines in the past—and recognizing that fact could help us to preempt some of those issues in the future. By focusing too much on the highly ___(3)___ details of our current task and ignoring our past experiences, however, we ___(4)___ to take those possibilities into account.

Options: (fail / gaining / miss / specific / asking / major / lose)

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Q11: In the text below some words are missing. choose words from the given options appropriate place in the text.

A vision statement is a business's guiding image of success. It is a visual image of the company's destination. It is the dream that brought the whole thing to ___(1)___. Your vision is the final product. For example, an architect's vision is the final product of his ___(2)___. An artist's vision is the final artwork that he creates. Similarly, your business vision is the ultimate goal of what you are trying to accomplish, or how you are trying to alter the current landscape in your market to make it ___(3)___.

Options: (inspire / better / develop / reality / design / elicits)

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Q12: In the text below some words are missing. choose words from the given options appropriate place in the text.

The coffins of Luxor contained the mummified remains of men and women, as well as two children. The coffins were sealed and ___(1)___ on top of each other. They are adorned with ___(2)___ carvings and designs, including a series of spells that enabled the soul to navigate the afterlife. The inscriptions are especially unique because of the vivid colors, which stayed ___(3)___ even though the coffins were buried for thousands of years.

Options: (intricate / glazed / stacked / intact / lifted / cache)

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Q13: In the text below some words are missing. choose words from the given options appropriate place in the text.

A UK company wants to turn the plastic deluge into an ___(1)___ by producing energy from non-recyclable plastics and other waste. It has developed a process where it produces syngas to power fuel cells in vehicles. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are ___(2)___ by electricity created in a fuel cell. Hydrogen cars have two big advantages over battery-powered electric vehicles: they can usually drive ___(3)___ before needing to refuel, and refuelling takes only a few minutes. One downside is that hydrogen fuelling stations are few and ___(4)___ between.

Options: (far / opportunity / idea / powered / long / farther / in)

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Reading: Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer

Q14: Read the text and answer the multiple-choice question by selecting the correct response. Only one response is correct.
The passage is focused on answering which of the following questions?
Question Passage
Come wintertime thousands of tiny songbirds will cross the equator heading south for sunnier climes. It is an epic trip. For guidance, they will rely on the position of the sun and stars, as well as smells and other landmarks. They also use the Earth's magnetic field, thanks to a sense known as magneto-reception.
Animals can potentially derive two types of information from the geomagnetic field: the direction in which they are facing, and where they sit relative to a goal. Directional information is the more basic, as polarity lets animals orient north or south as if using a compass. Straying from the course can have deadly consequences.
Options:

1. How do animals use magneto-reception to navigate?
2. Can animals use the Earth's magnetic field to migrate?
3. Is migration in the animal kingdom using an unlikely tool?
4. What are the effects of the Earth's magnetic field on animals?

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