PTE Reading Practice Test 7
Question 1 : Reading & Writing : Fill In The Blanks
Look at the text below with blanks. Choose the appropriate word from the provided lists for
each blank.
Item 1:
In 2001 he received the SIUC Outstanding Scholar Award. In 2003 he received the Carski
Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching from the American Society for Microbiology.
Mike’s research is ______________ on bacteria that inhabit ________________ environments,
and for the past 12 years he has studied the microbiology of permanently ice-covered lakes in
the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. In addition to his research papers, he has edited a major
________________ on phototrophic bacteria and served for over a decade as chief editor of the
_______________ Archives of Microbiology. He currently serves on the editorial board of
Environmental Microbiology. Mike’s non-scientific ________________ include forestry, reading,
and caring for his dogs and horses. He lives _____________ a peaceful and quiet lake with his
wife, Nancy, five shelter dogs (Gaino, Snuffy, Pepto, Peanut, and Merry), and four horses
(Springer, Feivel, Gwen, and Festus).
1. Shifted, moved, focused, scoped
2. Bad, negative, extreme, rigid
3. Story, review, treatise, journal
4. Magazine, quote, newspaper, journal
5. Majors, jobs, interests, undertakings
6. Along, around, beside, near
Item 2:
The horned desert viper’s ability to hunt at night has always puzzled biologists. Though it lies
with its ______________ buried in the sand, it can strike with great precision as soon as prey
appears. Now, Young and physicists Leo van Hemmen and Paul Friedel at the Technical
University of Munich in Germany have developed a computer ______________ of the snake’s
auditory _______________ to explain how the snake “hears” its ______________ without really
having the ears for it. Although the vipers have internal _______________ that can hear
_________________ between 200 and 1000 hertz, it is not the sound of the mouse scurrying
about that they are detecting. “The snakes don’t have _________________ eardrums,” says
van Hemmen. “So unless the mouse wears boots and starts stamping, the snake won’t hear it.”
1. Hand, head, chest, feet
2. Model, type, module, style
3. System, appliance, tools, applications
4. Voice, song, prey, shout
5. Ears, eardrums, eyes, eyeballs
6. Sounds, frequencies, voices, quantity
7. Internal, external, viral, outer
Item 3:
The space work for an astronaut can be inside or _______________, inside they can monitor
machines and the work is ____________ out alongside the craft. They also need to make sure
the Space ______________. ____________ the craft, they can see how the seeds react in the
space. Some seed companies send seeds to them to _____________ how seeds change their
biological character. When outside the craft, they can ________________ experiments or clean
up the space rubbish.
1. Foreign, external, outside, excel
2. Practiced, carried, given, set
3. Suit, Travel, Tribe, Station
4. Out, Outward, Outside, Outdoors
5. Escalate, estimate, inspect, investigate
6. lie down, shake off, put aside, set up
Item 4:
A dog may be man's best friend. But man is not always a dog. Over the centuries
_______________ breeding has pulled at the canine body shape to produce what is often a
grotesque distortion of the underlying wolf. Indeed, some of these distortions are, when found in
people, regarded as ________________. Dog breeding does, though, offer a chance to those
who would like to understand how body shape is controlled. The ancestry of pedigree pooches
is well recorded, their generation time is short and their _______________ size reasonably
large, so there is plenty of material to work with. _______________, breeds are, by definition,
inbred, and this simplifies genetic analysis. Those such as Elaine Ostrander, of America's
National Human Genome Research Institute, who wish to identify the genetic basis of the
features of particular pedigrees thus have an _____________ experimental animal.
1. Excellent, excessive, selective, scrupulous
2. Diseases, epidemics, pathologies, medications
3. Brood, household, litter, kin
4. Hence, However, Moreover, So
5. Representative, attainable, general, ideal
Item 5:
The contemporary ministerial staffing system is large, active and partisan - far larger and further
evolved than any Westminster equivalent. Ministers' demands for help to cope with the
pressures of an increasingly competitive and professionalized political environment have been
key drivers of the staffing system's development. But there has not been commensurate growth
in ________________ to support and control it. The ______________ framework for ministerial
staff is ________________ and ad hoc.
1. Engagements, arrangements, instruments, enlightenments
2. Discussing, opposing, operating, selecting
3. Split, fragmented, pieced, merged
Question 2 : Re-Order Paragraphs
The text boxes in the left panel have been placed in a random order. Restore the original
order by marking it in the correct order.
Item 1:
A. The material has been cataloged, cross-referenced and organized by date.
B. There is, however, no search facility.
C. This site contains a comprehensive listing of the works of Norbert Elias, a German
sociologist.
D. The site lists not only his published books and articles but also manuscripts and oral
communications, in a variety of media and including reprints and translations
Item 2:
A. During this time, I succeeded in learning to read and write.
B. I had no regular teacher.
C. In accomplishing this, I was compelled to resort to various stratagems.
D. Mrs. Hugh, who had kindly consented to instruct me, had, in compliance with the advice
and direction of her husband, not only ceased to instruct but had set her face against my
being instructed by anyone else.
E. I lived in Master Hugh's family for seven years.
Item 3:
A. As manufacturing continues to shrink in an economy, overall growth will increasingly
depend on boosting productivity in services.
B. Protection and subsidies push just the wrong way.
C. Policy should therefore focus on removing obstacles (such as trade barriers and
regulation), to such productivity growth, and creating a labor market in which workers
can move freely from factory employment to services.
D. But those who would tackle this by subsidies or trade barriers are missing the Point.
E. De-industrialization causes problems in economies unable to absorb the workers
released by manufacturing.
Question 3 : Reading - Fill In The Blanks
In the text below some words are missing. Pick words from the box below to the appropriate
place in the text.
Item 1:
From the earliest civilizations, plants and animals have been portrayed as a means of
understanding and recording their potential uses, such as their economic and healing
properties, From the first _______________ catalog of medicinal plants, De Material Medica by
Dioscorides, in the first century, through to the late fourteenth century, the illustration of plants
and animals changed very little. Woodcuts in instructional manuals and herbals were often
repeatedly copied over the centuries, resulting in a loss of definition and accuracy so that they
became little more than stylized decoration. With the growing _______________ of copperplate
engravings, the traditional use of woodcuts declined and the representation of plants and
animals became more _______________. Then, with the emergence of _______________
such as Albrecht Durer and Leonardo Da Vinci, naturalists such as Otto Brunel’s, Leonhard
Fuchs in botany and Conrad Gesner and Ulises Aldrovandi in zoology, nature began to be
_______________ in a more realistic style, Individual living plants or animals were observed
directly and their likeness __________________ onto paper or vellum.
accurate illustrated artists popularity rendered depicted
Item 2:
Education is generally considered to be a key ____________ in improving outcomes for
Indigenous Australians, with many studies showing that improved _______________ and
socioeconomic status are directly ______________ to educational participation and
achievement. There are a range of issues ________________ participation in education for
Indigenous Australians, including ________________ to educational institutions, financial
constraints, and community expectations.
linked health factor access affecting
Item 3:
Chemistry is an extremely important topic in physiology. Most physiological processes occur as
the ____________ of chemical changes that occur within the body. These changes include the
influx/efflux of ions across a neuron’s membrane, causing a ______________ to pass from one
end to the other. Other examples include the ______________ of oxygen in the blood by a
protein as it _______________ through the lungs for usage throughout the body.
storage signal result passes
Item 4:
Work-ready international students are providing greater options for local employers who are
having difficulties finding local staff due to ____________ employment rate and ____________
labor shortages, International students in accounting and information technology take part in a
year-long program consisting of classroom work and practical experience, which provides them
with valuable skills, industry contacts and a working ______________ of Australian workplaces.
knowledge ongoing high
Sample Answers
Question 1 : Reading & Writing : Fill In The Blanks
Item 1:
1. Focused
2. Extreme
3. Treatise
4. Journal
5. Interests
6. Beside
Item 2:
1. Head
2. Model
3. System
4. Prey
5. Ears
6. Frequencies
7. External
Item 3:
1. Outside
2. Carried
3. Travel
4. Outside
5. Investigate
6. Set up
Item 4:
1. Selective
2. Pathologies
3. Litter
4. Moreover
5. Ideal
Item 5:
1. Arrangements
2. Operating
3. Fragmented
Question 2 : Re-Order Paragraphs
Item 1:
CDAB
Item 2:
EACBD
Item 3:
EDACB
Question 3 : Reading - Fill In The Blanks
Item 1:
1. Illustrated
2. Popularity
3. Accurate
4. Artists
5. Depicted
6. Rendered
Item 2:
1. Factor
2. Health
3. Linked
4. Affecting
5. Access
Item 3:
1. Result
2. Signal
3. Storage
4. Passes
Item 4:
1. High
2. Ongoing
3. Knowledge
