PTE Academic Reading Practice Test 17 (with Answers)

Type 1 · Fill in the Blanks (Dropdown)

Click each blank and choose the correct word from its dropdown menu.

The Telephone and Its Rivals

Alexander Graham Bell is usually credited with inventing the telephone, he received a patent for it in 1876. However, several other inventors on similar devices at the same time, and Elisha Gray filed a claim for a telephone design on the very same day as Bell. The question of who deserves the credit the subject of legal battles for years. What is beyond dispute is how quickly the invention spread: within a decade, more than a hundred thousand people in the United States telephones. Early users had to be connected by human operators, switched calls by hand on large boards.

📖 বাংলা অনুবাদ · Bangla translation

আলেকজান্ডার গ্রাহাম বেলকে টেলিফোনের উদ্ভাবক বলা হয়, কারণ ১৮৭৬ সালে তিনি পেটেন্ট পান। তবে একই সময়ে আরও কয়েকজন উদ্ভাবক কাজ করছিলেন এবং কৃতিত্ব নিয়ে বহু বছর মামলা চলে। প্রথম দিকে অপারেটররা হাতে কল সংযোগ দিতেন।

Type 2 · Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers

Read each passage and select all the options that are correct — more than one answer may be right.

Why Honey Lasts So Long

Archaeologists excavating ancient Egyptian tombs have reportedly found pots of honey that were still edible after thousands of years. Honey resists spoiling for several reasons. It contains very little water and a great deal of sugar, so any bacteria that land in it lose water to the honey and cannot survive. Honey is also naturally acidic, which further discourages microbial growth. In addition, bees add an enzyme to the nectar that produces small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, a mild antiseptic. However, honey can ferment if it absorbs moisture from the air, which is why it should be stored in a tightly sealed container.

According to the passage, which TWO statements are true?

Honey should be stored in an open container. Honey can spoil if it absorbs moisture from the air. Honey contains large amounts of water. Honey's low water content prevents bacteria from surviving in it. Bees add salt to honey to preserve it.

The Bystander Effect

Psychologists use the term "bystander effect" to describe the finding that people are less likely to help a person in distress when other people are present. In classic experiments, participants who believed they were alone with someone having a medical emergency were far quicker to seek help than those who believed several others were also aware of it. One explanation is a diffusion of responsibility: each person assumes that someone else will act. Another is that people look to others to judge whether a situation is really an emergency, and if no one else reacts, they conclude that help is not needed. Training that makes people aware of the effect, and simply asking a specific person for help, can reduce it.

According to the passage, which TWO statements are true?

Asking a particular person for help can reduce the effect. People help more quickly when many others are present. Training cannot change how bystanders behave. People may assume someone else will take responsibility for helping. The effect has never been tested in experiments.

Type 3 · Reorder Paragraphs

Drag the paragraphs into the correct order, or use the ▲▼ buttons.

Building the Padma Bridge

Engineers faced difficult conditions, including deep, shifting riverbed sediment, so the piles supporting the bridge had to be driven exceptionally deep.

For decades, people travelling between Dhaka and the south-west of Bangladesh had to cross the wide and powerful Padma River by ferry, a journey that could take many hours.

When the six-kilometre bridge finally opened in 2022, it reduced travel times dramatically and was expected to boost economic growth in the region.

After plans for an internationally funded bridge stalled, the government decided in 2012 to build the bridge using its own resources.

How a Rainbow Forms

A rainbow can appear when the sun is shining behind an observer and rain is falling in front of them.

Because each colour bends by a slightly different amount, the white light separates into its component colours, which then reflect off the back of the drop.

As sunlight enters each raindrop, it slows down and bends, a process known as refraction.

The light bends again as it leaves the drop, and millions of drops together produce the familiar arc of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet.

Type 4 · Fill in the Blanks (Drag and Drop)

Click a word in the box below to select it, then click the blank where it fits (or drag it directly). Two extra words will not be used.

offshore direction battery generator blades underground tower

How Wind Turbines Work

A modern wind turbine converts the movement of air into electricity. When the wind blows, it pushes against the long, curved _____, causing them to rotate. The blades are connected to a shaft inside a housing at the top of the _____, where a gearbox increases the speed of rotation. This fast-spinning shaft drives a _____, which produces electricity. Sensors measure the wind and turn the turbine to face the most effective _____. Turbines are often grouped together in wind farms, frequently located on hills or _____, where winds are stronger and more consistent.

📖 বাংলা অনুবাদ · Bangla translation

বায়ুচালিত টারবাইন বাতাসের গতিকে বিদ্যুতে রূপান্তর করে। বাতাস পাখা ঘোরায়, গিয়ারবক্স গতি বাড়ায় এবং জেনারেটর বিদ্যুৎ উৎপাদন করে। টারবাইন প্রায়ই পাহাড়ে বা সমুদ্রে বসানো হয়, যেখানে বাতাস বেশি।

Type 5 · Multiple Choice, Single Answer

Read each passage and select the single best answer.

The Importance of Bees in Agriculture

Around three-quarters of the world's major food crops depend at least partly on animal pollination, and bees are the most important pollinators. As a bee collects nectar, pollen sticks to its hairy body and is carried to the next flower, allowing the plant to produce fruit and seeds. Crops such as almonds, apples and mustard benefit greatly from bee visits, while staple grains such as rice and wheat are pollinated by wind and do not need bees. Wild bee populations have declined in many regions because of habitat loss, pesticides and disease, prompting farmers to plant wildflower strips along field edges to provide food and shelter for pollinators.

Why are some farmers planting wildflower strips beside their fields?

To increase the wind pollination of rice and wheat. To stop bees from visiting their crops. To replace the need for pesticides completely. To provide food and shelter that support declining bee populations.

The Purpose of Daylight Saving Time

Daylight saving time, the practice of moving clocks forward by one hour in spring and back in autumn, was introduced widely during the First World War in an attempt to save fuel by making better use of evening daylight. Today, more than seventy countries still use it, although many tropical countries do not, since day length changes little throughout their year. The energy savings are now debated, as modern studies suggest any reduction in lighting may be offset by greater use of air conditioning. Critics also point to health effects, noting that the spring change, in which people lose an hour of sleep, is associated with a short-term rise in road accidents and heart attacks.

Why do many tropical countries not use daylight saving time?

Their governments ban changing the clocks for health reasons. Day length changes very little during their year. They use more air conditioning in the evening. They have no need to save fuel.

PTE Reading Practice Test 17