PTE Academic Reading Practice Test 11 (with Answers)

Type 1 · Fill in the Blanks (Dropdown)

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

The Ancient Abacus

The abacus, one of the oldest calculating tools known to history, is believed to by merchants and officials in Mesopotamia, China and later Rome, long before the widespread adoption of written numerals made mental and paper-based arithmetic more practical. Skilled abacus users addition, subtraction, multiplication and even division remarkably quickly by sliding beads along rods or grooves according to well-established rules. electronic calculators eventually replaced the abacus for most everyday commercial purposes, the device continues to be taught in some schools today, both as a cultural practice and as a way of building strong mental arithmetic skills. Some educators argue that early abacus training children's number sense more effectively than calculator use does. Competitive abacus tournaments in several countries today, drawing skilled young competitors capable of astonishing calculation speed.

📖 বাংলা অনুবাদ · Bangla translation

অ্যাবাকাস, ইতিহাসের প্রাচীনতম গণনার যন্ত্রগুলোর একটি, মেসোপটেমিয়া, চীন ও পরবর্তীতে রোমে ব্যবহৃত হতো বলে মনে করা হয়। যদিও ইলেকট্রনিক ক্যালকুলেটর অধিকাংশ বাণিজ্যিক কাজে অ্যাবাকাসের স্থান নিয়েছে, কিছু বিদ্যালয়ে এটি এখনও শেখানো হয়।

Type 2 · Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers

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

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a vast accumulation of marine debris, largely consisting of small plastic fragments, that has gathered in a region of the North Pacific Ocean where converging ocean currents create a relatively calm, slow-rotating gyre. Rather than forming a solid, visible island of trash as many people imagine, the patch is more accurately described as a diffuse area where plastic concentration is significantly higher than surrounding waters, with much of the debris consisting of tiny fragments, called microplastics, that are difficult to see or collect using conventional methods. Most of this plastic debris originates from land-based sources, including improperly discarded waste that eventually reaches rivers and then the ocean, although a portion also comes directly from fishing vessels and other maritime activity. Because plastic does not biodegrade the way organic material does, but instead breaks down into ever-smaller fragments over time, much of the debris already present in the gyre is expected to persist in some form for many decades or even centuries.

According to the passage, which TWO statements are true?

The patch is more accurately described as a diffuse area of elevated plastic concentration, not a solid visible island. Most of the plastic debris originates from land-based sources reaching the ocean via rivers. The garbage patch forms a solid, easily visible island of trash floating on the surface. Plastic in the ocean biodegrades completely within a few weeks. All of the debris in the patch comes directly from fishing vessels, with no land-based contribution.

The Rise of Vertical Farming

Vertical farming, the practice of growing crops in stacked layers within controlled indoor environments rather than in traditional outdoor fields, has attracted growing investment in recent years as a potential solution to some of the challenges facing conventional agriculture. By carefully controlling temperature, lighting, humidity and nutrient delivery, often using hydroponic or aeroponic growing systems rather than soil, vertical farms can produce crops year-round regardless of outdoor weather conditions or seasonal changes, and can be located much closer to urban consumers than traditional farmland typically allows. This proximity can significantly reduce transportation costs and the time between harvest and sale, potentially improving freshness while also reducing the carbon emissions associated with long-distance food transport. However, vertical farms currently require substantial upfront investment in specialised equipment and consume considerable amounts of electricity for artificial lighting and climate control, meaning that only a limited range of crops, mostly leafy greens and herbs, have so far proven commercially viable to grow this way at scale.

According to the passage, which TWO statements are true?

Vertical farms can produce crops year-round regardless of outdoor weather conditions. Only a limited range of crops, mostly leafy greens and herbs, have so far proven commercially viable at scale. Vertical farms require no electricity for lighting or climate control. Vertical farms are always located far from urban consumers to save space. Vertical farming requires no upfront investment in specialised equipment.

Type 3 · Reorder Paragraphs

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

The Library of Alexandria

Founded in Egypt during the early Hellenistic period, the Library of Alexandria grew to become one of the largest and most significant repositories of knowledge in the ancient world.

Scholars travelling to Alexandria from across the ancient Mediterranean world could consult an extraordinary range of texts covering mathematics, astronomy, medicine, literature and philosophy, all gathered under one roof.

To build such an extensive collection, the library's administrators reportedly employed aggressive acquisition methods, including confiscating and copying scrolls carried by ships that docked in Alexandria's busy harbour.

Although the exact circumstances remain debated among historians, the library's gradual decline and eventual destruction over several centuries represents an enormous, still-lamented loss of ancient knowledge.

How Volcanic Islands Form

Volcanic islands typically form when magma rising from beneath the ocean floor, often at a boundary between tectonic plates or above a stationary hotspot, erupts and gradually builds up layers of hardened lava.

Over thousands or even millions of years, repeated eruptions can cause this accumulating volcanic material to rise above sea level, forming a new island entirely from solidified lava and volcanic ash.

The Hawaiian island chain formed through precisely this hotspot process, as the Pacific tectonic plate gradually moved over a stationary source of rising magma deep within the Earth's mantle.

Once exposed above the ocean surface, a newly formed volcanic island is initially barren, but can gradually develop soil and vegetation as wind, birds and ocean currents carry seeds and organic material to its shores.

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.

fatigue circadian disrupt melatonin exposure permanent mandatory

Why Screen Light Affects Sleep

The human body relies on an internal _____ rhythm to regulate when it feels sleepy or alert throughout roughly a twenty-four-hour cycle. This internal clock is heavily influenced by light _____, particularly the blue-toned light emitted by many phone, tablet and computer screens, which can _____ the body's natural production of _____, a hormone that signals to the body that it is time to sleep. Using screens late at night can therefore delay the onset of sleepiness, potentially leading to shorter sleep duration and daytime _____, even when a person still spends a normal number of hours in bed.

📖 বাংলা অনুবাদ · Bangla translation

মানব শরীর প্রায় চব্বিশ ঘণ্টার চক্রে ঘুম নিয়ন্ত্রণের জন্য একটি অভ্যন্তরীণ সার্কেডিয়ান ছন্দের উপর নির্ভর করে। ফোন বা কম্পিউটার স্ক্রিনের নীল আলো মেলাটোনিন হরমোনের উৎপাদন ব্যাহত করতে পারে, যা ঘুমের সময় বিলম্বিত করে এবং দিনের বেলা ক্লান্তি সৃষ্টি করতে পারে।

Type 5 · Multiple Choice, Single Answer

Read each passage and select the single best answer.

The Purpose of a Ship's Ballast Tanks

Large ships rely on ballast tanks, compartments built into the hull that can be filled with or emptied of seawater, to maintain stability and an appropriate depth in the water as cargo is loaded and unloaded. When a ship carries little or no cargo, its tanks are typically filled with seawater to add weight low in the hull, lowering the ship's centre of gravity and helping prevent it from riding too high in the water, where it would become more vulnerable to being pushed around by wind and waves. As cargo is subsequently loaded, crew members gradually pump ballast water out to compensate for the added weight, keeping the ship properly balanced and at a safe operating depth throughout the loading process. Modern shipping regulations increasingly require ballast water to be treated before release, since untreated ballast water taken on in one port and discharged in another can inadvertently transport marine organisms between ecosystems where they did not previously exist, sometimes becoming harmful invasive species.

According to the passage, why do ships with little or no cargo typically fill their ballast tanks with seawater?

To add weight low in the hull and lower the ship's centre of gravity for stability. To increase the ship's cargo capacity permanently. To make the ship travel faster through open water. To comply with a requirement that has nothing to do with stability.

The Function of Tree Rings in Dendrochronology

Dendrochronology, the scientific method of dating events and environmental conditions by analysing the pattern of growth rings in trees, relies on the fact that most trees in temperate climates add one new ring of wood beneath their bark during each annual growing season. Because growing conditions vary from year to year, with wetter or warmer years typically producing wider rings and drier or cooler years producing narrower ones, the resulting pattern of ring widths across a tree's lifetime forms something like a unique fingerprint of the specific climate conditions it experienced. By comparing overlapping ring patterns between living trees, dead trees, and even ancient wooden structures or archaeological artefacts, researchers can extend these chronological records back thousands of years beyond the lifespan of any single tree, allowing precise dating of historical climate events, volcanic eruptions, and even the construction dates of old wooden buildings.

According to the passage, how do researchers extend tree-ring chronological records beyond a single tree's lifespan?

By comparing overlapping ring patterns between living trees, dead trees, and wooden artefacts. By measuring the total height of a single tree at the time of cutting. By counting only the rings visible on the outermost surface of the bark. By relying exclusively on written historical records rather than physical wood samples.

PTE Reading Practice Test 11