PTE Academic Reading Practice Test 8 (with Answers)

Type 1 · Fill in the Blanks (Dropdown)

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

The Ancient History of Soap-Making

Evidence of soap-like substances back to ancient Babylon, where archaeologists have discovered clay containers holding a mixture of fats and ash residues thought to have been used for cleaning. Ancient Egyptians combined animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to a substance used both for washing and for treating certain skin conditions. these early developments, soap did not become associated with regular bathing and hygiene across most of Europe until many centuries later, since bathing habits varied considerably across different eras and regions. Commercial soap-making significantly during the Industrial Revolution, when new manufacturing techniques dramatically lowered production costs. Today, soap one of the most widely manufactured household products in the world.

📖 বাংলা অনুবাদ · Bangla translation

সাবানের মতো পদার্থের প্রমাণ প্রাচীন ব্যাবিলন পর্যন্ত পাওয়া যায়। প্রাচীন মিশরীয়রা তেল ও ক্ষারীয় লবণ মিশিয়ে একটি পদার্থ তৈরি করত। এই প্রাথমিক উন্নয়ন সত্ত্বেও, ইউরোপে সাবান নিয়মিত স্নানের সাথে যুক্ত হতে অনেক শতাব্দী লেগেছিল। শিল্প বিপ্লবের সময় বাণিজ্যিক সাবান উৎপাদন ব্যাপকভাবে সম্প্রসারিত 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.

Controlled Burns in Wildfire Management

Controlled or "prescribed" burns, in which forestry officials deliberately set and carefully manage small, low-intensity fires under favourable weather conditions, have become an increasingly important tool in wildfire management strategies in fire-prone regions. By intentionally reducing the accumulation of dry vegetation and dead wood that would otherwise fuel a much larger, uncontrolled wildfire later, controlled burns can significantly lower the risk and severity of dangerous fires during hot, dry seasons. Many forest ecosystems have also evolved over thousands of years alongside periodic natural fires, meaning certain native plant species actually depend on fire exposure to trigger seed germination or to clear competing vegetation. Despite these benefits, controlled burns require careful planning and monitoring, since unexpected wind shifts or unusually dry conditions can cause a prescribed burn to escape control, occasionally resulting in exactly the kind of destructive wildfire the practice is intended to prevent.

According to the passage, which TWO statements are true?

Controlled burns reduce fuel buildup that could otherwise feed a larger wildfire. Some native plant species depend on fire exposure to trigger seed germination. Controlled burns can never escape control under any weather conditions. All forest ecosystems are entirely unaffected by natural fire cycles. Controlled burns require no planning or monitoring whatsoever.

Global Crop Seed Banks

Seed banks, secure facilities that preserve samples of crop seeds from around the world, serve as a form of insurance against the permanent loss of plant genetic diversity due to natural disasters, conflict, disease outbreaks, or simple agricultural neglect. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built deep inside a mountain on a remote Norwegian archipelago, was specifically designed to remain functional even during a prolonged power failure, since the surrounding permafrost naturally keeps the vault's interior below freezing. Seed banks preserve varieties that may no longer be commercially grown but that carry genetic traits, such as drought resistance or disease immunity, potentially valuable for future crop breeding as growing conditions change due to climate shifts. Periodically, stored seeds must be regrown, and fresh seeds harvested and returned to storage, since seeds do not remain viable indefinitely even under ideal storage conditions.

According to the passage, which TWO statements are true?

The Svalbard vault relies partly on natural permafrost to remain cold during power failures. Stored seeds must periodically be regrown since they do not remain viable indefinitely. Seed banks only store crop varieties that are already widely and commercially grown. Seeds in seed banks remain viable forever without any need for regrowing. The Svalbard vault is located in a densely populated urban city centre.

Type 3 · Reorder Paragraphs

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

The Rediscovery of Ancient Troy

In the 1870s, German businessman and amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann began excavating a mound in northwestern Turkey that he believed matched the location described in ancient texts.

For centuries, the city of Troy, famous from ancient Greek epic poetry, was widely assumed by scholars to be a purely legendary or mythical place with no basis in historical fact.

His excavations revealed multiple layers of ancient settlement built one atop another over thousands of years, confirming that a real city had indeed existed at the site described in the ancient poems.

Although Schliemann's excavation methods have since been criticised by professional archaeologists as damaging to some historical evidence, his discovery permanently transformed how historians viewed the relationship between myth and historical fact.

How Tides Are Generated

A similar, though weaker, bulge forms simultaneously on the opposite side of the Earth, largely because that side experiences slightly less gravitational pull from the Moon than the Earth's centre does.

Ocean tides are primarily caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon, which is strong enough to pull ocean water on the side of Earth facing the Moon into a slight bulge.

As the Earth rotates through these two bulges roughly once every twenty-four hours, most coastal locations experience two high tides and two low tides each day.

The Sun's gravity also influences tides, though less powerfully than the Moon's due to its much greater distance, and can either strengthen or weaken lunar tides depending on the relative alignment of the Sun, Moon and Earth.

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.

perceive wavelengths ultraviolet pollinators patterns reflected camouflaged

Flowers Invisible Patterns for Bees

Many flowers display hidden _____ visible only in the _____ part of the light spectrum, a range of light _____ that humans cannot see without special equipment but that bees and other _____ can detect naturally with their eyes. These hidden markings, sometimes called "nectar guides," function much like a runway's landing lights, helping a bee quickly locate the exact centre of a flower where nectar and pollen are typically found. Researchers can photograph these otherwise invisible patterns using specialised ultraviolet-sensitive cameras, allowing scientists to _____ the flower's appearance roughly as a bee would see it.

📖 বাংলা অনুবাদ · Bangla translation

অনেক ফুলে লুকানো নকশা থাকে যা শুধু অতিবেগুনি আলোর পরিসরে দৃশ্যমান, যা মানুষ দেখতে পায় না কিন্তু মৌমাছি ও অন্যান্য পরাগায়নকারী স্বাভাবিকভাবেই দেখতে পারে। এই "নেক্টার গাইড" মৌমাছিকে ফুলের কেন্দ্র দ্রুত খুঁজে পেতে সাহায্য করে।

Type 5 · Multiple Choice, Single Answer

Read each passage and select the single best answer.

The Function of a Building's Expansion Joints

Large structures such as bridges, roads and buildings are typically constructed with expansion joints, deliberate gaps built into the structure at regular intervals, to accommodate the natural expansion and contraction of building materials as temperatures rise and fall throughout the year. Concrete and steel, the primary materials used in most large structures, both expand slightly when heated and contract slightly when cooled, and without a gap to absorb this movement, the resulting internal stress could eventually cause cracking or, in extreme cases, structural failure. Expansion joints are typically filled with a flexible, compressible material that can absorb this movement without allowing water or debris to penetrate the gap and cause further damage. Engineers calculate the necessary size and spacing of expansion joints based on the specific materials used, the structure's total length, and the expected range of temperatures the structure will experience throughout its service life.

According to the passage, why do large structures include expansion joints?

To accommodate the natural expansion and contraction of materials with temperature changes. To make the structure appear more visually appealing to observers. Because concrete and steel never change size regardless of temperature. To reduce the total amount of material required during construction.

The Origins of Braille

Braille, the tactile writing system used by blind and visually impaired people worldwide, was developed in the early nineteenth century by Louis Braille, who lost his sight in a childhood accident. Braille adapted an earlier, more cumbersome tactile military code originally designed for silent nighttime communication between soldiers, simplifying it into a compact system using arrangements of raised dots that could be read quickly by touch. Despite the clear practical advantages of his system, Braille's method faced considerable institutional resistance during his lifetime, since some educators of the blind favoured older, less efficient tactile systems and were reluctant to adopt a method they had not personally been trained in. It was only after Braille's death in 1852 that his system gained widespread acceptance, eventually becoming the internationally standardised method of literacy for blind people across virtually every written language.

According to the passage, what inspired Louis Braille's writing system?

An earlier military code designed for silent nighttime communication between soldiers. A request from educators of the blind who had already widely adopted his system. A system that was immediately and universally accepted during his lifetime. A method originally developed for sighted readers in complete darkness.

PTE Reading Practice Test 8