PTE Listening Multiple choice Multiple answers Practice Test

The transcript is:

The recent adaptation of the famous Disney cartoon – Beauty and the Beast – is the film that through a children’s story raises the profound questions of female oppression and sexism that have existed in our society for centuries.

The story focuses on the girl Belle who lives with her father in a small village in France. Belle is considered weird by most of the villagers and the reason for that is her love for books. The girl is frequently portrayed with a book in her hands; such an image, however, provokes rather negative responses from the people around her primarily because they believe that education, which, in this context, is access to books that Belle has, is not for women. The scene that illustrates this idea even more vividly takes place later in the film when Belle is teaching a small girl how to read. The crowd largely disapproves of that. Sexism thus manifests itself not only through the reactions to the girl who likes reading but also, and perhaps even more crucially, through the idea that men and women have different privileges. This foregrounds gender inequality and reminds the audience about the perverse norms that were generated and sustained by patriarchy.

The correct options are:

Option 3

The audio does contain references to the mistreatment of women, however it doesn’t delve into the ways they have been mistreated. Therefore this statement is not correct. As per the question prompt we have to find statements that are not correct. Therefore, this option is a correct choice.

Option 4

The audio has no reference to raising the children. Therefore this statement is not true and hence a correct option for us.

The transcript is:

Let’s have a look now at inclusiveness. And inclusiveness is looking at things like violence and discrimination against minorities, gender equity, LGBT inclusion, etc… And as a result, we see that the scores for our big countries are generally lower. Every country, rich and poor alike, is struggling with building an inclusive society. But what’s our direction of travel? Are we building more inclusive countries? Let’s have a look — progress to 2018. And again we see the world moving backwards: most countries static, a lot of countries going backwards — Bangladesh moving backwards — but also, two of the countries that were leading — Brazil and the United States — have gone backwards significantly over the last three years.

The correct options are:

Option 2

The questions asks us what can be said about the progress made on inclusiveness in our world. So, we have to select the options which correctly reflect the speaker’s opinion on inclusiveness in our world. The audio clearly mentions – “we see the world moving backwards: most countries static, a lot of countries going backwards…”. Therefore, this option is correct.

Option 3

In the audio we hear – “…we see that the scores for our big countries are generally lower…”. Therefore, this option is correct.

Option 6

Towards the end of the audio we hear – “…Brazil and the United States — have gone backwards significantly over the last three years…”. Therefore, this option is correct.

The transcript is:

So late one night at my office, I made a list of everyone that I had had breakfast, lunch, dinner or drinks with that had jobs similar to mine, and I sent them an anonymous email. And I made a very simple request. Send me a list of up to 10 of your favorite screenplays that meet three criteria. One: you love the screenplay, two: the filmed version of that screenplay will not be in theaters by the end of that calendar year, and three: you found out about the screenplay this year. This was not an appeal for the scripts that would be the next great blockbuster, not an appeal for the scripts that will win the Academy Award, they didn’t need to be scripts that their bosses loved or that their studio wanted to make. It was very simply an opportunity for people to speak their minds about what they loved, which, in this world, is increasingly rare.

Now, almost all of the 75 people I emailed anonymously responded. And then two dozen other people actually emailed to participate to this anonymous email address, but I confirmed that they did in fact have the jobs they claimed to have. And I then compiled the votes into a spreadsheet, ran a pivot table, output it to PowerPoint, and the night before I left for vacation, I slapped a quasi subversive name on it and emailed it back from that anonymous email address to everyone who voted. The Black List. A tribute to those who lost their careers during the anti-communist hysteria of the 1940s and 50s, and a conscious inversion of the notion that black somehow had a negative connotation.

The correct options are:

Option 2

The question prompt asks to select the options which are one of the criteria for including a film in the Black List. It is important to understand the theme of the audio. In this case the speaker talks about something called the Black List and how it was formed. In the audio we hear – “favorite screenplays that meet three criteria. One: you love the screenplay…”. Therefore, this option is correct.

Option 4

We also hear – “…two: the filmed version of that screenplay will not be in theaters by the end of that calendar year…”. Therefore, this option is correct.

Option 5

The final criteria is described in the statement – “…and three: you found out about the screenplay this year…”. This exercise illustrates why you need to read the question prompt before the audio starts. That is needed to make sure you are listening for what is required. Unless you knew the question was about the criteria, you wouldn’t have paid attention to these statements.

The transcript is:

And within 15 years of discovering the electron, these X-rays were being used to make images inside the human body, helping soldiers’ lives being saved by surgeons, who could then find pieces of bullets and shrapnel inside their bodies. But there’s no way we could have come up with that technology by asking scientists to build better surgical probes. Only research done out of sheer curiosity, with no application in mind, could have given us the discovery of the electron and X-rays.

Now, this tube also threw open the gates for our understanding of the universe and the field of particle physics, because it’s also the first, very simple particle accelerator. Now, I’m an accelerator physicist, so I design particle accelerators, and I try and understand how beams behave. And my field’s a bit unusual, because it crosses between curiosity-driven research and technology with real-world applications. But it’s the combination of those two things that gets me really excited about what I do. Now, over the last 100 years, there have been far too many examples for me to list them all. But I want to share with you just a few.

The correct options are:

Option 1

The question requires us to select the options which are the correct examples of benefits of curiosity driven research. In the beginning, the speaker says – “… these X-rays were being used to make images inside the human body, helping soldiers’ lives being saved by surgeons…”, and later – “…there’s no way we could have come up with that technology by asking scientists to build better surgical probes. Only research done out of sheer curiosity, with no application in mind, could have given us the discovery of the electron and X-rays.” These statements combined indicate that this option is correct. This highlights an important point – sometimes your answer will be spread across different places in the audio. You can’t always count on finding the answer in just one word or one sentence. Therefore, we always say  that you should listen with the intent of understanding.

Option 2

In the audio we hear – “…Now, this tube also threw open the gates for our understanding of the universe and the field of particle physics, because it’s also the first, very simple particle accelerator…”. Therefore this is also an example of the benefits of curiosity driven research. So, this option is correct.

The transcript is:

There’s three things that I’ve learned from my research on this that you can immediately apply if you’ve been harassed or discriminated against at work. I want to help you turn your memory into evidence — evidence that even a memory skeptic like me is unlikely to find fault with.

First of all, James Comey had it right. The former head of the FBI used to sit in his car, lock himself in after meetings with the president and write down absolutely everything he could remember about what happened. The now-famous recordings proved to be quite useful later on. Be like Comey. Now, you don’t need to lock yourself into your car to do this, but please, immediately after something happens, I want you to contemporaneously record what happened. And do this before talking to anyone else about it. Because as soon as your share your story with friends or family or colleagues or therapists, you have the potential to distort or change your memory of the event. Uncontaminated, contemporaneous evidence is worth gold.

Second: the type of evidence matters. Sure, you can do a handwritten note of what happens, but how do you prove when you wrote it? Instead, pull out your computer or smartphone and make a note that’s time-stamped, where you can prove this was recorded at this time. Contemporaneous, time-stamped evidence is better.

Finally, make sure what you’re writing down is actually relevant.

The correct options are:

Option 1

The question asks us to pick options that could be included in an article written by the speaker on what to do in case of harassment. That means we have to pick the options which seem to reflect speaker’s opinion as expressed in the audio. The speaker clearly says – ” Now, you don’t need to lock yourself into your car to do this, but please, immediately after something happens, I want you to contemporaneously record what happened.” Therefore, this option is correct.

Option 3

The speaker also says – “Instead, pull out your computer or smartphone and make a note that’s time-stamped, where you can prove this was recorded at this time.” Therefore, this option is correct.

Option 6

At the end, the speaker says – “Finally, make sure what you’re writing down is actually relevant.”  Therefore this option is correct.

The transcript is:

Do you remember when you were a child, you probably had a favorite toy that was a constant companion, like Christopher Robin had Winnie the Pooh, and your imagination fueled endless adventures? What could be more innocent than that? Well, let me introduce you to my friend Cayla.

Cayla was voted toy of the year in countries around the world. She connects to the internet and uses speech recognition technology to answer your child’s questions, respond just like a friend. But the power doesn’t lie with your child’s imagination. It actually lies with the company harvesting masses of personal information while your family is innocently chatting away in the safety of their home, a dangerously false sense of security. This case sounded alarm bells for me, as it is my job to protect consumers’ rights in my country. And with billions of devices such as cars, energy meters and even vacuum cleaners expected to come online by 2020, we thought this was a case worth investigating further. Because what was Cayla doing with all the interesting things she was learning? Did she have another friend she was loyal to and shared her information with? Yes, you guessed right. She did. In order to play with Cayla, you need to download an app to access all her features.

The correct options are:

Option 2

The question asks us to pick options that are problems with a toy like Cayla. So in the audio we have to listen for statements which discuss the toy and problems associated with it. The speaker says – “Did she have another friend she was loyal to and shared her information with? Yes, you guessed right. She did.” Therefore, this option is correct.

Option 4

The speaker says – “But the power doesn’t lie with your child’s imagination. It actually lies with the company harvesting masses of personal information while your family is innocently chatting away in the safety of their home, a dangerously false sense of security.” Therefore, this option is correct.

The transcript is:

Question: forty years ago, 1978, China sets out on its march to the market. At that point, what percentage of China’s one billion citizens were struggling to survive on less than two dollars a day? Take a guess — 25 percent? Fifty? Seventy-five? Ninety. What do you think? Ninety. Nine out of every 10 on less than two dollars a day. Twenty eighteen, 40 years later. What about the numbers? What’s your bet? Take a look. Fewer than one in 100 today. And China’s president has promised that within the next three years, those last tens of millions will have been raised up above that threshold. So it’s a miracle, actually, in our lifetime. Hard to believe. But brute facts are even harder to ignore. A nation that didn’t even appear on any of the international league tables 25 years ago has soared, to rival — and in some areas, surpass — the United States.

The correct options are:

Option 3

We have to select the options which correctly reflect the progress made by China in the last twenty years. The speaker highlights – “Ninety. Nine out of every 10 on less than two dollars a day. Twenty eighteen, 40 years later. What about the numbers? What’s your bet? Take a look. Fewer than one in 100 today.” Therefore, this option is correct.

Option 4

Towards the end, the speaker says – “A nation that didn’t even appear on any of the international league tables 25 years ago has soared, to rival — and in some areas, surpass — the United States.” Therefore, this option is correct.

The transcript is:

Put a couple of protozoa into a petri dish full of nutrient goo. In their natural habitat, soil or water, their environment constrains them. In the petri dish, they have an ocean of breakfast and no natural enemies. They eat and reproduce, eat and reproduce, until bang, they hit the edge of the petri dish, at which point they either drown in their own waste, starve from lack of resources, or both. The outbreak ends, always, badly.

Now, from the viewpoint of biology, you and I are not fundamentally different than the protozoa in the petri dish. We’re not special. All the things that we, in our vanity, think make us different — art, science, technology, and so forth, they don’t matter. We’re an outbreak species, we’re going to hit the edge of the petri dish, simple as that.

Well, the obvious question: Is this actually true? Are we in fact doomed to hit the edge of the petri dish?

The correct options are:

Option 2

We have to select options that explain why the speaker compares us with protozoa in a petri dish .  The speaker says – ” In the petri dish, they have an ocean of breakfast and no natural enemies. They eat and reproduce, eat and reproduce, until bang, they hit the edge of the petri dish…”, and then later says – “you and I are not fundamentally different than the protozoa in the petri dish…”. These combined indicate that Option 2 is correct.

Option 3

Towards the end, the speaker says – “We’re an outbreak species, we’re going to hit the edge of the petri dish, simple as that.” This indicates this option is correct.

The transcript is:

In 2012, we brought all of our best machines to London and put them in their most iconic places. We got on the London Eye. It was 443 feet above the earth. And as we reached the zenith, we unlocked our brake and fell — 200 feet on the radius, on the spoke that we were attached to. We reached as far up as heaven that day, I’m pretty sure of it. And then I and two of my dancers walked down the outside of London’s City Hall. As I stood up there, 300 feet above the ground, and looked down, I saw 2,000 eyes staring up at me, and they saw what they usually do — the sky, a bird, a plane — and then us. And we were just a tiny speck up there. And I realized that action is for everybody.

Now we have our very own mason jar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It’s called SLAM: STREB Lab for Action Mechanics. It was a former mustard seed factory. And I designed it after the use of a petri dish, and in that petri dish, I put Kid Action, STREB EXTREME ACTION and circus arts, and we all learned to fly, fall and land and invent extreme action together. And you know what we found? In comes everyone — every size, shape, age, capacity, every nationality, every race, every class, all genders.

The correct options are:

Option 1

We have to pick the options which are true statements. The speaker makes many statements such as – “we all learned to fly, fall and land and invent extreme action…” and “It was 443 feet above the earth. And as we reached the zenith, we unlocked our brake and fell…”, which together indicate that this option is correct.

Option 4

The speaker says – “ow we have our very own mason jar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It’s called SLAM: STREB Lab for Action Mechanics.” This indicates this option is correct.

Option 5

In the end, the speaker says – “And you know what we found? In comes everyone — every size, shape, age, capacity, every nationality, every race, every class, all genders.” This indicates this option is correct.

The transcript is:

Two hundred million adolescents are out of school worldwide, about the population of Brazil. And those that are in school feel that they may not be getting the right skills. Globally, six in 10 children and young people do not meet the minimum proficiency level for reading and mathematics. No country can be successful if nearly half of its population of young people are unable to read or write. And what about the lucky few who are in secondary school? Many of them are dropping out because they’re worried that they’re not getting skills that they can use to make a livelihood. And sometimes, their parents can no longer afford the fees. It’s a tragedy.

The correct options are:

Option 1

We have to pick the options which are the education problems discussed in the audio. In the beginning itself, the speaker says – “Two hundred million adolescents are out of school worldwide…”. Therefore, this option is correct.

Option 3

The speaker says – “…six in 10 children and young people do not meet the minimum proficiency level for reading and mathematics”. Therefore, tis option is correct.

Option 5

Towards the end of the audio, the speaker says – “And sometimes, their parents can no longer afford the fees.” Therefore, this option is correct.