PTE Select Missing Word Practice Test

Transcript is:

Now let me also emphasize that this world forecast, which is based on data from 180 countries, is population weighted. So China has more weight in than Comoros; India has more weight in than Iceland. But we could unpack this and see how the countries are doing. And the country today that is closest to achieving the SDGs is Denmark. And the country with the furthest to go is Central African Republic. And everyone else is somewhere in between. So the challenge for the SDGs is to try and sweep all these dots across to the right, to 100 by 2030. Can we get there? Well, with the Social Progress Index, we’ve got some time series data. So we have some idea of the trend that the countries are on, on which we can build some projections.

Pay attention to the audio. As the question prompt says this is about goals called SDGs and the progress various countries have made on these goals. The last sentence before the beep is – “So we have some idea of the trend that the countries are on, on which we can build some…”. Substitute the given options one by one. Out of these projections make the most sense, because it means a forecast of the progress on these goals.

The transcript is:

While these concerns sound legitimate, I realized that not including children in city planning was a bigger design problem. After all, shouldn’t we include end users in the design process? If we’re building a park to be largely used by kids, then kids should have a say in the park’s design. So with all of this in mind, we formed a program called “Growing Up Boulder,” and my job is to work with children ages zero through 18 to come up with innovative city-design solutions.

The talk is about city design and planning. The last sentence just before the beep is – “…to come up with innovative city-design…”. Looking at the options given, solutions makes most sense, because we always “come up with solutions”. The overall context of design and planning also supports this, because the purpose of design and planning is to come with solutions.

The transcript is:

Now you have the power to walk through an evidence-based memory interview. Now, this is called a cognitive interview. This is the same technique that police use when they’re doing their job properly. So in best-case scenarios, people who are being asked about important emotional events are being asked in line with the cognitive interview. Now, this walks you through all the relevant information so that at the end, after you’ve talked to the bot — which is an automatic messaging system — after you’ve talked to the bot, it generates a PDF record that’s time-stamped and securely signed that you can keep for yourself as evidence in case you want to share it later, or you can submit it to your employer right away. And in line with recommendations, you can submit it to your employer anonymously. But a reporting tool is only as useful as the audience that’s listening. So if your employer is truly committed to change, we’ve decided to also offer them the tool to respond. So if organizations work with us and are truly committed to doing something about workplace harassment and discrimination, they’re also able to respond to you even if you’ve chosen to stay anonymous.

The audio is about reporting issues. The last sentence is – “…they’re also able to respond to you even if you’ve chosen to stay…”. Our of the options given anonymous makes the most sense. It means to not give out your identity. As we are talking about reporting issues and incidents, this is about reporting without disclosing your identity. This exercise demonstrates why it is important to understand the overall context of the audio.

The transcript is:

Well, companies need to realize that by prioritizing privacy and security, they can build trust and loyalty to their users. Governments must create a safer internet by ensuring enforcement and up-to-date rules. And us, the citizens? We can use our voice to remind the world that technology can only truly benefit society if it respects basic rights.

The audio is about Internet rights and the role companies, government and citizens have to play in the overall landscape. Listening to the last part of the audio before the beep, we get – “…only truly benefit society if it respects basic…”. As the audio talks about citizens, this refers to the basic rights of the citizens. By substituting the options one by one, you can also figure out that this has the correct meaning in this context.

The transcript is:

To remind myself how astonished I should be, I occasionally look out the window in my office in Cambridge at this bridge, which goes across the Charles River, between the Kennedy School and Harvard Business School. In 2012, the State of Massachusetts said they were going to renovate this bridge, and it would take two years. In 2014, they said it wasn’t finished. In 2015, they said it would take one more year. In 2016, they said it’s not finished, we’re not going to tell you when it’s going to be finished. Finally, last year, it was finished — three times over budget.

The audio is about a construction project. The last sentence is – “Finally, last year, it was finished — three times over…”. It refers to the construction project. Projects have budgets associated with them, so we know the correct option is budget.

The transcript is:

There are also really big differences in how people think about time. So here I have pictures of my grandfather at different ages. And if I ask an English speaker to organize time, they might lay it out this way, from left to right. This has to do with writing direction. If you were a speaker of Hebrew or Arabic, you might do it going in the opposite direction, from right to left.

The audio is about writing directions. The last part of the audio before the beep is – “…in the opposite direction, from right to …”. By paying attention to these last few words we know we need to find an option that makes sense with “right to…” and it has to be a direction. So, that word is “left”.

The transcript is:

What if there was a way to build a thermostat that allowed you to turn down the temperature of the earth anytime you wanted? Now, you would think if somebody had a plausible idea about how to do that, everybody would be very excited about it, and there would be lots of research on how to do it. But in fact, a lot of people do understand how to do that. But there’s not much support for research in this area. And I think part of it is because there are some real misunderstandings about it. So I’m not going to try to convince you today that this is a good idea. But I am going to try to get your curiosity going about it and clear up some of the misunderstandings.

The audio is about a concept – specifically about how to turn down the temperature of the earth. The last few words before the beep are – “…and clear up some of the…”. A concept is something that we understand or misunderstand. Further, we often say “clear up the misunderstanding” i.e. to remove any misunderstanding. We also use “dues” with “clear up”, but that doesn’t make any logical sense here. So, the correct answer is misunderstandings.

The transcript is:

Let’s talk about thrift. Thrift is a concept where you reduce, reuse and recycle, but yet with an economic aspect I think has a real potential for change. My grandmother, she knew about thrift. This is her string jar. She never bought any string. Basically, she would collect string. It would come from the butcher’s, it would come from presents. She would put it in the jar and then use it when it was needed. When it was finished, whether it was tying up the roses or a part of my bike, once finished with that, it’d go back into the jar. This is a perfect idea of thrift; you use what you need, you don’t actually purchase anything, so you save money.

The audio is about savings. The last few words before the beep are – “…you don’t actually purchase anything, so you save …”. In the context of savings, what is saved is money. So, that is the correct option. Finances and economy are general terms for money related matters. But at an individual level what is saved is money. These exercises emphasize the importance of two things in these questions – first, you must understand the overall context, and second, you must try to capture and remember the last few words before the beep.

The transcript is:

This predator-prey-shared resource type model is something I’ve worked on in my own research. And it was recently shown experimentally that restoring the metabolic balance in the tumor microenvironment — that is, making sure immune cells get their food — can give them, the predators, back their edge in fighting cancer, the prey. This means that if you abstract a bit, you can think about cancer itself as an ecosystem, where heterogeneous populations of cells compete and cooperate for space and nutrients, interact with predators — the immune system — migrate — metastases — all within the ecosystem of the human body. And what do we know about most ecosystems from conservation biology? That one of the best ways to extinguish species is not to target them directly but to target their environment.

The talk is about a research topic and specifically a research topic in biology. The last few words before the beep are – “…ways to extinguish species is not to target them directly but to target their…”. Species survive in a particular environment. Therefore, environment is the correct option. 

The transcript is:

And he did. He took a job at the Department of the Interior, but more importantly, he started a campaign. He actually had a meeting two blocks from here, in 1914, in California Hall, and he brought together the park superintendents and a few other people who cared about this idea of conservation. And they put together a plan, they hatched a campaign that eventually led to the National Park Service in 1916. And that’s really important. Because it went from an idea that we should protect these places to an actual plan, a way for people to enlist and carry that idea forward for future generations, so little kids like me can go and have these amazing experiences.

The transcript is about an initiative i.e. something begun by someone. The last few words are – “…so little kids like me can go and have these amazing…”. What can be “had” and is “amazing”? Our of these options adventures and experiences are potential candidates. However, the talk is about nothing that is adventurous. Therefore, the correct option is experiences.