PTE Summarize Spoken Text Practice Test

The transcript is:

Akin to the renaissance that occurred in Europe from the 13th to the 17th century we are in the middle or the beginning of a biomedical revolution. We have the ability to decode a whole genome for a few pounds where it used to cost a millions of pounds only a little while ago. Now we have the ability to understand and manipulate those data on an individual and mass context and all of this provides not just individual but a collective opportunity from a health management perspective. So in part in that light, us being in a time of renaissance in biomedicine, that we start to think of an industrial strategy not only to deal with how we bring data and medicine and NHS together but also the broader industrial strategy to deal with Brexit.

Some of the key points in this audio are:

biomedical revolution

ability to decode a whole genome for a few pounds

opportunity from a health management perspective

think of an industrial strategy

Based on the key points, the summary is:

There is a revolution happening in biomedicine, which now allows us to decode a complete genome for a small fraction of cost compared to that a few years ago. There is opportunity to use this data and improve health management. This requires a comprehensive strategy which brings all parties and concerns together.

The transcript is:

The Alt-Right represents what has long been called in the USA the fringe of American politics. What made them the fringe, or the very definition of the fringe, is that they are outside of the mainstream and do not have particularly a role in national politics. The kinds of ideology that we’re talking about are things that have characterised the Klu Klux Klan in this country and Neo-Nazi organisations in this country. They have not had a role in American Politics nationally since the 1920s and 1930s. But, they continued to exist and they existed in atomised corners. There would be groups in rural Ohio or rural Michigan. There would be numbers of them. But, comes the internet age, and above all social media, they networked. So that’s step one. These guys networked.

Two, there were events that made these people come together beyond simply politics.

Some of the key points of this audio are:

Alt-Right – fringe of American politics.

Not had a role in American political nationally

Existed in atomised corners – rural Ohio

Internet, social media – these guys networked

Based on the key points, the summary is:

Alt-right organizations have been on the edges of American politics and haven’t had a prominent role in politics since 1920s. They are more predominant in some rural areas and so far were isolated. However, with the advent of internet and social media they can now collaborate and form a bigger movement.

The transcript is:

Well, nobody ever gets quite what they want… or if they do then they’re never quite sure that it’s what they wanted. When you’ve got investors, when it’s a big money game, when there’s a lot on the line, you have to sell things quite hard. So it’s difficult to understand, or difficult to separate out, what’s the image, what’s the sales patter, from what he realistically expects will be realised. One of the things that usually is over-optimistic is time scales. So there are people: Mars One and so on… (That’s not Elon Musk; Musk’s much more… He’s got the technology to do stuff. Mars One doesn’t.) But they’ll talk about: well, we’re going to put somebody on Mars within a couple of years—and that’s ridiculous: there’s nothing… There’s no way you’re getting there. So they’ll change their time scales, and so on, and you get the same thing up to a point with Musk, and you get the same thing up to a point with Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic.

Some of the key points of this audio are:

investors

big money game

over optimistic time scales

Mars one – somebody on Mars within a couple of years – ridiculous

Based on the key points, the summary is:

In high stakes projects which have investors and massive money involved, people often stretch their expectations sound overoptimistic. This is especially seen in projects like Mars One which make it sound like putting people on Mars is only a matter of few years. However, this is not at all true.

The transcript is:

This weekend, tens of millions of people in the United States and tens of millions more around the world, in Columbus, Georgia, in Cardiff, Wales, in Chongqing, China, in Chennai, India will leave their homes, they’ll get in their cars or they’ll take public transportation or they will carry themselves by foot, and they’ll step into a room and sit down next to someone they don’t know or maybe someone they do, and the lights will go down and they’ll watch a movie.

They’ll watch movies about aliens or robots, or robot aliens or regular people. But they will all be movies about what it means to be human. Millions will feel awe or fear, millions will laugh and millions will cry. And then the lights will come back on, and they’ll reemerge into the world they knew several hours prior. And millions of people will look at the world a little bit differently than they did when they went in.

Like going to temple or a mosque or a church, or any other religious institution, movie-going is, in many ways, a sacred ritual.

Some of the key points of this audio are:

tens of millions of people – watch a movie

about what it means to be human

feel awe or fear

look at world a little bit differently

Based on the key points, the summary is:

People all around the world go to movies every week irrespective of their different surroundings or circumstances. Cinema is a way of experiencing various human experiences and feel different things. Movies also influence our world view. In a way this is as important for human beings as their religious rituals.

The transcript is:

Now, what Thompson found here has actually changed our view of reality. I mean, I think I’m standing on a stage, and you think you’re sitting in a seat. But that’s just the electrons in your body pushing back against the electrons in the seat, opposing the force of gravity. You’re not even really touching the seat. You’re hovering ever so slightly above it. But in many ways, our modern society was actually built on this discovery. I mean, these tubes were the start of electronics. And then for many years, most of us actually had one of these, if you remember, in your living room, in cathode ray tube televisions. But — I mean, how impoverished would our lives be if the only invention that had come from here was the television?

Thankfully, this tube was just a start, because something else happens when the electrons here hit the piece of metal inside the tube. Let me show you. Pop this one back on. So as the electrons screech to a halt inside the metal, their energy gets thrown out again in a form of high-energy light, which we call X-rays.

Some of the key points of this audio are:

that’s just the electrons

modern society was actually built on this discovery

cathode ray tube televisions

form of high-energy light, which we call X-rays

Based on the key points, the summary is:

The discovery that everything in world is made up of electrons has paved the way for several inventions. One of the most prominent was the invention of cathode ray tube. Cathode ray tubes were used in early television sets, but they also led to the development of more sophisticated technologies such as X-ray.

The transcript is:

Me Too and Time’s Up have highlighted that harassment and discrimination are a shockingly common part of many people’s lived reality, and that this reality extends into the workplace. Whether in tech or finance, sports or the service industry, every day we seem to hear another story about an abuse of power or another grossly inappropriate workplace behavior. People are furious. They’re taking to Twitter and social media to voice that this must change.

But it’s time to move beyond the hashtag. It’s time for us to report harassment and discrimination to those who can fix this mess. And it’s time for us to talk about harassment in a more inclusive way: not just about sexual harassment, but to encourage people to come forward about harassment and discrimination based on other characteristics such as age, disability or ethnicity. Because only together can we fix the underlying causes and consequences of harassment.

You see, most of us will, at some point in our lives, experience workplace harassment or discrimination. Research shows that particularly women, people of color and people who openly identify as LGBTQI are likely to be targeted, and for some people, this is a pervasive and persistent part of their reality.

Some of the key points of this audio are:

movements like Me Too – highlighted harassment

tech or finance – every day we seem to hear another story

time to move beyond hashtag

most of us – experience harassment

particularly women, people of color

Based on the key points, the summary is:

Movements like Me Too have put a big focus on harassment and discrimination in workplace. Irrespective of the industry, abuse of power and various types of harassment is seen everywhere. People should be encouraged to do more than just discuss these incidents on social media because almost everyone faces such situations at some point in life, though some demographics unfortunately face this more than others.

The transcript is:

Let me show you. Like most of you, I have dozens of apps on my phone, and used properly, they can make our lives easier, more convenient and maybe even healthier. But have we been lulled into a false sense of security? It starts simply by ticking a box. Yes, we say, I’ve read the terms. But have you really read the terms? Are you sure they didn’t look too long and your phone was running out of battery, and the last time you tried they were impossible to understand, and you needed to use the service now? And now, the power imbalance is established, because we have agreed to our personal information being gathered and used on a scale we could never imagine.

This is why my colleagues and I decided to take a deeper look at this. We set out to read the terms of popular apps on an average phone.

Some of the key points of this audio are:

dozens of apps

make our lives easier

false sense of security

really read the terms?

took too long

Based on the key points, the summary is:

Mobile phone apps play an important role in various aspects of our life. But we often use them without fully understanding their terms and conditions, and end up sharing a lot of personal information with the apps, which is now used at a massive scale. Either the terms are long and complex or we are in such a hurry to use the app that we just don’t care.

The transcript is:

So, let me thank you for the opportunity to talk about the biggest international story of your professional lifetime, which is also the most important international challenge the world will face for as far as the eye can see.

The story, of course, is the rise of China. Never before have so many people risen so far so fast, on so many different dimensions. The challenge is the impact of China’s rise — the discombobulation this will cause the Unites States and the international order, of which the US has been the principal architect and guardian. The past 100 years have been what historians now call an “American Century.” Americans have become accustomed to their place at the top of every pecking order. So the very idea of another country that could be as big and strong as the US — or bigger — strikes many Americans as an assault on who they are.

Some of the key points of this audio are:

rise of China

never before have so many people risen so far so fast

impact of China’s rise

international order

US principal architect

Based on the key points, the summary is:

The progress and development of China is spectacular in many ways such as the sheer number of people who are progressing. China’s growth is having an impact on established international hierarchy, of which America has been the leader. Now when American’s see China aiming for the top, they feel threatened as they have been the leaders for almost a century.

The transcript is:

How are we doing? No, no, no, by that, I meant, how are we, homo sapiens “we” …

doing as a species?

Now the typical way to answer that question is this. You choose some measure of human physical well-being: average longevity, average calories per day, average income, overall population, that sort of thing, and draw a graph of its value over time. In almost every case, you get the same result. The line skitters along at a low level for millennia, then rockets up exponentially in the 19th and 20th century. Or choose a measure of consumption: consumption of energy, consumption of fresh water, consumption of the world’s photosynthesis, and draw a graph of its value over time. In the same way, the line skitters along at a low level for millennia, then rockets up exponentially in the 19th and 20th century.

Biologists have a word for this: outbreak. An outbreak is when a population or species exceeds the bounds of natural selection. Natural selection ordinarily keeps populations and species within roughly defined limits. Pests, parasites, lack of resources prevent them from expanding too much. But every now and then, a species escapes its bounds. Crown-of-thorns starfish in the Indian Ocean, zebra mussels in the Great Lakes, spruce budworm here in Canada.

Some of the key points of this audio are:

measure of human well-being

low level for millennia

rockets up exponentially

outbreak – population exceeds the bounds

Based on the key points, the summary is:

If we look at the measures of human wellbeing, most of them like average lifespan remained at a low level for thousands for years but then increased exponentially in the 19^th and 20^th century. Consumption also followed the same pattern. This represents a human outbreak, a condition in which a human species grows beyond its natural constraints.

The transcript is:

Come on: Hasn’t everyone here dreamt of flying? So why haven’t humans flown yet?

I’ve been obsessed with learning to fly my whole life. I grew up a feral, adopted child on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, following my bricklayer/fisherman father around. I was always fascinated by things that moved, catching small animals, holding them in my hands, feeling the magic of their movement; playing with fire, thrilled and terrified at its unrelenting force, accidentally burning my father’s barn down — just once.

That was my first brush with real danger, the fire and my father. When I was about eight or nine years old, I caught a fly in a mason jar. Studying that fly, I thought, “Wow, it’s changing directions in midair with acute angles, and it’s going so fast, it’s a blur. Why can’t we do that? Can we?”

Some of the key points of this audio are:

obsessed with learning to fly

fascinated by things that moved, catching animals

fly in a mason jar

changing directions with acute angles

Based on the key points, the summary is:

The speaker has been passionately enthusiastic about learning how to fly. Growing up the speaker was always doing things in the wild, with the animals, observing how they move and fly. When she studied a fly trapped in a jar, she noticed how it was able to take sharp turns during its flight and fly at a very fast speed.