PTE Practice Paper 2
PTE Writing Practice Paper 2 Read the passage below and summarize it using one sentence. Type your response in the box at the bottom of the screen. You have 10 minutes to finish this task. Your response will be judged on the quality of your writing and on how well your response presents the key points in the passage.
1. In the past two centuries, there has been a dramatic change in the role of food and eating in Australian public consciousness. Public discussion of food was largely confined to matters of supply, distribution, and price. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, some newspapers were offering regular columns of advice on housekeeping topics, including menu planning and recipes. However, eating remained essentially a private activity, even when undertaken in the company. By the late twentieth century, food and eating had become prominent public preoccupations. Evidence of this dramatic cultural revaluation abounds. In bookstores, for example, cookery and all things related to it are often among the larger displays. Specialty stores are selling all manner of cookware tableware and other paraphernalia associated with food eating and drinking. Perhaps most telling is the extension of the phenomenon of mass media celebrity to include culinary personalities. Scholars, too, have jumped on the commodification bandwagon. Now degrees in gastronomy seem set to emulate the MBA phenomenon of the 1980s and food has become a respectable subject for investigation with philosophers, sociologists, historians, cultural theorists, ecologists, and many others all having a go at it. However, surprisingly, the question seems to have held little fascination for most historians. For the best part of two centuries, they have managed to write their accounts of colonization and nationhood with only scant reference to how the settlers and their descendants fed themselves.
2. When the Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799, the carved characters that covered its surface were quickly copied. Printer’s ink was applied to the Stone and white paper laid over it. When the paper was removed, it revealed an exact copy of the text—but in reverse. Since then, many copies of “facsimiles” have been made using a variety of materials. Inevitably, the surface of the Stone accumulated many layers of material left over from these activities, despite attempts to remove any residue. Once on display, the grease from many thousands of human hands eager to touch the Stone added to the problem. An opportunity for investigation and cleaning the Rosetta Stone arose when this famous object was made the centrepiece of the Cracking Codes exhibition at The British Museum in 1999. When work commenced removing all but the original, ancient material the stone was black with white lettering. As treatment progressed, the different substances uncovered were analyzed. Grease from human handling, a coating of carnauba wax from the early 1800s and printer’s ink from 1799 were cleaned away using cotton wool swabs and liniment of soap, white spirit, acetone and purified water. Finally, white paint in the text, applied in 1981, which had been left in place until now as a protective coating, was removed with cotton swabs and purified water. A small square at the bottom left corner of the face of the Stone was left untouched to show the darkened wax and the white infill.
3 Research shows that when people work with a positive mind-set, performance on nearly every level – productivity, creativity, engagement – improves. Yet happiness is perhaps the most misunderstood driver of performance. For one, most people believe that success precedes happiness. “Once I get a promotion, I’ll be happy,” they think. Or, “Once I hit my sales target, I’ll feel great.” But because success is a moving target – as soon as you hit your target, you raise it again, the happiness that results from success is fleeting. In fact, it works the other way around: People who cultivate a positive mind-set perform better in the face of challenge. I call this the “happiness advantage” – every business outcome shows improvement when the brain is positive. I’ve observed this effect in my role as a researcher and lecturer in 48 countries on the connection between employee happiness and success. And I’m not alone: In a meta-analysis of 225 academic studies, researchers Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King, and Ed Diener found strong evidence of directional causality between life satisfaction and successful business outcomes. Another common misconception is that our genetics, our environment, or a combination of the two determines how happy we are. To be sure, both factors have an impact. But one’s general sense of well-being is surprisingly malleable. The habits you cultivate, the way you interact with coworkers, how you think about stress – all these can be managed to increase your happiness and your chances of success.
4. On a field trip to the Amazon in 1807, 19th-century explorer Alexander Von Humboldt witnessed a group of horses leads through a muddy pool filled with electric eels, which he described as dramatically leaping up to attack the intruders. But scientists have doubted the story. An illustration of Alexander Von Humboldt’s story of the battle between the horses and electric eels. The first time I read von Humboldt’s tale, I thought it was completely bizarre, Catania says. Why would the eels attack the horses instead of swimming away? But then he observed the same behaviour by accident as he transferred the eels in his lab from one tank to another using a metal-rimmed net. Instead of swimming away, larger eels attacked the net by leaping out of the water. Catania tracked the strength of the eels’ electric shock by attaching a voltmeter to an aluminium plate, or conductive metal strips to “predator” objects such as a crocodile head replica. The zap a submerged eel distributes through the water is relatively weak when it reaches the target. But when an eel touches it with its electricity-generating chin, the current travels directly to the target and has to travel through its body before it gets back to the water, Catania reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This allows the eels to deliver shocks with a maximum amount of power to partially submerged land animals that invade their territory, Catania explains. “It also allows them to electrify a much larger portion of the invader’s body. Catania found the eels leaped to attack, rather than receded, more often when the water in the aquarium was lower. He argues the attack lets electric eels better defend themselves during the Amazonian dry season when they’re cornered in small pools and make easy prey.
5 According to the United States Constitution, a presidential election is to be held once every fourth year. The process of electing a President and Vice-President begins long before Election Day. Candidates from both major and minor political parties and independent candidates begin to raise money and campaign at least one year in advance of the general presidential election. To officially represent a political party, a candidate must be nominated by that party. This primary nomination process is a contest that often produces factions within political parties. These divisions impact the policy stances and agendas of the candidates running for nomination as they attempt to garner the support of party leaders and activists. The nominating process officially begins with the first state primaries and caucuses, which usually occur in February of the election year. It is at these local events that voters are given their first chance to participate in electing the nation’s next President. Many factors influence who will ultimately become the candidate for a party. The public’s perception of the candidates is influenced by such things as media reports, public opinion polls, candidate preference surveys, and advertising. These factors will help determine the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the candidates in the months leading up to the caucuses and primaries. You will have 20 minutes to plan, write and revise an essay about the topic below. Your response will be judged on how well you develop a position, organize your ideas, present supporting details, and control the elements of standard written English. You should write 200-300 words. 1. Medical technology can increase human’s life expectancy. Is it a blessing or a curse? 2. Whether studying films at school is as important as studying literature? Do you think schools should have a curriculum asking students to play old drama and work for theatre centuries ago? 3. Children should take a large number of exams or learn more in schools. 4. Experience is a more effective way to teach, compared to books. Experimental learning or traditional learning in high school and university, Which one do you agree is more effective? 5. Schools should organize activities after class. To what extent do you agree?