PTE LISTENING

Section 1 (No Rollover Time): (10-20 mins):

1. Summarise Spoken Text (Listening and Writing) - (10pts each) (10 mins each) (Very Important)

This is the first task of listening and you will get around 1-2 of these in your exam.

In this task, you will hear an academic recording of up to 40-90 seconds. You will have 10mins to
write a summary of the lecture between 50-70 words. There is no rollover time (i.e. the remainder of
the time will not be carried forward to your next task) – please use the entire 10mins wisely. Please
make sure you spend at least 2-3mins in the end to check your summary for any
spelling/grammar/vocabulary mistakes. It is an important task, please proof-read before submitting
the answer.

Note-taking: Whilst the recording is being played, please understand the lecture and note down
keywords, phrases. Note down as many keywords as possible and try to understand the lecture as
well. Try to write the summary around 65 words.

“Topic” was the main topic of the lecture. Firstly, the salient aspects mentioned include
, ___________________, and________________. Furthermore, the key aspects concerned with
“topic”consist of __________________, ________________, and________________. However, the
arguments raised also emphasised on , _ as well as_____________.
To conclude, he asserted the significance of , ___________, and .

"Wonder babies" was the main topic of the lecture. Firstly, the salient aspects mentioned include
Italy, Slovenia, and 3 groups. Furthermore, the key aspects concerned with “babies” consist of
Italian speaking, Slovenian speaking, and puppets. However, the arguments raised also emphasized
on 7 months old, right side as well as the left side. To conclude, he asserted the significance of
bilingual, position, and turning the head. (66 words)

"Sound receptors" was the main topic of the lecture. Firstly, the salient aspects mentioned include
spiky things, vibrational energy, and eardrum. Furthermore, the key aspects concerned with “sound
receptors” consist of fluid in ears, physical motion, and electrical motion. However, the arguments
raised also emphasized on electrical signals, MIT students as well as the remarkable device. To
conclude, he asserted the significance of ears, flappy, and receptors. (67 words)

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 Section 2 (Rollover Time Begins) (12-18 questions) (18-28 mins):

2. Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers (1pt for each correct option) (40 seconds only)

You will get around 1-2 of these in your exam.

Task Description: In this task, you will hear a recording and you would need to choose the correct
answers (more than one) based on the question given.

Tips: You will get 5-6 secs before the recording starts playing – make sure that you carefully
understand what the question is asking during that time.

Negative marking for each incorrect choice – please select one option only. Go for the second option
only if you are 110% about that.

3. Fill in the Blanks (Listening and Writing) (1pt for each blank) (Important task)

You will get around 2-3 of these in your exam. Each question will have around 4-5 blanks.

Task Description: In this task, you will hear a recording and the transcript of the recording will be on
the screen. A few words in the transcript have been replaced by blanks – which you need to fill after
listening to the recording.

Tips:

 Before the recording begins, make sure that you skim through the transcript in front of you.
 Please write the words for the blanks in the notepad in front of you – do not type the
answers while the recording is playing.
 Please listen carefully for ‘s’ and ‘ed’ – if not sure please read the sentence to check if it is
grammatically correct.
 If there is any proper noun or any blank after the full stop, make sure you start with the
capital alphabet.
 Quickly proofread to make sure the spellings are correct.

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4. Highlight Correct Summary (Listening and Reading) (1pt each) (40 seconds- 1 minute only)

You will get around 1-2 of these in your exam.

Task Description: You will hear an audio lecture which will go for around 30-60 seconds. Once the
recording stops – you need to choose the correct summary from the given options. Note – a
summary is a brief statement of the recording.

Tips:

 Skim through the options before the recording starts.

 Carefully understand the context of the lecture – take notes of keywords (e.g. dates,
important information).
 The correct option is usually paraphrased. The correct option does not necessarily need to
have exact keywords or sentences from the recording.

5. Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer (1pt each) (40 seconds only)

You will get around 1-2 of these in your exam.

Task Description: In this task, you will hear a recording and you need to choose one correct answer
according to what the question is asking.

Tips: You will get 5-6 secs before the recording starts playing – make sure that you carefully
understand what the question is asking during that time.

Correct answer most of the time will be paraphrased, so make sure you understand the meaning of
the lecture.

6. Select Missing Word (1pt each) (40 seconds)

You will get around 1-2 of these in your exam.

Task Description: In this task, you would listen to a recording in which the final word or group of
words has been replaced by a beep. You are given 3-5 options. You would need to choose the
correct answer option to complete the recording.

Tips:

 Before the recording begins, read the topic of the lecture which is mentioned along with the
description of this task.
 Quickly skim through the options provided.
 Try to understand the whole lecture while the recording is playing.
 Write down the last sentence before the recording stops – which will help you to try fitting
each option to the sentence, and can also be helpful to eliminate the wrong ones.

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7. Highlight Incorrect Words (Listening and Reading) (1pt for each correct selection)
(VeryImportant)

You will get around 2-3 of these in your exam.

Task Description: In this task, you would listen to a recording while you read a transcription of
thatrecording. The transcription contains up to seven deliberate errors. You highlight the words
in the transcription which do not match the recording.

Tips:

 The incorrect words will most likely be nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs, such as
easilyconfused words that are similar in sound, spelling or meaning, e.g., accept and
except, jealous and zealous, south and north, colonize and conquer, accomplished
and unaccomplished.
 Not all content words will carry the sentence stress. Therefore, you should also
listen towords that are pronounced quickly or deemphasized by the speaker.
 Negative marking for each incorrect highlight – if unsure, please do not highlight the word.

8. Write from Dictation (Listening and Writing) (1pt for each correct word) (Most Important Task)

You will get around 3-4 of these in your exam. The words range from between 8-16 per audio.

Task Description: In this task, you hear a sentence. You are then asked to write the sentence
exactlyas you heard it, using correct spelling and in the correct sequence.

Tips:

 Write down the first letter of each word that you hear.
 Focus on the content words such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Remember
basicword order of English: Subject, Verb, and Object.
 Double check your work for any spelling mistakes.
 First letter of the first word should be capital, sentence should end with a full stop
or aquestion mark.

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