PTE Academic · full test
PTE Academic reading practice set 3
Fifteen PTE Academic reading questions on galaxy rotation, the Black Death, comparative advantage, forest fire policy, poetry in translation and ultra-processed food. A harder set of Multiple Choice and Reading Fill in the Blanks items, untimed, with full explanations.
Exam mode: timed, answers at the end, like the real test. Practice mode: untimed, the answer and explanation after each question.
What is in this test
| Multiple choice, one answer | 10 questions | instant marking |
| Multiple choice, two answers | 3 questions | instant marking |
| Multiple choice, three answers | 2 questions | instant marking |
Covers: mcq single answer (5) · mcq multiple answers (5) · reading fill in blanks (5)
A sample question
The potato was domesticated in the Andes of South America thousands of years ago and reached Europe in the second half of the sixteenth century, brought back by Spanish travellers. For a long time it was regarded with suspicion. As a member of the nightshade family, it was related to poisonous plants, and it did not appear in the Bible or in the classical texts that shaped European ideas about food. In many regions it was first grown as a botanical curiosity or as food for animals. Attitudes changed gradually, and often for practical reasons. Potatoes produced far more calories per acre than grain and could be grown on poor soil, and because the crop was underground, it was less easily destroyed by armies passing through. Several European rulers in the eighteenth century encouraged their subjects to plant potatoes, partly as insurance against famine. Some historians argue that the crop contributed to the rapid population growth that much of Europe experienced from the mid-eighteenth century onwards, although measuring its exact effect is difficult. The dependence on a single crop also carried risks. In Ireland, where a large part of the rural population relied heavily on the potato, the arrival of a plant disease in the 1840s led to a catastrophic famine, in which about a million people died and many more emigrated. Which of the following statements are supported by the passage? Select ALL the correct answers (3 are correct).
- The potato was the main cause of European population growth in the eighteenth century.
- Early European suspicion of the potato was partly linked to its relation to poisonous plants.
- Potatoes required richer soil than most grains.
- Potatoes yielded more food energy per acre than grain.
- Growing underground gave the crop some protection in wartime.
- The Irish famine was caused by a shortage of land.
Marked when you take the test; the explanation appears in your review.