PTE WRITING Summarize Written Text (SWT) exam questions

Tip: Summarize Written Text questions tend to have higher repeated rate than other question types in PTE Academic test. Make sure you understand the whole passage. Memorise words as much as you can. We selected some of PTE predicted Summarize Written Text (Writing) for December 2022. You can get full version of this material by accessing PTE Predicted Questions for December 2022.

1.Difference in Intelligence

People differ greatly in all aspects of what is casually known as intelligence. The differences are apparent not only in school, from kindergarten to college, but also in the most ordinary circumstances: in the words people use and comprehend, in their differing abilities to read a map or follow directions, or in their capacities for remembering telephone numbers or figuring change. The variations in these specific skills are so common that they are often taken for granted. Yet what makes people so different? It would be reasonable to think that the environment is the source of differences in cognitive skills — that we are what we learn. It is clear, for example, that human beings are not born with a full vocabulary; they have to learn words. Hence, learning must be the mechanism by which differences in vocabulary arise among individuals. And differences in experience — say, in the extent to which parents model and encourage vocabulary skills or in the quality of language training provided by schools — must be responsible for individual differences in learning. Earlier in this century, psychology was in fact dominated by environmental explanations for variance in cognitive abilities. More recently, however, most psychologists have begun to embrace a more balanced view: one in which nature and nurture interact in cognitive development. During the past few decades, studies in genetics have pointed to a substantial role for heredity in molding the components of intellect, and researchers have even begun to track down the genes involved in cognitive function. These findings do not refute the notion that environmental factors shape the learning process. Instead they suggest that differences in people’s genes affect how easily they learn.

Summarize Spoken Text (SWT) – Difference in Intelligence – Sample Answer:

People differ greatly in all aspects of what is casually known as intelligence, and that psychology was dominated by environmental explanations for variance in cognitive abilities, but recently researchers suggest that differences in people’s genes affect how easily they learn.(40 words)

2. Dandelion Seeds

The extraordinary flying ability of dandelion seeds is possible thanks to a form of flight that has not been seen before in nature, research has revealed. The discovery, which confirms the common plant among the natural world’s best fliers, shows that movement of air around and within its parachute-shaped bundle of bristles enables seeds to travel great distances — often a kilometer or more, kept afloat entirely by wind power. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh carried out experiments to better understand why dandelion seeds fly so well, despite their parachute structure being largely made up of empty space. Their study revealed that a ring-shaped air bubble forms as air moves through the bristles, enhancing the drag that slows each seed’s descent to the ground. This newly found form of air bubble — which the scientists have named the separated vortex ring — is physically detached from the bristles and is stabilized by air flowing through it. The amount of air flowing through, which is critical for keeping the bubble stable and directly above the seed in flight, is precisely controlled by the spacing of the bristles. This flight mechanism of the bristly parachute underpins the seeds’ steady flight. It is four times more efficient than what is possible with conventional parachute design, according to the research. Researchers suggest that the dandelion’s porous parachute might inspire the development of small-scale drones that require little or no power consumption. Such drones could be useful for remote sensing or air pollution monitoring.

Summarize Spoken Text (SWT) – Dandelion Seeds – Sample Answer:

While the extraordinary confirms the common plant among the natural world’s best fliers, a ring-shaped air bubble forms as air moves through the bristles and enhancing the drag that slows each seed’s descent to the ground, so critical for keeping the bubble stable and directly above the seed in flight, which inspire the development of small-scale drones that require little or no power consumption. (64 words)

3. Brain Wave

We can’t see it, but brains hum with electrical activity. Brain waves created by the coordinated firing of huge collections of nerve cells pinball around the brain. The waves can ricochet from the front of the brain to the back, or from deep structures all the way to the scalp and then back again. Called neuronal oscillations, these signals are known to accompany certain mental states. Quiet alpha waves ripple soothingly across the brains of meditating monks. Beta waves rise and fall during intense conversational turns. Fast gamma waves accompany sharp insights. Sluggish delta rhythms lull deep sleepers, while dreamers shift into slightly quicker theta rhythms. Researchers have long argued over whether these waves have purposes, and what those purposes might be. Some scientists see waves as inevitable but useless by-products of the signals that really matter — messages sent by individual nerve cells. Waves are simply a consequence of collective neural behavior, and nothing more, that view holds. But a growing body of evidence suggests just the opposite: instead of by-products of important signals, brain waves are key to how the brain operates, routing information among far-flung brain regions that need to work together. MIT’s Earl Miller is among the neuroscientists amassing evidence that waves are an essential part of how the brain operates. Brain oscillations deftly route information in a way that allows the brain to choose which signals in the world to pay attention to and which to ignore, his recent studies suggest. Other research supports this view, too. Studies on people with electrodes implanted in their brains suggest brain waves, and their interactions, help enable emotion, language, vision and more.

Summarize Spoken Text (SWT) – Brain Wave – Sample Answer:

Brain waves created by the coordinated firing of huge collections of nerve cells pinball around the brain, and that beta waves rise and fall during intense conversational turns, so researchers have long argued over whether these waves have purposes, while evidence suggests brain waves are key to how the brain operates, routing information amoung far-flung brain regions that need to work together. (63 words)