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 October 2022. You can get full version of this material by accessing PTE Predicted Questions for October 2022.

1.Natural Language

When people start thinking about language, the first question which often occurs to them is this: is language natural to humans? – in the same way that grunting is natural to pigs, and barking comes naturally to dogs. Or is it just something we happen to have learned? – in the same way that dogs may learn to beg, or elephants may learn to waltz, or humans may learn to play the guitar. Clearly, in one sense, children ‘learn’ whatever language they are exposed to, be it Chinese, Nootka or English. So no one would deny that ‘learning’ is very important. But the crucial question is whether children are born with ‘blank sheets’ in their head as far as language is concerned – or whether humans are ‘programmed’ with an outline knowledge of the structure of languages in general. This question of whether language is partly due to nature or wholly due to learning or nurture is often referred to as the nature-nurture controversy, and has been discussed for centuries. For example, it was the topic of one of Plato’s dialogues, the Cratylus. Controversies which have been going on for literally ages tend to behave in a characteristic fashion. They lie dormant for a while, then break out fiercely. This particular issue resurfaced in linguistics in 1959 when the linguist Noam Chomsky wrote a devastating and witty review of Verbal Behavior, a book by the Harvard psychologist B.F. Skinner (Skinner 1957; Chomsky 1959). This book claimed to ‘explain’ language as a set of habits gradually built up over the years. According to Skinner, no complicated innate or mental mechanisms are needed. All that is necessary is the systematic observation of the events in the external world which prompt the speaker to utter sounds.

Summarize Spoken Text (SWT) – Natural Language – Sample Answer:

The question of whether language is partly due to nature or wholly due to learning or nurture is often referred to as the nature-nurture controversy, which have been going on for literally ages tend to behave in a characteristic fashion, while Skinner explained language as a set of habits gradually built up over the years and all that is necessary is the systematic observation of the events. (68 words)

2. The National Oceanography Center

The National Oceanography Center (NOC) is engaged in research into the potential risks and benefits of exploiting deep-sea mineral resources, some of which are essential for low-carbon technology, as well as using ocean robots to estimate the environmental impact of these potential deep-sea mining activities.

Late last year the NOC led an expedition on the RRS James Cook that found enough of the scarce element Tellurium present in the crust of a submerged volcano that, if it were all to be used in the production of solar PV panels, could provide 2/3rds of the UK’s annual electricity supply. Recently, the NOC also led an international study demonstrating deep-sea nodule mining will cause long-lasting damage to deep-sea life, lasting at least for decades.

These nodules are potato-sized rocks containing high levels of metals, including copper, manganese and nickel. They grow very slowly on the sea-bed, over millions of years. Although no commercial operations exist to extract these resources, many are planned.

Professor Edward Hill, Executive Director at the NOC commented, “By 2050 there will be nine billion people on earth and attention is increasingly turning to the ocean, particularly the deep ocean, for food, clean supplies of energy and strategic minerals. The NOC is undertaking research related to many aspects and perspectives involved in exploiting ocean resources. This research is aimed at informing with sound scientific evidence the decisions that will need to be taken in the future, as people increasingly turn to the oceans to address some of society’s greatest challenges.”

Summarize Spoken Text (SWT) – The National Oceanography Center – Sample Answer:

The National Oceanography Center is engaged in research into the potential risks and benefits of exploiting deep-sea mineral resources, and late last year the NOC led an expedition and found enough of the scarce element Tellurium which could provide UK’s annual electricity supply, and NOC also found out that deep-sea nodule mining will cause long-lasting damage to deep-sea life. (63 words)

3. Bank Overdraft

Banks provide short-term ﬁnance to companies in the form of an overdraft on a current account. The advantage of an overdraft is its flexibility. When the cash needs of the company increase with seasonal factors, the company can continue to write cheques and watch the overdraft increase. When the goods and services are sold and cash begins to ﬂow in, the company should be able to watch the overdraft decrease again. The most obvious example of a business which operates in this pattern is farming. The farmer uses the overdraft to ﬁnance the acquisition of seed for arable farming, or feed through the winter for stock farming and to cover the period when the crops or animals are growing and maturing. The overdraft is reduced when the crops or the animals are sold.

The main disadvantage of an overdraft is that it is repayable on demand. The farmer whose crop fails because of bad weather knows the problem of being unable to repay the overdraft. Having overdraft financing increases the worries of those who manage the company. The other disadvantage is that the interest payable on overdrafts is variable. When interest rates increase, the cost of the overdraft increases. Furthermore, for small companies there are often complaints that the rate of interest charged is high compared with that available to larger companies. The banks answer that the rates charged reﬂect relative risk and it is their experience that small companies are more risky.

Summarize Spoken Text (SWT) – Bank Overdraft – Sample Answer:

Although the advantage that banks provide short-term ﬁnance to companies in the form of an overdraft on a current account is its flexibility, the main disadvantage of an overdraft is that it is repayable on demand as well as the interest payable on overdrafts is variable. (47 words)