Academic Reading Skills Flashcards
7 cards from real PTE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Academic Reading Skills flashcards as text
In PTE Academic Reading, what is the primary purpose of the 'Re-order Paragraphs' task?
Answer: To assess your understanding of logical and coherent text structure
Re-order Paragraphs tests whether you can recognize how sentences and ideas flow logically and coherently within a text.
A passage states: 'Although renewable energy sources are becoming more affordable, their intermittent nature poses challenges for grid stability.' The word 'intermittent' most likely means:
Answer: Occurring at irregular intervals
Intermittent means not continuous or steady, occurring at irregular intervals — fitting the context of inconsistent power generation.
When reading an academic text, a 'topic sentence' typically appears:
Answer: At the beginning of a paragraph to introduce the main idea
A topic sentence usually opens a paragraph, stating the central idea that the rest of the paragraph will develop or support.
In PTE Reading, which strategy best helps you answer 'Multiple-choice, Choose Multiple Answers' questions accurately?
Answer: Eliminate clearly incorrect options and verify each remaining choice against the text
Systematically eliminating wrong answers and verifying each remaining option against textual evidence is the most reliable approach.
A passage argues that 'urban farming can reduce food miles and lower carbon emissions.' Which of the following would be the strongest supporting evidence for this claim?
Answer: Data showing that locally grown produce travels 50 times fewer miles than imported goods
Quantitative data directly comparing travel distances provides concrete evidence that urban farming reduces food miles and therefore emissions.
What does it mean when an academic author uses 'hedging' language such as 'it appears that' or 'may suggest'?
Answer: The author is expressing caution about the certainty of claims
Hedging in academic writing signals that the author is acknowledging uncertainty or presenting findings as probable rather than definitive.
When scanning a passage for specific information in PTE Reading, the best approach is to:
Answer: Move your eyes quickly over the text searching for key words or numbers related to the question
Scanning involves rapid eye movement across text to locate specific keywords, dates, or figures without reading every word.