Reading · Writing
Summarize Written Text — practice #swt-003
Read the passage below and summarise it using one sentence (5–75 words). Type your response in the box at the bottom. You have 10 minutes; your response is judged on the quality of your writing and how well you capture the key points.
Summarize Written Text
Untimed practiceRead the passage below and summarise it using one sentence (5–75 words). Type your response in the box at the bottom. You have 10 minutes; your response is judged on the quality of your writing and how well you capture the key points.
The eruption of the Indonesian volcano Tambora in 1815 was the most powerful in recorded history, yet its most dramatic effects were felt thousands of kilometres away, the following year. The explosion hurled enormous quantities of ash and sulphur dioxide high into the atmosphere, where the gas reacted to form a fine veil of particles that spread across the globe. This veil reflected sunlight back into space, lowering temperatures worldwide and producing what contemporaries called 'the year without a summer'. In Europe and North America, frosts struck in June and July, ruining harvests that should have ripened in warmth. Crops failed across wide regions, and the resulting food shortages drove prices to extraordinary heights. Hunger spread quickly, and with it came disease and social unrest, as desperate populations searched for grain that simply did not exist. The disruption reached unexpected corners of human life. The shortage of oats left many unable to feed their horses, which prompted a German inventor to design an early two-wheeled vehicle propelled by the rider's feet, an ancestor of the modern bicycle. Cold, gloomy weather kept a group of writers indoors near a Swiss lake, where a ghost-story competition inspired one of them to begin a novel that became a landmark of horror fiction. Even artists noticed the change, painting unusually vivid sunsets coloured by the lingering atmospheric dust. The episode stands as a striking reminder that a single geological event, occurring in one remote location, can ripple across continents to disturb agriculture, economies, and even the course of culture in ways no one at the time could have predicted or understood.
Practice sample modelled on the official PTE Academic format — not a real exam question, and not affiliated with or endorsed by Pearson. Confirm current rules at pearsonpte.com.