For this free PTE reading practice, we will look at multiple questions which have single answers. For this question type, you are given a text up to 300 words long, and will need to select the correct answer. You only need to select one answer.
Here’s a practice exercise to test your skills this with PTE question type. Read the text then answer the question that follows.
It is well-known and well-documented that we are living longer. In the U.K. projections estimate that within the next 5 years there will be 18 million people over 60 years old living in that country. That number represents an increase of more than 3 million people still alive in that age range and means that in 5 years’ time, over 1 in 4 of the population will be over 60. Numerous studies have detailed how the average life expectancy has lengthened continually through the 20th century and the reasons are many: reduced infant mortality rates, which increases the number of healthy people; improvements in medical care and nutrition, and a focus on health care for seniors. A question has been vexing researchers for years, and that has been the focus on how long man can live. Indeed, as far back as 1825, a Belgian mathematician and actuary named Benjamin Gompertz calculated probabilities of life expectancies and mortality rates and devised what is known as the Gompertz Law, which estimated that the chances of dying double every eight years. This theorem is still used today in demographic studies, and by insurance companies in calculating risks for life insurance. Which brings us back to the great, and as still yet unanswered question: can we accurately put an upper limit on how long humans can live?