Free PTE reading practice 5 – answers (further detail about the answers is given at the bottom of the page)

The correct answers are shown in the text below.

The Malacca Strait is 890 kilometres (kms) in length, narrowing to only 2.8 kms in 1. width at the Phillips Channel immediately south of Singapore. It is estimated that 25% of all globally-traded commodities, including oil from the Persian Gulf moving to the energy-hungry economies of the Far East, traverse the Malacca Strait and the world’s busiest choke point, the Phillips Channel, which highlights the strategic nature of the strait.. The largest ships in the world, oil tankers, have 2. difficulty getting through because in some areas the draught, or depth-equivalent of water for a ship’s passage, is just over 20 metres, and the ULCC class (Ultra Large Crude Carriers) with a deadweight of up to 500,000 tonnes require draughts surpassing this. Thus, the maximum size vessels that can pass through the Strait, up to VLCC size, are called Malaccamax vessels. ULCC tankers must travel further, south of Indonesia, through wider, more expansive, stretches of water, adding thousands of kms to their journeys.

Apart from 3. congestion and oftentimes slow passages, there are other dangers and problems associated with the Malacca Strait passage. Piracy has been a problem for hundreds of years, and continues today, although thanks to cooperative efforts between the navies of all the major countries mostly affected, there has been a dramatic 4. reduction in reported attacks. Collisions have also been a constant danger, perhaps highlighted by the 2017 incident between a U.S. Navy destroyer and a chartered oil tanker which claimed the lives of ten American sailors. A fortunate side-result was that there was no 5. subsequent oil spillage or major pollution. With such narrow passage in critical areas, exacerbated by haze from slash burning and forest fires in Indonesia and regional areas, there is concern that such collisions will only increase as vessel traffic through the Malacca Strait is set to double by 2030, according to some estimates.

Free PTE reading practice 5: More details about the answers

1. width, height, length, weight
Width is the correct answer in the context and meaning of the sentence. The sentence says the Strait narrows. Height/length shortens or decreases, weight decreases. Those options have no relevance in the context.

2. difficulty, ease, pain, advantage
Difficulty is the correct answer in the context and meaning of the sentence. The passage talks about the largest ships being too big to pass through where water depth is just over 20 metres; ease would there be incorrect. Pain and advantage are not relevant to the context of the sentence.

3. congestion, confusion, conclusion, confidence
Congestion is the correct answer in the context and meaning of the sentence. It means the state of something being blocked e.g. traffic. It is common in the PTE test to have a list of options that begin with the same letters. Confusion, conclusion and confidence have no relevance in this context.

4. reduction, rise, rebate, boost
Reduction is the correct answer in the context and meaning of the sentence. The text says thanks to cooperative efforts reported attacks have been… Rise, and boost would contradict the meaning of the sentence, rebate is not relevant to the context.

5. subsequent, previous, earlier, former
Subsequent is the correct answer in the context and meaning of the sentence. The text talks about a fatal collision but says that no oil spillage or pollution arose as a result. Subsequent means something else happening after something occurred. Previous, earlier and former mean before and would not suit the context of the situation.