PTE Academic Reading and Writing: Fill in the blanks Sample Practice Test

Reading and Writing: Fill in the blanks – A text appears on screen with several gaps. Fill in each gap from list of options given below.

Answers are given at the end

Fill in the blanks Practice Exercise

Trinity College was 1) ___________ by Sir Thomas Pope in 1555. A devout catholic with no surviving children, Thomas Pope saw the Foundation of an Oxford college as a means of 2) ___________that he and his family would always be remembered in the prayers and masses of its members.

He came from a family of small 3) _____________ in Oxford-shire, trained as a lawyer, and rose rapidly to prominence 4) ____________ Henry VIII. As Treasurer of the Court of Augmentations he handled the estates of the monasteries 5) _______________ at the Reformation, and amassed a considerable personal 6) _____________.

Pope was a discreet and trusted privy counselor of Mary Tudor, and it was from Mary and Philip that he 7) ______ Letters Patent and royal approval for his new foundation. Pope died in 1559.

Although his religious 8) ______ were never fully realized – Elizabeth I had succeeded her sister and England 9) __________  to the Protestant faith – nonetheless the memory of his name, like his college, has endured the fluctuating fortunes of over 400 years.

His wife, Lady Elizabeth Pope, was a particularly influential 10) ___________ in Trinity’s early years.

Pope’s foundation was for a President, twelve Fellows and twelve scholars, all supported by the income from his 11) ______________ endowment of lands, and for up to twenty undergraduates.

The Fellows, all men, were required to take Holy Orders and remain unmarried. The College Statutes set out rules for a simple monastic life of religious observance and study.

The Garden was an informal grove of trees, mainly elms, among-st which the members of the College could 12) ______________ and meditate.

1    a) founded    b) set    c) begin    d)starting

2    a) securing     b) ensuring    c) clinching    d) verifying

3    a) owners    b) landowners    c) freeholders    d) mistresses

4    a) with     b) on     c) under    d) because

5     a) dissolved    b) disintegrated    c) crumbled    d) withered

6    a) fortune    b) wealth    b) rich    d) money

7    a) inherited    b) conferred    b) received    d) excepted

8    a) ideals    b) examples    c) belief    d) value

9    a) rejoined    b) repeated    c) returned    d) reinstated

10    a) outline    b) symbol    c) shape    d) figure

11    a) generous    b) generosity     c) bounty    d) teeming 

12    a) prowl    b) walk    c) promenade    d) yomp

ANSWERS

1) a) founded 2) b) ensuring 3) b) landowners 4) c) under 5) a) dissolved 6) a) fortune 7) b) received 8) a) ideals 9) c) returned 10) d) figure 11) a) generous 12) b) walk