A short general-knowledge question, answered in a word or two. The only Speaking task scored on listening comprehension alone.
“You will hear a question. Please give a simple and short answer. Often just one or a few words is enough.”
'A dentist' scores exactly what 'I think that the person you would visit would be a dentist' scores, and costs eight fewer seconds of momentum.
Say your best guess out loud. Silence is a guaranteed zero on the item, and a plausible wrong answer costs nothing extra.
The vocabulary here is deliberately ordinary. Time spent on academic word lists does nothing for this task; time spent on everyday category vocabulary does.
Ten items come in quick succession. Each is scored independently, and carrying one loss into the next question is how candidates lose three instead of one.
Candidates over-prepare this task because it is the one that feels like it could be about anything. In practice the categories are narrow and ordinary, and an afternoon of vocabulary in the right areas covers most of what appears.
Six texts of up to 60 words, read aloud from the screen. The easiest task to sound fine on and still score badly.
Ten sentences, heard once, repeated exactly. Scored on what you reproduce, not on whether you understood it.
A chart, map, graph or process diagram, described from scratch. The task where a rehearsed structure genuinely helps.
A lecture of up to 90 seconds, retold in your own words after ten seconds of preparation. The task that punishes note-taking systems.
Ten per sitting. Each takes seconds, but together they are a meaningful block of the Speaking section.
One word or a short noun phrase. You are given 10 seconds, but almost every correct answer takes under two, and a full sentence scores exactly what a single word scores.
Say your best guess out loud. Silence is a guaranteed zero on the item and a wrong answer costs nothing beyond that, so guessing is strictly better than staying quiet.
Everyday general knowledge rather than academic knowledge — common objects and their uses, occupations described by what the person does, parts of the body, family relationships, the natural world, and school-level vocabulary like shapes, seasons and units of measurement.
Our PTE mock runs Answer Short Question on the published timings — No preparation time · 10s to answer · 10 per sitting — and marks your recording word by word against the prompt. The first session is free.
This guide is written from the PTE Academic test format published by Pearson, in our own words. For the official wording, see Pearson's Speaking & Writing format page. MockLive AI is an independent practice tool and is not affiliated with Pearson.