Summarize Written Text Practice for PTE: Urban Infrastructure and Sustainability Goals

The Summarize Written Text task in the PTE Speaking & Writing section requires you to summarize a given text into a single sentence. This type of task evaluates critical reading and writing skills — areas crucial for successfully communicating ideas in the PTE exam and beyond, especially in subjects relevant to modern societal issues such as Urban Infrastructure and Sustainability Goals. In this post, we’ll explore this theme and provide you with examples, practice tasks, and responses to help you prepare for the PTE exam.

Urban infrastructure and sustainability have become fundamental concepts in modern development. Governments, urban planners, and technologists are striving to improve energy efficiency, renewable energy integration, and sustainability in cities worldwide. You may see such topics frequently appearing in the Summarize Written Text section of the PTE exam.

Sample Summarize Written Text Task 1: Urban Sustainability Planning

Urban infrastructure has traditionally relied on non-renewable energy sources and inefficient waste management practices. However, the rise of climate change concerns has forced city planners to adopt more sustainable approaches. Such approaches include energy-efficient buildings, extensive green spaces, and renewable energy grids. Sustainable urban development, therefore, not only addresses climate change mitigation but also enhances the quality of life for city dwellers. Although many cities have embraced renewable technologies, challenges remain with integrating these systems into old infrastructure. Achieving sustainability goals requires continuous collaboration among public and private sectors to build adaptive urban projects that prioritize renewable resources and long-term resilience.

Task: Summarize the passage in one sentence.

Response Samples

Band 90+:
Urban sustainability planning involves a shift towards renewable energy and efficient infrastructure, addressing climate change while enhancing quality of life, although challenges exist with integrating modern systems into older infrastructure.

Analysis:

• Content: The response captures all the key ideas, including renewable energy, climate change mitigation, quality of life, and the challenges of integration.
• Form: The sentence is 35 words long, which adheres to the PTE requirement of less than 75 words.
• Grammar: Perfect sentence structure, use of complex clauses.
• Vocabulary: Strong usage of terms like ‘shift’, ‘mitigation’, ‘integration’.
• Spelling: No errors.

Band 80+:
Urban planners are adopting renewable energy and efficient urban infrastructure to combat climate change and improve city living, although integrating these systems with outdated infrastructure remains a challenge.

Analysis:

• Content: Captures the main ideas well but omits detailed references to “collaboration” and “adaptive urban projects”.
• Form: The sentence is 29 words long.
• Grammar: Uses appropriate complex structure, albeit more basic.
• Vocabulary: Satisfactory, but less sophisticated than the 90+ response.
• Spelling: No issues.

Band 70+:
Sustainable urban planning focuses on using renewable resources and efficient energy systems to fight climate change, but keeping old infrastructure up-to-date is difficult.

Analysis:

• Content: Simplified, missing references to collaboration and long-term resilience.
• Form: The sentence is 23 words, concise but not comprehensive enough.
• Grammar: Correct but more basic sentence structure.
• Vocabulary: Limited, without sophisticated terms like “adaptive” or “integration”.
• Spelling: Correct.

Sample Summarize Written Text Task 2: Sustainability Goals in Public Infrastructure

Cities around the world face the challenge of upgrading their public infrastructure to meet sustainability goals. These goals include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy efficiency, and transitioning to renewable energy sources. However, the process of transforming established infrastructure, such as transportation systems, electricity grids, and waste management facilities, often proves difficult and expensive. City planners are now looking toward developing partnerships with private organizations to alleviate the financial burden and implement innovative technological solutions for achieving these sustainability targets.

Task: Summarize the passage in one sentence.

Response Samples

Band 90+:
City planners are facing the challenge of upgrading existing infrastructure to meet sustainability goals through partnerships with private organizations to reduce costs and implement innovative technological solutions, while also addressing difficulties in transforming established systems.

Analysis:

• Content: Fully captures the essence of the text, including partnerships, financial relief, and challenges of system transformation.
• Form: The sentence is 39 words, fitting within the PTE guidelines.
• Grammar: Excellent structure, advanced complex clauses.
• Vocabulary: Use of advanced terms like ‘financial relief’, ‘innovative technological solutions’, and ‘sustainability goals’.
• Spelling: No mistakes.

Band 80+:
Improving infrastructure to meet sustainability goals is a challenge for cities, but by partnering with private organizations, they can mitigate costs and develop innovative strategies.

Analysis:

• Content: The key ideas are present but lacks detailed explanation about “transforming established systems”.
• Form: The sentence is 24 words long.
• Grammar: Strong overall, but with more basic clause connections.
• Vocabulary: Less sophisticated than the 90+ response but appropriate.
• Spelling: No errors.

Band 70+:
Cities are trying to improve infrastructure to reduce emissions, but upgrading old systems is hard without private partnerships.

Analysis:

• Content: The response is somewhat basic and lacks depth in terms of technological solutions or innovation.
• Form: The sentence is 18 words, too brief for a full summary.
• Grammar: Basic sentence structure.
• Vocabulary: Simple, lacks sophistication.
• Spelling: No mistakes.

Vocabulary and Grammar Focus

Understanding and utilizing advanced vocabulary can significantly enhance your performance in the PTE exam. The following terms were important in today’s Summarize Written Text tasks:

1. Infrastructure /ˈɪn.frəˌstrʌk.tʃər/: Basic physical systems of a business or nation.
   Example: Updating old infrastructure is costly.

2. Sustainability /səˈsteɪn·ə·bɪl·ɪ·ti/: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future.
   Example: Sustainable urban planning focuses on resource efficiency.

3. Mitigation /ˌmɪt.ɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/: The action of reducing the severity or seriousness of something.
   Example: Climate change mitigation is a core goal in urban planning.

4. Renewable /rɪˈnjuː.ə.bəl/: Energy from a natural source that is not depleted when used.
   Example: Solar energy is a popular form of renewable energy.

5. Efficiency /ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/: Achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.
   Example: Energy efficiency is important in reducing environmental impact.

6. Collaboration /kəˌlæb.əˈreɪ.ʃən/: Working jointly with others.
   Example: Collaboration between cities and technology firms is essential.

7. Resilience /rɪˈzɪl.i.əns/: The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.
   Example: Resilient infrastructure can withstand climate-related challenges.

8. Partnership /ˈpɑːt.nə.ʃɪp/: A collaborative relationship between two parties.
   Example: Partnerships help cities overcome financial barriers.

9. Innovative /ˈɪn.ə.və.tɪv/: Introducing new ideas, advanced technologies, or methods.
   Example: Innovative solutions are necessary for sustainable urban planning.

10. Alleviate /əˈliː.vi.eɪt/: To reduce or relieve something.
    Example: Partnerships with private firms can alleviate financial strains in upgrading infrastructure.

Conclusion

The examples provided help you understand how to approach the Summarize Written Text task, typically dealing with relevant subjects like Urban Infrastructure And Sustainability Goals. As seen through the tasks, achieving a high score requires a clear understanding of the text, fluid and grammatically correct writing, and appropriate vocabulary usage.

These topics are increasingly common due to the growing importance of sustainability in public policy and planning. To further improve your skills, check out our comprehensive guides on Renewable energy policies in urban planning and Climate change and renewable energy demand.

Practice consistently to refine your abilities, and don’t hesitate to ask questions in the comments below!