Summarize Written Text in PTE: Urban Green Spaces and Health

Urban green spaces play a crucial role in promoting public health, both physically and mentally. In PTE exams, the topic “Urban Green Spaces And Health” is often seen in the Summarize Written Text section. It’s essential to master this skill to succeed in the PTE exam. In this article, we’ll provide sample questions and answers to help you practice.

Sample Summarize Written Text Question on Urban Green Spaces and Health

Question 1

Urban green spaces, such as parks and community gardens, are essential components of urban planning. These areas offer enormous health benefits, including improved mental well-being, reduction in stress levels, and enhancement in physical activity. Studies reveal that urban residents with access to green spaces have better mental health than those living in areas predominantly consisting of buildings and concrete. Furthermore, green spaces mitigate the urban heat island effect, thereby reducing the risks associated with heat-related illnesses. By purifying the air and enhancing biodiversity, these spaces also play a pivotal role in controlling air pollution, a major contributor to various respiratory diseases.

Task: Summarize the text into one sentence.

Answer Samples (Band 50-90):

Band 90 Answer:
Urban green spaces provide significant health benefits, such as stress reduction, mental well-being, heat mitigation, pollution control and improved physical activity, contributing positively to urban residents’ overall health.

Analysis:

• Content: Full coverage of the main ideas related to both mental and physical health benefits, as well as pollution and heat control.
• Form: Correct sentence length (5-75 words).
• Grammar: Perfect grammatical structure.
• Vocabulary: Effective vocabulary usage without redundancy.
• Spelling: No spelling errors.

Band 80 Answer:
Urban green spaces improve mental health, reduce stress, enhance physical activity, and reduce heat and pollution for city residents.

Analysis:

• Content: All essential points are covered but lacks depth compared to Band 90 response.
• Form: Meets the length criteria.
• Grammar: Grammatically correct but slightly simpler sentence structure.
• Vocabulary: Appropriate use of vocabulary, though simpler.
• Spelling: No spelling mistakes.

Band 70 Answer:
Green spaces in cities promote health benefits like stress reduction, better mental health, and pollution control.

Analysis:

• Content: Captures the core message but misses details on heat reduction and biodiversity.
• Form: Satisfies the length requirement.
• Grammar: Correct, though basic.
• Vocabulary: Good, but lacks variety.
• Spelling: No errors.

Band 60 Answer:
Urban parks help citizens by improving mental health and reducing pollution.

Analysis:

• Content: Missing several key points, including physical activity benefits and heat reduction.
• Form: Sentence length is acceptable but lacks complexity.
• Grammar: Correct, but basic.
• Vocabulary: Limited usage here affecting clarity.
• Spelling: No issues with spelling.

Band 50 Answer:
Green spaces can help the city.

Analysis:

• Content: Grossly insufficient, missing multiple essential points on health benefits and environmental impact.
• Form: Far too short.
• Grammar: Grammatically correct but oversimplified.
• Vocabulary: Extremely limited and ineffective.
• Spelling: No mistakes.

Vocabulary and Grammar

When dealing with the topic of urban green spaces in the PTE, knowing advanced vocabulary will significantly help in understanding the text and boosting your score. Below is a list of 10 pertinent vocabulary items:

1. Biodiversity /ˈbaɪ.oʊ.daɪˈvɝː.sə.t̬i/ (n.) – The variety of plant and animal life in a particular habitat. Example: The urban park enhances the city’s biodiversity by providing habitats for various species.

2. Urban Heat Island /ˈɜːr.bən ˈhiːt ˌaɪ.lənd/ (n.) – A metropolitan area significantly warmer than its rural surroundings due to human activities. Example: Green spaces help mitigate the urban heat island effect.

3. Respiratory /ˈres.pə.rə.tɔːr.i/ (adj.) – Related to the act of breathing. Example: Pollution in cities contributes significantly to respiratory diseases.

4. Mitigate /ˈmɪt.ɪ.ɡeɪt/ (v.) – To make something less harmful or severe. Example: Urban trees mitigate the adverse effects of pollution.

5. Well-being /ˈwelˌbiː.ɪŋ/ (n.) – The state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy. Example: Access to parks positively impacts residents’ mental well-being.

6. Purification /ˌpjʊr.ɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ (n.) – The process of removing contaminants or impurities. Example: Trees in green areas contribute to air purification.

7. Stress Reduction /ˈstres rɪˈdʌk.ʃən/ (n.) – The process of reducing tension or anxiety. Example: Spending time in parks leads to significant stress reduction.

8. Concrete Jungle /ˈkɒn.kriːt ˈdʒʌŋ.ɡəl/ (n.) – An area that lacks greenery, typically urban in nature. Example: A city devoid of green spaces often becomes a concrete jungle.

9. Pollution /pəˈluː.ʃən/ (n.) – Harmful substances introduced into the environment. Example: Parks help combat pollution in densely populated urban areas.

10. Health Benefits /hɛlθ ˈben.ɪ.fɪts/ (n.) – Advantages to one’s well-being and overall physical or mental state. Example: Green spaces offer numerous health benefits to urban communities.

Conclusion

In PTE’s Summarize Written Text section, being well-prepared for topics like “Urban Green Spaces and Health” can give you a significant advantage. As we’ve seen from the examples, detailed understanding and effective summarizing skills help in achieving higher scores. Keep practicing, and for wider topics related to urban development and health, explore more, such as the Urban development and green spaces or Air pollution and public health policies.

Leave your thoughts in the comment section and continue practicing with other PTE-related topics for better results!