Summarize Written Text Practice for PTE: Ocean Exploration and International Policies

The PTE Summarize Written Text task challenges candidates to condense long passages into one sentence, capturing the essence of the material while maintaining grammatical accuracy, conciseness, and logical flow. In today’s practice, we are focusing on Ocean Exploration And International Policies—a topic frequently connected to environmental concerns and international relations in the context of global governance. The prompts below will offer beneficial practice for real PTE exam questions.

Summarize Written Text Practice: Ocean Exploration and Global Policies

Task 1: Ocean Exploration and Environmental Protection

Ocean exploration has revealed the crucial role that marine ecosystems play in regulating the Earth’s climate, providing food, and supporting biodiversity. With advancements in technology, humanity can now access previously unreachable parts of the ocean. However, this progress has also led to environmental degradation, overfishing, and habitat destruction. As ocean resources become depleted, international policies on sustainable ocean use are desperately needed. Various global organizations have collaborated on frameworks aimed at protecting marine environments, including conventions that regulate fishing, deep-sea mining, and pollution. Cooperation between nations is vital to ensure the longevity and health of our oceans.

Prompt: You are required to summarize the given text in one sentence using 5 to 75 words.

Sample Answers:

Band 8-9:
The exploration of oceans has increased awareness of their essential role in Earth’s ecosystems, but human activities like overfishing and degradation necessitate urgent international cooperation and policies to protect marine resources.
Analysis:

• Content: Fully captures all essential points, including ocean exploration, environmental damage, and the need for international policies.
• Form: One sentence within the word limit.
• Grammar: Complex sentence with no errors.
• Vocabulary: Uses appropriate academic vocabulary such as “exploration”, “degradation”, and “necessitate”.
• Spelling: No spelling errors.

Band 6-7:
Ocean exploration has exposed the importance of marine environments while highlighting how international policies are needed to combat overfishing and other damages caused by human activities.
Analysis:

• Content: Covers the main points but misses out on some details regarding global collaborations and specific framework.
• Form: Correct single sentence.
• Grammar: No major grammatical errors though the sentence structure could be more sophisticated.
• Vocabulary: Adequate but could be more precise.
• Spelling: No spelling errors.

Band 4-5:
Ocean exploration shows that humans are hurting the ocean and we need more policies to fix this problem with fishing and other damage.
Analysis:

• Content: Lacks depth and nuance of the topic. Oversimplified explanation.
• Form: Single sentence but too informal for academic standards.
• Grammar: Errors in formality and sentence structure.
• Vocabulary: Very basic and unsophisticated.
• Spelling: No spelling errors.

Ocean exploration, degradation, and international policy

Task 2: International Ocean Policy Agreements

The success of ocean conservation has largely depended on the cooperation of nations to form binding international agreements. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is a notable international policy that regulates the use of marine resources and jurisdictional boundaries. In addition to UNCLOS, organizations like the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have worked to curtail illegal fishing and promote fair trade policies that consider the marine environment. Nevertheless, enforcement of these agreements remains a challenge, with many countries failing to adhere to the restrictions set forth. Global cooperation, therefore, remains essential to create enforceable and effective ocean conservation strategies.

Prompt: You are required to summarize the given text in one sentence using 5 to 75 words.

Sample Answers:

Band 8-9:
While several international agreements, such as UNCLOS and efforts by global organizations, aim to promote ocean conservation, challenges remain in enforcement, and continued global cooperation is critical to developing sustainable marine policies.
Analysis:

• Content: Comprehensive, covering all critical points of international agreements, enforcement challenges, and global cooperation.
• Form: Correctly structured as one sentence and within the word limit.
• Grammar: No errors, well-constructed.
• Vocabulary: Academic and appropriate for the context, e.g., “conservation”, “enforcement”, “promote”.
• Spelling: No spelling errors.

Band 6-7:
Global organizations and laws like UNCLOS work to protect ocean resources, but enforcement is difficult, requiring more international collaboration.
Analysis:

• Content: Adequately summarizes important points but lacks details such as examples of organizations.
• Form: Correct, but the sentence could be more complex.
• Grammar: Minor errors in sentence structure, particularly the abruptness of the final clause.
• Vocabulary: Accurate but unsophisticated compared to higher band answers.
• Spelling: Correct.

Band 4-5:
International laws and groups try to protect oceans, but it’s hard to get all countries to follow the rules.
Analysis:

• Content: Lacks depth and formal tone; overly simple.
• Form: Single sentence but poorly structured.
• Grammar: Issues with formality and precision.
• Vocabulary: Too basic and informal for a test like PTE.
• Spelling: Correct spelling.

For more information about global marine environment initiatives, you can refer to Ocean conservation strategies and policies.

Key Vocabulary and Grammar Practice

Here’s a list of 10 important vocabulary words that appeared in the tasks above:

1. Degradation /ˌdɛɡrəˈdeɪʃən/ (noun) – The process of something being damaged or spoiled.
   Example: The degradation of coral reefs is largely due to pollution.

2. Enforcement /ɪnˈfɔːrsmənt/ (noun) – The act of ensuring laws and regulations are followed.
   Example: The enforcement of environmental policies is essential for their success.

3. Jurisdiction /ˌdʒʊərɪsˈdɪkʃən/ (noun) – The official power to make legal decisions over a certain area.
   Example: UNCLOS sets jurisdictional boundaries for countries’ maritime rights.

4. Conservation /ˌkɒnsəˈveɪʃən/ (noun) – The protection and preservation of the natural environment.
   Example: Ocean conservation efforts are necessary to maintain marine biodiversity.

5. Collaboration /kəˌlæbəˈreɪʃən/ (noun) – Working together towards a common goal or project.
   Example: International collaboration is key to addressing global ocean challenges.

6. Sustainability /səˌsteɪnəˈbɪləti/ (noun) – The ability to maintain or support over the long term.
   Example: Sustainable fishing practices help prevent overexploitation of marine species.

7. Illegal /ɪˈliːɡəl/ (adjective) – Forbidden by law.
   Example: Efforts must be made to stop illegal fishing activities in international waters.

8. Regulation /ˌrɛɡjuˈleɪʃən/ (noun) – A rule or directive made and maintained by an authority.
   Example: Global marine regulations aim to protect sensitive ecosystems.

9. Biodiversity /ˌbaɪoʊdaɪˈvɜːrsɪti/ (noun) – The variety of plant and animal life in a particular habitat.
   Example: Ocean biodiversity is crucial to a healthy planet.

10. Framework /ˈfreɪmwɜːrk/ (noun) – A structure for organizing and supporting something, especially laws or systems.
    Example: The framework provided by international agreements helps govern oceanic resources.

Conclusion

Summarizing texts, particularly on topics like ocean exploration and international policies, can be challenging, yet it offers excellent practice for mastering the Summarize Written Text task in PTE. By condensing technical information into concise, clear sentences, you not only practice reading comprehension but also improve grammar and vocabulary. Keep practicing various topics to prepare yourself thoroughly for the exam.