Read Aloud · Part 1: Speaking & Writing
Northcote Parkinson
31 students marked "I sat this"Added 14 Mar 2020Question #010194
Read the text aloud.
Northcote Parkinson, a British writer, formulated Parkinson's rule: "Work expands to fill the time allotted to it; or, conversely, the amount of work completed is in inverse proportion to the number of people employed." Simply said: If you have an hour to do a 5-minute job, it will take an hour to do it. A large number of people accomplish less work than a smaller number of people.
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Read Aloud format (Pearson)
| Prompt | Text up to 60 words |
|---|---|
| Preparation | 30–40 seconds |
| Time to answer | Depends on the length of the text |
| Skills assessed | Speaking |
| Scored on | Content; Pronunciation; Oral fluency |
How it is scored
- Content is scored by counting the correct words in your response.
- If you stay silent for more than 3 seconds, the recording stops.
- You can record your response only once.
Source: Pearson, PTE Academic & UKVI test format, Part 1: Speaking & Writing, checked 9 October 2026.