Most babies start developing their hearing while still in the…
Read the text aloud.
Most babies start developing their hearing while still in the womb, prompting some hopeful parents to play classical music to their pregnant bellies. Some research even suggests that infants are listening to adult speech as early as 10 weeks before birth, gathering the basic building blocks of their family's native tongue.
Pause plan and hard words
Pause plan (/ short pause, // longer pause)
Most babies start developing their hearing / while still in the womb, // prompting some hopeful parents / to play classical music to their pregnant bellies. // Some research even suggests / that infants are listening to adult speech / as early as 10 weeks before birth, // gathering the basic building blocks / of their family's native tongue.
51 words in 20–23 seconds. Say 10 as ten (as early as ten weeks before birth). Breathe after womb, after bellies and after birth; short pauses at the other commas.
Words to practise
| Word | Stress |
|---|---|
| developing | de·VEL·op·ing /dɪˈvɛləpɪŋ/ |
| classical | CLAS·si·cal /ˈklæsɪkəl/ |
| listening | LIS·ten·ing /ˈlɪsənɪŋ/ |
| gathering | GATH·er·ing /ˈɡæðɚɪŋ/ |
| research | re·SEARCH /riˈsɝtʃ/ |
| suggests | sug·GESTS /səˈdʒɛsts/ |
RealPTE numbers
- Student reports: High frequency (11 reports)
From RealPTE practice records and students’ “I sat this” reports, counted weekly (last count 2026-10-21). Reports are what students tell us; predictions are not guaranteed.
Questions about this question
What is the answer to PTE Read Aloud #010449?
Read it in sense groups: pause briefly at the single slashes and a little longer at the double slashes in the plan above. Practise developing, classical, listening, gathering first.
How do I get full marks on this Read Aloud question?
Read every word as written, pause at the sense-group boundaries and stress the right syllables. Content counts the words you read correctly; fluency and pronunciation are scored too.
Can I practise #010449 with scoring?
Yes. The practice button on this page opens question #010449 in the RealPTE practice screen, where your answer is scored when you finish.
Opens question #010449 in the RealPTE practice screen.
How to read it
Most babies start developing their hearing|while still in the womb,‖prompting some hopeful parents|to play classical music to their pregnant bellies.‖Some research even suggests|that infants are listening to adult speech|as early as 10 weeks before birth,‖gathering the basic building blocks|of their family's native tongue.
| short pause ‖ breathe
Aim for 20–23 seconds.
Words to stress correctly
| developing | de·VEL·op·ing | /dɪˈvɛləpɪŋ/ |
| classical | CLAS·si·cal | /ˈklæsɪkəl/ |
| listening | LIS·ten·ing | /ˈlɪsənɪŋ/ |
| gathering | GATH·er·ing | /ˈɡæðɚɪŋ/ |
| research | re·SEARCH | /riˈsɝtʃ/ |
| suggests | sug·GESTS | /səˈdʒɛsts/ |
51 words in 20–23 seconds. Say 10 as ten (as early as ten weeks before birth). Breathe after womb, after bellies and after birth; short pauses at the other commas.
Where marks are usually lost
Four -ing words: de·VEL·op·ing stresses the second syllable while LIS·ten·ing and GATH·er·ing stress the first; CLAS·si·cal is first too. re·SEARCH and sug·GESTS stress the end—and suggests ends in /sts/, don't drop it. Keep -s on babies, parents, bellies, infants, weeks, blocks.
General tip: womb has a silent b (/wuːm/) and the t in listening is silent; say them smoothly rather than spelling them out.
What it means: 中文 · हिन्दी · नेपाली · Tiếng Việt
中文: 大多数婴儿还在子宫里时就开始发展听觉，这促使一些满怀期待的父母对着怀孕的肚子播放古典音乐。一些研究甚至表明，婴儿早在出生前 10 周就在聆听成人的说话，收集家庭母语的基本构件。
हिन्दी: अधिकतर शिशु गर्भ में रहते हुए ही सुनने की क्षमता विकसित करना शुरू कर देते हैं, जिससे कुछ आशावान माता-पिता गर्भवती पेट को शास्त्रीय संगीत सुनाने लगते हैं। कुछ शोध तो यह भी बताते हैं कि शिशु जन्म से 10 सप्ताह पहले ही वयस्कों की बोली सुनते हैं और अपने परिवार की मातृभाषा के बुनियादी तत्व एकत्र करते हैं।
नेपाली: धेरैजसो शिशुहरू गर्भमै हुँदा सुन्ने क्षमता विकास गर्न थाल्छन्, जसले गर्दा केही आशावादी अभिभावकहरू गर्भवती पेटलाई शास्त्रीय संगीत सुनाउँछन्। केही अनुसन्धानले त शिशुहरू जन्मनुभन्दा 10 हप्ता अघिदेखि नै वयस्कहरूको बोली सुनिरहेका र आफ्नो परिवारको मातृभाषाका आधारभूत तत्वहरू सङ्कलन गरिरहेका हुन्छन् भनी सुझाउँछ।
Tiếng Việt: Hầu hết trẻ sơ sinh bắt đầu phát triển khả năng nghe khi còn trong bụng mẹ, khiến một số cha mẹ đầy hy vọng mở nhạc cổ điển cho chiếc bụng bầu. Một số nghiên cứu thậm chí cho rằng thai nhi đã lắng nghe lời nói của người lớn từ 10 tuần trước khi sinh, thu thập những khối xây dựng cơ bản của tiếng mẹ đẻ trong gia đình.
More Read Aloud questions
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.