Mastering Multiple-Choice Questions in PTE and IELTS

Reading Tests

Choose the correct letter A, B, C, or D.

Paragraph 1

Melanie Perkins is a truly inspiring entrepreneur who has changed the world of design. As the CEO and co-founder of Canva, she created a platform that allows anyone, regardless of skill level, to create beautiful and professional visuals. Her journey to success is a powerful reminder of the value of perseverance and innovation.

What is Melanie Perkins known for creating?

1. Designing beautiful and creative visuals
2. Her resilience and motivation
3. Being one of the founders of the tech company Canva
4. Being a lone female founder of a tech company

Paragraph 2

Melanie grew up in Perth, Australia, and her passion for design began at an early age. While she was studying at university, she noticed how complicated and expensive traditional design tools were. She wanted to create a more accessible and user-friendly solution, sparking the idea for Canva.

What challenge in the design world inspired Melanie to create Canva?

1. Growing up in Perth was difficult
2. Studying at university was complicated and expensive
3. All software was dominated by a couple of big tech companies
4. Design software was too complex and difficult for most people to use.

Paragraph 3

Her first step into entrepreneurship was founding Fusion Books, an online yearbook design service. This venture gave her valuable experience in business and technology, but Melanie had bigger dreams. She envisioned a global platform that would revolutionize design for everyone.

 What did her first business do?

1. A website for designing books
2. A venture in business and technology
3. A global platform that would revolutionise design
4. An entrepreneurial website

Paragraph 4

In 2013, Melanie, along with her co-founders Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams, launched Canva. The journey was not without challenges—securing funding and competing with established companies were major obstacles. Yet, Melanie’s determination and belief in her vision drove her forward.

 What were some obstacles Melanie faced when starting Canva?

1. Her hometown was very remote
2. She had competition from huge companies
3. She had no challenges
4. She had arguments with the co-founders

Paragraph 5

Today, Canva is a household name, used by millions of people across the globe. It supports designers, educators, marketers, and everyday individuals, showing that creativity belongs to everyone. Melanie’s innovative spirit and hard work turned her idea into a tool that empowers communities worldwide.

Who benefits from using Canva today?

1. People who are bad with technology
2. Just creative people
3. Professional graphic designers
4. Ordinary people such as teachers

ANSWERS

ANSWERS & EXPLANATIONS

Listening Tests

Choose the correct answer A, B, C or D.

Tip: don’t worry if you don’t understand every word because these kind of exercises are about following the entire conversation, not understanding a single words. It wants to test your ability to work out new vocabulary when you hear them in live experience (it does not want to test memorised words you are likely to study in preparation). The words used in the audio are often different to the questions (and as in the reading, matching exact words is probably a trap for those using hacks and not really listening).

Working out new vocabulary for yourself is an important skill that children have when learning language but adults often lose because of school style learning.

I have model this exercise on PTE Listening questions but a similar skill is required in Part 3 of the IELTS listening test (you won’t be asked to match summaries for the longer listening but you will be asked to match attitudes for various section of the listening).

Which is the best summary?

Listening 1

A. The visual suite was very quick for Canva to create and was designed exclusively as a cheaper option for teachers and students.

B. The visual suite took a lot of time to create and has been very successful for business and schools.

C. Canva is very good at shipping a large amount of products very quickly around the world as well as marketing their products.

D. Since the realise of Visual Suite, 90% of Fortune 500 companies use Canva for videos and presentations

Which is the best summary?

Listening 2

A. Melania Perkins believe that AI is a great tool that nobody should be afraid to use it and will eventually benefit humankind.

B. Melania believes that AI needs to be used ethically and so has a team to verify its safety in her company. However, she is scared of what could happen in other areas.

C. Melanie is very afraid of the misuse of AI in other industries.

D. Melanie believes that AI should replace human designers and also jobs in many industries. For this reason, she is both hopeful and cautious.

Which is the best summary?

Listening 3

A. Melanie believes solving problems is fun and part of her companies culture. She encourages her team to react to positively to complaints and find a way to improve the products so everyone can enjoy designing.

B. Melanie thinks that closing the loop is not that fun because it is about people complaining. She is more excited about unleashing creativity.

C. People get very excited about the free donuts they get in the closing the loop program when they make a complaint. This is a creative solution to keep her customers happy.

D.Melanie is excited about unleashing creativity in people across the world and this is why she encourages her staff to take complaints seriously.

Answer and explanation

Extra lesson

More about Melanie Perkins. Click here for a write from dictation exercise based on Melanie Perkins and Canva, and then watch the full interview with subtitles.

I would love to hear feedback and suggestions from this test.