Introduction: How This Will Help You
◦ The guide is designed to help you excel in the IELTS Reading test by providing a
comprehensive walkthrough of strategies, question types, and essential reading skills.
◦ It aims to equip you with the tools and techniques needed to approach the reading
section with confidence and achieve your desired score.
◦ While listening and reading are considered "easy," they still require preparation.
◦ The guide is a complete A-to-Z resource and should be read in its entirety.
◦ It is assumed that you already have the required English level but may lack a sound
knowledge of strategies for high marks.
◦ It will guide you step-by-step through different sub-skills and strategies for various
question types.
• What This Guide Covers
◦ Test Format: Details on what to expect on exam day.
◦ Question Types: Strategies for all 12 different question types.
◦ Reading Skills: Explanation of tested sub-skills and how to improve them.
◦ Vocabulary Building: Techniques for expanding vocabulary and handling unfamiliar
words.
◦ Reading Test Key Features: Includes three reading passages of increasing difficulty,
a total word count of 2000 words or more, 40 questions, and 60 minutes allowed with no
extra transfer time.
◦ Academic Texts are from journals, magazines, books, textbooks, and newspapers,
focusing on academic subjects with complex vocabulary, abstract concepts, and
detailed arguments.
◦ General Training Texts are from general sources like adverts, notices, government
documents, manuals, leaflets, books, and magazines, testing ability to cope with
everyday life in an English-speaking country, focusing on practical information and
everyday communication.
• Essential Reading Tips
◦ Time Management: Use time wisely and avoid getting stuck on difficult questions.
◦ Read Instructions Carefully: Always read instructions thoroughly before
attempting any question.
◦ Understand Question Types: Each type requires a different strategy and tests
different skills.
◦ Vocabulary Is Key: Improving vocabulary significantly enhances your reading score.
◦ These tips are an introduction; they are not sufficient on their own for a good score.
• Question Type #1: Short Answer Questions
◦ These are common "comprehension" questions.
◦ Skills Tested: Skimming for overall meaning, scanning for specific information,
understanding the question, and thinking of synonyms/paraphrases.
◦ Common Problems: Going over the word limit, lack of awareness of
synonyms/paraphrasing, reading every single word, and panicking over unknown words.
◦ Strategy: Read instructions for word limit, understand questions, identify/underline
keywords and think of synonyms, locate information (answers are in order), read
relevant section carefully for the exact answer.
◦ Answers do not need to be grammatically correct and should only reflect
information from the text, not your opinion.
• Question Type #2: Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
◦ Common on both academic and general IELTS papers.
◦ Skills Tested: Understanding main ideas, scanning for specific information, detailed
reading for understanding, and differentiating between possible answers.
◦ Common Problems: Not answering questions, reading text before questions, being
tricked by 'distractors' (qualifying words), and not reading carefully.
◦ Strategy: Read questions first, skim text for general meaning, underline keywords in
questions and choices (thinking of synonyms), predict answers, locate and analyze
relevant text, considering why other options are wrong.
◦ Always guess if unsure, try to narrow down choices to increase odds.
• Question Type #3: Summary Completion
◦ You fill gaps in a summary using a given word list or words from the text.
◦ Skills Tested: Scanning for information, identifying synonyms/paraphrases, and
understanding the general meaning of the summary.
◦ Common Problems: Not aware of synonyms/paraphrasing, trying to understand
every part of text, ignoring grammar, and copying words instead of using
synonyms/paraphrases.
◦ Strategy: Check instructions for word limit and source of words, skim summary for
overall meaning, predict answer type (noun, verb, adjective), locate information by
scanning for synonyms, and check grammar.
◦ If a word list is given, eliminate unlikely options based on meaning or grammar.
• Question Type #4: Matching Sentences
◦ Match incomplete sentences with correct endings from a list.
◦ Skills Tested: Prediction, identifying synonyms/paraphrases, and understanding
how ideas connect to main text ideas.
◦ Common Problems: Not aware of synonyms/paraphrasing, not fully understanding
text parts, looking for exact words, and relying on logic/grammar over text.
◦ Strategy: Understand instructions, focus on incomplete sentences first (highlighting
keywords), predict endings, eliminate unlikely matches, and locate/verify in the text.
◦ Answers appear in the same order as in the text.
• Question Type #5: Sentence Completion
◦ Complete sentences with words from the reading text. These are vocabulary and
reading tests.
◦ Skills Tested: Understanding and identifying synonyms and paraphrasing and
scanning for the correct answer.
◦ Common Problems: Not aware of synonyms/paraphrasing, trying to match exact
words, not reading instructions, and reading text before questions.
◦ Strategy: Check word limit and if exact words are required, analyze sentences
(predict answers, identify keywords), scan for location (answers are in order), review
question, and read carefully for exact answer and check spelling.
◦ Answers must be grammatically correct and within the word limit.
• Question Type #6: True/False/Not Given
◦ Identify if factual statements agree (TRUE), contradict (FALSE), or are not present
(NOT GIVEN) in the text. This is considered the most difficult question type.
◦ TRUE: Text confirms statement.
◦ FALSE: Text contradicts statement.
◦ NOT GIVEN: No information or impossible to know from text.
◦ Common Problems: Misunderstanding "Not Given," wasting time, missing overall
statement meaning (focusing only on keywords), and using outside knowledge.
◦ Strategy: Check if it's T/F/NG (facts) or Y/N/NG (opinions), understand statements
(whole meaning), watch for qualifying words ("some," "all"), locate information (answers
are in order), and compare carefully.
◦ If information isn't found after a reasonable search, mark as "Not Given" and move
on.
• Question Type #7: Yes/No/Not Given
◦ Similar to T/F/NG, but assess the writer's opinion instead of facts.
◦ YES: Text agrees with writer's opinion.
◦ NO: Text contradicts writer's opinion.
◦ NOT GIVEN: No information or statement may or may not be true due to lack of
information.
◦ Tips: Focus solely on the writer's opinion, look for opinion markers ("I believe,"
comparatives/superlatives), questions are in sequential order, and "No" implies a clear
contradiction.
◦ Strategy is similar to T/F/NG, but with a focus on opinions.
• Question Type #8: Matching Headings
◦ Match short summary sentences (headings) to the paragraph they best summarize.
There are always more headings than paragraphs.
◦ Skills Tested: Understanding the main idea of each paragraph, quickly grasping
general meaning, and differentiating similar headings.
◦ Common Problems: Not understanding statements, too much information/not
enough time, similar-meaning headings, and not understanding main paragraph idea.
◦ Strategy: Tackle this question first to familiarize yourself with the text, ignore
headings initially, read first 1-2 and last sentences of each paragraph to grasp the main
idea, mentally summarize paragraphs, then match obvious headings first and compare
similar ones.
◦ You are not expected to read every word; focus on the general meaning.
• Question Type #9: Labelling a Diagram
◦ Label parts of a diagram or plan (technical drawing, natural world, design/plan).
◦ Skills Tested: Coping with unfamiliar concepts/processes, appreciating text-
diagram relationship, and locating pertinent information.
◦ Common Problems: Focusing too much on the diagram, failing to quickly locate
relevant paragraphs, wrong word count or spelling, and getting stuck.
◦ Strategy: Check word limit, briefly study diagram, identify existing labels/parts for
keywords, predict word types (nouns, verbs), and scan text to extract exact words
(numbers and hyphenated words count as one word).
◦ Do easier questions first.
• Question Type #10: Matching Names
◦ Match an expert's, researcher's, or scientist's name to a statement about what they
said or did.
◦ Skills Tested: Scanning for names, detailed reading of appropriate text parts, and
appreciating synonyms/paraphrasing.
◦ Common Problems: Reading whole text for names, harder matching for names
appearing multiple times, not reading appropriate sections in detail, and trying to find
exact word matches.
◦ Strategy: Check if names can be used more than once, scan and underline all
names, start with unique names (easier), read text surrounding each name for
opinions/findings, and match/eliminate.
◦ Names might be shortened in the text (e.g., "John Jones" as "Jones").
• Question Type #11: Matching Information to Paragraphs
◦ Match statements (reasons, descriptions, facts, etc.) to the paragraphs containing
that specific information. You don't need to understand the whole paragraph.
◦ Skills Tested: Skimming for general paragraph meaning, finding specific
information, and careful reading for full meaning.
◦ Common Problems: Having to look at the whole text, answers not being the main
idea, irrelevant information, and not all paragraphs containing answers (some having
multiple).
◦ Strategy: Do this question last to build familiarity with the text, look for specific
details (names, places, numbers), paraphrase statements to recognize synonyms, skim
the whole text for structure, and scan/verify for synonyms in relevant paragraphs.
◦ Be aware of synonyms (e.g., "34%" vs. "just over a third").
• Question Type #12: Table Completion
◦ Complete gaps in a table or flow chart using words or phrases from the text.
◦ Skills Tested: Correctly reading instructions, scanning for relevant paragraphs, and
transferring information accurately.
◦ Common Problems: Not reading instructions carefully (especially word limit),
exceeding word limit, changing word forms, and spelling errors.
◦ Strategy: Read instructions (word limit, exact words), understand table
headings/info, predict needed information type, locate information in text, and copy
words precisely as they appear, checking spelling.
• Reading Skills: Overview
◦ The reading test assesses general reading skill, composed of specific sub-skills.
◦ Skimming: Reading quickly for general meaning.
◦ Scanning: Looking for specific information, words, or phrases.
◦ Close Reading: Reading carefully for detailed understanding of a section.
◦ Inference: Understanding implied meaning and dealing with unfamiliar vocabulary.
◦ Awareness of these skills helps in deciding the best approach for each question.
• Skimming: Reading for Gist
◦ Quickly reading a whole text or large part to understand its general meaning.
◦ Used to quickly understand what stories are about before deciding to read in detail.
◦ Strategies: Read questions first, use titles and headings, and focus on first and last
paragraphs as they often give the main idea of the whole text.
• Scanning: Finding Specific Information
◦ Looking for a particular word or phrase to locate where an answer is found, not to get
the answer itself.
◦ A time-saving skill that avoids reading the entire text.
◦ Strategies: Read questions first, focus on relevant sections/paragraphs, and avoid
reading every word – move eyes quickly looking for key terms.
• Close Reading: Understanding Details
◦ Also referred to as 'reading in detail,' it's crucial for establishing the correct answer.
◦ Involves understanding a whole sentence or paragraph, knowing exactly what every
word means.
◦ Requires time and concentration, and careful thought about meaning.
◦ Often overlooked, despite being the most important reading skill.
• Dealing with New Words
◦ Do not panic; accept that there will always be new words.
◦ Strategies: Assess if the word is necessary for the answer (if not, ignore), use
context (surrounding words, phrases, sentences) to guess meaning, analyze word form
(verb, noun, adjective), try to think of synonyms, and move on if a word causes too
much trouble.
• Topic Sentences and Context
◦ Topic Sentences: The first line of any paragraph, telling what the rest of the
paragraph is about; acts as a signpost. Usually composed of a topic (noun/noun phrase)
and an idea (sub-context).
◦ Using Context: Essential for guessing meanings of unknown words. The general
meaning of the paragraph and the topic sentence help identify overall meaning.
Consider the word's form (verb, noun, adjective) and if it can be replaced by a known
synonym.
• Vocabulary Building
◦ Reading and listening tests are largely vocabulary tests; a wide vocabulary helps
achieve a good score.
◦ Methods:
▪ Read and Listen: Improve vocabulary by engaging with genuine English sources.
▪ Record: Note new words and phrases to remember them effectively.
▪ Review: Regularly review new words to retain them in memory.
◦ Practice guessing word meanings from context before looking them up.
◦ Online Resources for Practice: BBC News, The Guardian, The Economist, New
Scientist, Memrise, Wired, Quizlet, and free eBooks are available.
• Filling Out the Answer Sheet
◦ Crucially important, despite seeming "easy". Many students lose marks due to errors
here.
◦ Tips: Read instructions carefully (use examples), check spelling and grammar
meticulously (one mistake can mark answer wrong), transfer answers methodically
(section by section), and leave no blanks (guess if unsure, no penalty for wrong
answers).
