IELTS Course Booklet

Reading Module

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 Table of Contents
Introduction to IELTS Reading Academic ................................................................................... 3
The Difference between Academic and General Training Reading .............................................. 4
Dealing with Reading Passages ................................................................................................... 5
Dealing with Unfamiliar Words ........................................................................................................... 5
Reading Strategies ............................................................................................................................... 7
Skimming ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Scanning .......................................................................................................................................... 8
In-depth Reading or Reading for Detail ......................................................................................... 10
Fatal Reading Habits ......................................................................................................................... 11
Frequently Asked Questions about IELTS Reading Section ...................................................... 12
Different types of Questions in IELTS Reading......................................................................... 14
Type A Questions ..................................................................................................................... 15
A-1- True / False / Not Given or Yes / No / Not Given Questions ...................................................... 15
A-2- Short Answer Questions ............................................................................................................ 25
A-3- Sentence Completion Questions................................................................................................. 29
A-4- Sentence Completion with a Box ............................................................................................... 33
A-5- Multiple Choice Questions ........................................................................................................ 37
Type B Questions ...................................................................................................................... 42
B-1- Labeling a Diagram Questions ................................................................................................... 42
B-2- Flowchart Completion Questions ............................................................................................... 47
B-3- Table Completion Questions ...................................................................................................... 52
B-4- Note Completion Questions ....................................................................................................... 57
Type C Questions ...................................................................................................................... 62
C-1- Summary Completion Questions ................................................................................................ 62
C-2- Summary Completion with a Box Questions .............................................................................. 67
C-3- Classification Questions............................................................................................................. 71
C-4- Matching Questions ................................................................................................................... 75
C-5- Pick from a List Questions ........................................................................................................... 79
C-6- Paragraph Headings Questions ................................................................................................... 83
C-7- Locating Information Questions .................................................................................................. 88
C-8- Global Multiple Choice Questions ............................................................................................... 93
How to Best Manage Your Time ............................................................................................... 97

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How to Calculate Your Score ....................................................................................................... 97
Top Tips on IELTS Reading ......................................................................................................... 98
How to Complete the Reading Answer Sheet............................................................................... 99

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Introduction to IELTS Reading Academic
The IELTS Reading Academic module consists of three passages totaling
approximately 2,500 words. The passages are similar to the kind of articles you
might read in a general interest magazine covering serious topics.
You have 60 minutes in which to read the three passages and answer 40 questions.
The passages are not the same length and the number of questions after each
passage varies, so careful time management is all-important in IELTS Reading.

IELTS Reading Overview

The three passages in the IELTS Reading module deal with a range of academic
subjects: one may be about ancient history, another about astronomy, another
about advertising techniques, and so on.
Each passage in IELTS Reading is followed by 11 to 15 questions. You can read
and answer questions at the same time. The questions are multiple choice,
matching, true/false/not given, sentence completion or summary completion tasks.
Write your answers in pencil on the separate answer sheet provided. You can also
make notes on the question sheet.
The IELTS Reading module lasts 60 minutes. You should be able to skim-read
approximately 170 words per minute and spend no more than 15 minutes in total
reading the three passages. That will leave you around one minute to attempt each
question plus a little extra time for checking.

How IELTS Reading Answers Are Scored

A human examiner marks your answers. You get one point for each correct answer,
giving you a „raw score‟ out of 40. This is converted into a „band score‟ from 0 to 9.
For example, you need 30 correct answers to get a band score of 7.0.

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The Difference between Academic and General Training Reading
The differences mainly lie within the context, type, and difficulty level of the texts
as can be seen in the tables below. It goes without saying that academic readings
are known to be more difficult than the general training ones.

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Dealing with Reading Passages
Through three passages, the reading section of IELTS, attempts to test the
following reading skills:

  Reading quickly to get a general idea or find a particular word,

  Finding detailed or factual information,
  Understanding themes and main ideas,
  Identifying views, arguments, and claims,
 Identifying the overall theme of the passage.
Dealing with Unfamiliar Words
It is believed that, nearly all applicants of IELTS face with a myriad new words
during the reading section. Certainly, checking a dictionary is not allowed while
taking the exam; therefore, the applicants had better be able to make speculations
on the meanings of the words necessary in answering the questions. It must be
noted that nearly half of the new words one may face during the test bear no
vitality to be known, as they have no share in the answers which means they are
merely a source of distraction. However, there are three main strategies one can
take up to guess the meanings of the relevant words:
1. Finding the part of speech of the word according to order of the sentence,
2. Trying to find a part of the word whose form is familiar to us,
3. Trying to make a guess according to the context in which the word is used.
For instance:
 .…It was exactly at that time when the mayor launched into an
interminable monologue about his last therapy session in which …..

interminable: Part of speech: adjective

Form: in + termin + able >>> “termin” reminds of the verb terminate
so long & boring
that seems endless. which means to end an activity, we also have “in” which is usually an
opposite maker prefix and “able” is a suffix talking about the ability
to do sth. I think it means sth that can’t be stopped.
Context: the verb ‘launch’ is used before it and after that the noun
‘monologue’. Monologues are usually very boring.

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  …. at the time, people were living in desperate conditions and measures to
ameliorate working conditions had little effect, therefore, ….
ameliorate:
Part of speech: verb
to make a bad From: I don’t get anything from the form!
situation less
harmful Context: some people are in ‘desperate’ situation and there have been
decisions taken which were not effective so I think these measurements
or decisions must have been some attempts to IMPROVE the situation.

N.B.
 you had better have a good command of affixes to be able to make guesses
 more quickly.
 Here are some books that you may want to study before the exam to be more
confident in your lexical knowledge. (Oxford Word Skills series is highly
suggested)

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Reading Strategies
To read the three passages in as short a time period as we are given in IELTS or
TOEFL test, we have to read very economically; that is exactly the reason we must
learn to skim and scan. In fact, there are three ways of reading: skimming,
scanning, and reading in-depth.

Skimming

By definition, to skim is to read quickly to find the main facts or ideas in a text.
We skim the passage first to get the main idea of each paragraph.

In a nutshell, skimming in IELTS Reading means to first, look at the picture and
the heading or sub heading (if they exist); next, read the thesis statement which
tends to be the last sentence of the first paragraph, then read the first sentence of
each body paragraph (topic sentence), and lastly, the first sentence of the
concluding paragraph. The picture below can be of some help.

The purpose of skimming, as mentioned before, is to understand the gist or general

idea of the text and break it into smaller pieces. It is always much easier to cope with
some small problems than an enormous one.

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Scanning

Sometimes we only need specific words or pieces of information in a text. When we

scan we ignore the information which is not relevant to our goal. In particular, when
the questions ask for specific factual information, scanning is the best strategy.
Scanning can be done in two stages: distant scanning and close scanning.
While scanning from a distance, as the name suggests, you hold the paper in a farther
distance than usual and just look at the eye-catching words. In such a case you are
more likely to find the proper nouns, dates, and numbers more quickly than normal.

On the other hand, close scanning does not only concern the distance from your
eyes; you can hold the paper at a normal distance while instead of reading the
words you just scan them with your eyes from right to left and bottom to top. The
picture below can help you better understand it. Doing so, you do not read, your
eyes literally scan the text.

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while scanning we no longer focus on the main ideas and topic sentences; instead,
all the words matter since we are looking for a specific key word perhaps taken
from the question or a paraphrase of that. Take the pictures below as an example.

By taking a good look around the word „china‟ we can simply find the answer.

The main point is to scan for the right words which tend to be the words that are
distinct in a text. The best words to scan for are proper nouns (names of places,
people‟s names, brands, &…) and numbers (percentages, dates, prices, &…).
However, you should bear in mind that finding the exact word is not always the case
in reading test.

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 You may also scan for parallel expressions which means you need to be totally
cognizant of the synonyms, antonyms, and paraphrases. The picture below presents
some examples of parallel expressions.

In-depth Reading or Reading for Detail

Through skimming and scanning we can find out what we are looking for and where
in the text to look at; then, we may feel free to read for detail to come up with the
right answer to each question, an answer that we are sure of. When you read in-depth
you read every sentence and think about its meaning at the same time although it does
not mean that you have to read all the sentences in a passage. Having spotted the place
which most likely includes the answer through skimming or scanning, we start
reading that part in detail to pinpoint where the correct answer exactly lies.

N.B.
 Do not judge too quickly in finding the answers since IELTS reading passages
have an obscure elusiveness embedded in themselves; think of them as a group of
cunning creatures who know how to utterly deceive the applicants yet they are a
bunch of words that can be outsmarted by you.

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Fatal Reading Habits
The following are some bad habits which cause the applicants to read slowly and
consequently lose marks:

 Reading aloud: when we read aloud we barely understand what we are

reading. So do not say the words to yourself.

 Reading everything at the same speed: whether you are in skimming and
scanning or in in-depth reading stage you should have a different pace of
reading. As a rule of thumb we can say that, skimming should be really fast
while scanning happens fast and a little more slowly than skimming. On the
other hand, reading in-depth happens at a fairly slow pace and should be the
slowest compared to the other two.

 Re-reading the words: Some of us have the habit of re-reading the words or
sentences we have read just now because we are only used to doing it and not
that the passage is difficult. Of course sometimes reading a sentence twice
helps us understand it fully to come up with the right answer but we should
bear in mind that reading again out of habit only lessens the speed of reading.

 Reading one word at a time: reading in phrases and sets of words improves
your understanding of what you have read. We should try to read in chunks
rather than single words.

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Frequently Asked Questions about IELTS Reading Section
The questions below are among those most frequently asked about the Reading
module of IELTS.

What is the difference between the General Training Reading module and the
Academic Reading module?

The reading passages and questions are easier in the General Training module of
IELTS. However, you need to get a higher number of correct answers to achieve the
same band score as someone taking the Academic module.

What are the reading passages about?

In the General Training IELTS module, they will usually be informational: the kind
of text you would expect to find in a leaflet, newspaper or magazine. In the Academic
IELTS module, the passages will cover three diverse academic topics. You do not
need any knowledge of these topics before taking the test.
Which should I read first: the passage or the questions?

Generally speaking, it is better to read the passage first to give yourself an idea of
the overall topic and organization of the text. It then becomes much easier to interpret
the questions and know where to look for the answers. However, it may be a good
idea to look briefly at the question types before you read. If there is a headings
matching task, for example, you may be able to do this as you skim-read.
How much time should I spend skim-reading each passage?

You do not want to spend more than five minutes reading a single passage. At this
stage, it is not important to understand all the details. You should only be reading
for the main idea of each paragraph. If you find you have spent more than five
minutes reading a single passage, stop reading and start working on the questions.
What question types are there in IELTS Reading?

Unlike TOEFL, IELTS includes more than just multiple-choice questions. You may
have to add match headings to paragraphs, complete sentences or a summary, or
match opinions to people mentioned in the text. There are also True/False/Not Given
questions which require a detailed understanding of the passage. Each passage will

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be followed by an average of 13 questions and these will generally be of three to
five different types.
How much time should I spend on each question?

Given that you will need up to fifteen minutes of reading time, that leaves you with
45 minutes to answer a total of 40 questions. It is advisable to spend no more than
one minute answering each individual question. You can always come back to
more difficult questions later.
Can I use a dictionary in IELTS Reading?

I think you already know that the answer to this question is no! You will therefore
need a good vocabulary and a range of strategies for guessing the meaning of an
unfamiliar word.
How many words do I need to know in order to get a high score in IELTS Reading?

There is no easy answer to this question because regardless of the size of your
vocabulary you will almost certainly encounter unfamiliar words in the test. While
learning vocabulary will definitely improve your reading speed and your IELTS
Reading score, it is also important to be able to look for and recognize definitions,
or guess the likely meaning of a word you don‟t know.
How are IELTS Reading scores calculated?

You will be given a score out of 40 and this will be converted into an IELTS band
score of 0 to 9 according to the IELTS band score calculator. The conversions are
different in the Academic and General Training modules.
What IELTS Reading score is required for university entry?

It varies by university and many do not specify a requirement for each module.
However, you should be aiming to achieve a score of at least 6 in IELTS Reading
(23-29 correct answers) if you intend to study at an English-speaking university. A
band score of 5 (16-22 correct answers) may be sufficient for some foundations
and processional English courses.

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Different types of Questions in IELTS Reading
Thoroughly speaking, there are 18 different types of questions one may face in the
reading section but to come up with a more general categorization we can divide
them into 3 main categories, according to how we can find the answers to them, as
follows:
1) Answers in passage order (Type A)
2) Answers grouped together in a specific part of the passage (Type B)
3) Answers scattered around the passage (Type C)

And the questions types in each group are shown in the picture below.

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Type A Questions
A-1- True / False / Not Given or Yes / No / Not Given Questions
To answer this question type you should investigate whether the statement in the
questions agrees with the text (true/yes), says the opposite of what is mentioned in
the text (false/no), or is only partially true and some of the information is not given
in the text (not given). The simple examples in the picture below may be of some
assistance to better understand how to answer this type of questions.

General Advice on T/F/NG or Y/N/NG Questions

 Skim the whole passage before you start working on any of the tasks. Then
read the instructions, so that you know what you need to do. They are not
always phrased in the same way.

 Read the first statement. It may help to underline keywords.

 Look through the passage to find the relevant information, and think carefully
about what it means. Underline the part of the text that contains the answer.

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 Decide if the statement agrees with or contradicts the passage or is Not
given. Remember you must base your answer on what is in the passage, not
on your own knowledge or what you think is likely to be true. Not given
means that there isn't enough information in the passage to decide if the
statement is True or False (or Yes or No).

 Continue with the other statements in turn. If you can't find the relevant part
of the passage, it probably means that the statement is Not given.

 Always give an answer - you won't lose any marks if it's wrong. If you're not
sure, choose Not given.

How to Approach This Question Type

1. Having skimmed the text, you should know that you don't have to always start
with the first question although it is suggested to go with the order.
2. Locate the relevant section in the passage with the help of your initial skimming
and by scanning for keywords in the question.
3. Once you have located the answer go back to the question and read every single
word, underlining the key words.
4. Study the relevant sentences in the passage carefully to see if:
a. the question completely agrees with the information in the passage => T
b. the question contradicts (says the opposite of) the information in the passage => F 1
c. there is no mention of this piece of information in the passage. => NG 6
5. Repeat the same procedure.

And you‟d better know:


Answers are in passage order.

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