IELTS Reading

On this page you will find all the information you need to know about IELTS
Reading test. You will also see IELTS Reading marking scheme and learn
different ways how to succeed in IELTS Reading.

IELTS Reading tests have 3 sections with 40 questions in total. IELTS

Reading test lasts 1 hour.

Time 60 minutes
Questions 40
Sections 3

IELTS Academic Reading

This module takes 60 minutes and has 3 sections. Each section has from 10 to
17 questions, making 40 questions in total. Questions become more difficult
throughout the test.

IELTS Academic Reading information:

apers, magazines and web-sites

that cover academic topics for non-specialist audience.
-2,750 words in total.
-
verbal material.
s some unknown or special vocabulary, the glossary will be
given in the end of the text.
IELTS Academic Reading marking scheme

Each of the 40 questions is worth 1 point. Depending on how many points you
gain, you can receive a score from 0 to 9 points for the Reading Section. To
determine your IELTS Academic Reading score, the following conversion table
applies:

Raw
score 39- 37- 35- 33- 30- 27- 23- 19- 15- 13- 10- 8- 6- 4-
(out 40 38 36 34 32 29 26 22 18 14 12 9 7 5
of 40)
Band
9 8.5 8 7.5 7 6.5 6 5.5 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5
score

How to prepare for IELTS Reading?

1. Learn reading strategies for IELTS Reading test

You may be used to read every word slowly and carefully to understand
every sentence of the text. However, on IELTS Reading test you're
limited in time, so you have to learn such reading techniques as skimming
and scanning. Skimming is quickly reading the text to get only its main
idea. Scanning means searching for specific phrases in the text to answer
some questions.

2. Develop techniques for different types of IELTS Reading questions

Once you've practised doing IELTS Reading samples, you should know
what types of questions you're good at and bad at. For example, you may
easily complete true/false/not given questions, but have problems with
matching paragraphs. So, you should practise each type of questions that
are difficult for you separately, and develop your skills for those question
types.

IELTS Reading lesson: Skimming and Scanning

Skimming and scanning are two very effective (yet different) strategies for
speed-reading.

What is speed-reading? You may be used to read every word slowly and
carefully to understand every sentence of the text. But on IELTS Reading test,
you are limited in time and it’s impossible to read attentively all the
information. But how to read more, in less time? One way is to use speed-
reading - quickly read the text according to your purpose, getting only the
information you need.

Skimming
Skimming means quickly reading the text to get only its main idea. To skim
effectively, you need to read only a part of the material.

You have already encountered skimming: when reading a long chapter of a

book, or doing a research on a long article. In such case, you would probably
read the first sentences of each paragraph, dropping down to the end of the
paragraph.

How to skim?

1. Read the first paragraph attentively to get an idea of what will be

discussed in the text.
2. Read the first (and sometimes the second) sentence of each paragraph -
they give the main idea of the paragraph.
3. After you have read the first sentences, your eyes should drop down to
the end of the paragraph, looking for important pieces of information,
such as dates and names.
4. Read the last paragraph attentively as it may contain the summary.

Here’s a picture that illustrates skimming process:

Scanning
Scanning means searching for specific phrases in the text to answer some
questions.

Underline!

The questions on IELTS Reading test often include dates, names, numbers,
new terms or other key words. So it’s a very good idea to underline those key
words while reading, so you could find the answers in the text more easily.

How to scan?

1. Underline the important information while reading the text (dates,

numbers, names etc.)
 2. When you read the question, identify the key word and scan the text for
it. This way you’ll find the answer more quickly.

Scanning process looks like this:

Practice

Now it's time for practice. Like on a real IELTS Reading test, you have to read
the text and answer the questions below.

First of all, let's practise skimming. When reading a text for the first time, you
should skim over it to grasp the main idea. In this example, read the
highlighted text and quickly look over the rest of the text (you have about 1-2
minutes):

Are electric cars really eco-friendly?

Electric-car drivers are saving the planet, right? Their vehicles produce none of
the pollutants that dinosaur-burning, fossil-fuel-powered machines do. That is
the standard view, and governments around the world provide incentives to
encourage the uptake of this new technology.

That is why a Tesla owner got a rude shock when he went to import his vehicle
into Singapore - the first person to do so. The Tesla Model S is a 100% electric
vehicle. It does not have an exhaust to emit from. So what happened?

Instead of an expected rebate of around S$15,000 (US$10,800) he received a

fine of the same amount for being a gross polluter. The company commented
the incident, "The Model S that our customer imported into Singapore left our
factory only two years ago with energy consumption rated at 181 Wh/km. This
qualifies as the cleanest possible category of car in Singapore and entitles the
owner to an incentive rather than a fine."

The Singapore authorities calculated the ‘carbon cost’ of generating the

electricity that will be used to charge the car. This is the elephant in the trunk of
electric vehicles. Where and how the power is produced is not often considered,
but perhaps it should be. Let’s move the elephant up to the passenger seat and
address it directly.

The authorities in Singapore apparently found the Tesla in question consumes

444 watt-hours of electricity per km (Wh/km) in tests. Without wanting to get
too maths-heavy, the number of 444Wh/km does seem high. And as we still
need power stations to produce such amount electric energy, the environmental
impact is not so small as it seemed to be.
But what about the bigger picture - should we be factoring in the emissions of
power stations when working out how green an electric car is? The logical
answer is yes. Emissions shifted elsewhere are still emissions, and CO2 impacts
the global atmosphere wherever it is released.

After you’ve skimmed the text, you should get the general idea: one man
imported an electric car to Singapore and was fined for that, because the car
was considered as a polluter. It turned out that electric cars can also be
dangerous for the environment, because electric energy used to charge them is
produced at power stations, which emit pollutants.

Now let’s look at the questions:

1. What is the aim of this text?

A. To discourage people from visiting Singapore

B. To prove that electric cars are less eco-friendly than fossil-fuel-powered
machines
C. To show that we need to count the emissions of power stations to see how
green an electric car is.

This question can be answered immediately after you skimmed over the text.
Here, you’re required to understand only the main idea of the passage.

Obviously, the correct answer is C. It’s also stated in the last paragraph:

But what about the bigger picture - should we be factoring in the emissions of
power stations when working out how green an electric car is? The logical
answer is yes.

2. When the owner of the electric car went to Singapore, he received

A. a rebate of around US$10,800

B. a fine of around US$10,800
C. a fine of around US$15,000

And this question, unlike the previous one, requires specific detail: amount of
money. To answer it, you should scan the text for words $10,800 and $15,000.
Don’t read the text again! Just search these two key words. Once you have
found the right sentence, read it attentively to get the answer.

The sentence that contains these key words is in the third paragraph:
Instead of an expected rebate of around S$15,000 (US$10,800) he received a
fine of the same amount for being a gross polluter.

Now it’s clear to us that the correct answer is B.

3. To prove that electric car was a gross polluter, the authorities in

Singapore calculated the ...................... of generating the electricity to
charge the car.

After you skimmed over the article, you should know that the Singapore
authorities and charging car were mentioned somewhere in the middle of the
text. Moreover, you have another clue: the answer should be after the answer to
the question 3. You can find the right answer by these key words:

authorities in Singapore
electricity to charge the car

If you scan the text for these key words, and you will find the answer in the
fourth paragraph:

The Singapore authorities calculated the ‘carbon cost’ of generating the

electricity that will be used to charge the car.

The correct answer is carbon cost.

Types of questions on IELTS Reading:

1. multiple choice
2. True/false/not given
3. short-answer questions
4. sentence completion
5. notes, summary, plan, diagram, table or chart completion
6. classification
7. matching paragraphs

IELTS Reading lesson 1: Multiple Choice

In this lesson we'll learn how to answer multiple choice questions on IELTS
Reading. Multiple choice question asks you to choose the correct answer from 3
or 4 proposed answers. This type of question looks like this on the question
paper:

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

Write the correct letter in boxes on your answer sheet.

Useful information about multiple choice questions:

Questions follow the order of the text.

Questions repeat key words (or their synonyms) from the text.

Multiple choice questions have 3 or 4 answers, only one of which is correct.

Usually, there are such types of answers:

A. Irrelevant answer that gives information, which is not stated in the text.
B. Answer that gives completely opposite information.
C. Answer that gives information that figures in the text, but not what you're
asked about.
D. Correct answer.

You should obviously choose the correct answer, not confusing it with other
answers. To understand what I mean, see an example below.

Answering strategy:

1. Read the first question and underline the key words.

2. Read the text from the beginning, simultaneously scanning it for the
information that relates to the question.
3. Once you found the key words or their synonyms in the text - look for the
answer (it should be somewhere close).
4. One you've found the answer, read the next few lines of the text to make
sure that it is correct. Also, reread the question.
5. Repeat this strategy with other questions, but now read the text from the
place where you stopped the last time.

If you prefer another strategy, you can use it too. Remember: there is no
'right' strategy for answering IELTS Reading questions. In fact, you can
try different answering strategies and figure out which one works the best
for you.

Tips:

Scan text for the key words and their synonyms.

Cross out the answers which are obviously wrong. This will help you to
identify the correct answers more quickly.
The order of questions can help you. Answer for question 4 will be
between answers for questions 3 and 5 in the text.
 Don't rely on your own knowledge, the correct answer contains ONLY
information stated in the text.

Example:

Rice That Fights Global Warming

More than half the global population relies on rice as a regular part of their diet.
But rice paddies have a downside for the planet too: they produce as much as 17
percent of the world's total methane emissions. That is even more than coal
mining emissions, which make 10 percent of total! So, Christer Jansson, a plant
biochemist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, spent the past 10 years
developing SUSIBA2, a genetically modified rice plant that emits almost no
methane.

Multiple choice question:

1. What is the negative effect of rice?

A. It is regular part of more than half of the world population’s diet.

B. Rice paddies emit more methane than coal mining industry.
C. Its plantations produce 17% of the world’s total methane emissions.
D. Rice has genetically modified sort SUSIBA2, which is harmful for health.

In this question key words are “rice” and “negative effect”.

Now let's consider all the answers:

Answer A gives us true, but completely opposite information from what we're
looking for. The first sentence tells us that

More than half the global population relies on rice as a regular part of their diet.

But it is a positive effect! And we're looking for the negative one. So, this
answer is false.

Answer B also gives us true information, but it is not what you’re asked about.
Look at the third sentence, which contains information that answer B uses:

That is even more than coal mining emissions, which make 10 percent of total!

This sentence is used only to highlight the negative effect, not to state it.

Answer C is correct. The second sentence clearly states the negative effect:
But rice paddies have a downside for the planet too: they produce as much as 17
percent of the world's total methane emissions.

downside = negative effect

As you see, it's very important to search key words or their synonyms in the
text.

Answer D is irrelevant: it was not written anywhere that SUSIBA2 is harmful.

This answer uses some words from the text just to confuse you.

Don't be caught by irrelevant answers! If you see that answer contains

information that contradicts the text or was not stated at all, it's an irrelevant
answer.

IELTS Reading lesson 2: TRUE, FALSE or NOT

GIVEN?
In this lesson we'll learn how to answer True/False/Not Given questions on
IELTS Reading. This type of question looks like this on the question paper:

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading

Passage?

In boxes on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

Useful information:

Questions follow the order of the text.

Questions repeat key words from sentences.
If question contains information NOT stated in the text, it has "Not
Given" answer.

Answering strategy:

1. Read the first passage.

2. Look up for answers for the first few questions.
 3. If you found an answer - read the whole sentence carefully, and only then
answer the question.
4. When there are no answers left - move on to next paragraph, and repeat
this strategy.

If you prefer, you can read the whole text and only after that answer the
questions.

Tips:

This type of questions needs attention to details. Don't just look for key
words - read the whole question and the whole sentence with answer.
Words like often, always, never, some can completely change the
meaning of the question. Be careful!
The order of questions can help you. Answer for question 4 will be
between answers for questions 3 and 5 in the text.
If you can't find answer for some question, don't spend too much time on
it and return to it in the end. Probably, this information is just not given in
the text.

Take a look at the following example:

Programmable plants

In electronics, even the most advanced computer is just a complex arrangement

of simple, modular parts that control specific functions; the same integrated
circuit might be found in an iPhone, or in an aircraft. Biologists are creating this
same modularity in – wait for it – plants, by designing gene "circuits" that
control specific plant characteristics – color, size, resistance to drought, you
name it.

The relatively new, interdisciplinary field is synthetic biology – the design of

genetic circuits, just like in electronics, that control different functions and can
be easily placed in one organism or the next. Most of today's synthetic
biologists work with simple microorganisms, like E. coli or yeast.

A CSU team led by June Medford, professor of biology, and Ashok Prasad,
associate professor of chemical and biological engineering, is doing the same
thing, but in the much more complex biological world of plants.

TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN questions:

1. The scientists are using a technique from electronics to control
specific plant properties.

TRUE

This is the first question, so answer to it should be somewhere in the first

(or second) paragraph. The first sentence of the first paragraph tells us
about electronics, and then we have:

Biologists are creating this same modularity in – wait for it – plants, by

designing gene "circuits" that control specific plant characteristics –
color, size, resistance to drought, you name it.

same modularity = same technique as in electronics

control specific plant characteristics = control specific plant properties

So, this statement just summarizes the first paragraph. It is obviously true.

2. Some synthetic biologists work with genetic circuits of mammals.

NOT GIVEN

The second passage only tells us that

Most of today's synthetic biologists work with simple microorganisms,

like E. coli or yeast.

But we don't know anything about some biologists. Maybe some

biologists work with mammals, maybe not. So the answer is not given.

3. Most of synthetic biologists work with mammals.

FALSE

The word some from the previous question was changed to most of, and
this completely changed the meaning of the question! Now, this statement
is clearly false as it contradicts the text:

Most of today's synthetic biologists work with simple microorganisms,

like E. coli or yeast.
 This example shows how important is it to read the questions carefully, as
one word can drastically change the meaning of the whole question.

Note that the last paragraph was not used at all. This sometimes happens, so
don't worry if some of the paragraphs in your text don't contain any answers.

IELTS Reading Lesson 3: Short-answer Questions

In this lesson we’re going to learn reading strategies and tips for short-answer
questions on IELTS Reading.

Short-answer questions on IELTS Reading are very similar to sentence

completion questions. Again, you should answer questions with words taken
directly from the text. And you’re given a word limit (for example: write no
more than two words).

The only difference is that in sentence completion you obviously have to

complete sentences. And in short-answer questions you may have either to
complete sentences or answer questions, for example:

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 5–10 on your answer sheet.

5. Which animal has the most fat? ..................

When tackling short-answer questions, you have to pay attention to the word
limit. A lot of IELTS test-takers get caught by the word limit: even if answer is
logically correct, but number of words exceeds the limit, it achieves 0 points.

Useful information about short-answer questions on IELTS Reading:

You should complete statements or answer questions with words taken

from the text.
You're given a word limit.
Questions follow the order of the text.

Questions or statements are not simply copied from the text. But they keep the
initial meaning and contain some key words, so you could find the answers in
the text.

Note that if you are asked to complete sentence with no more than two words,
you can write one or two words, a three-word answer will be automatically
wrong.
To understand the theory better, see an example below.

Answering strategy:

1. Skim over the text.

2. Read the question and find the paragraph, which is likely to contain the
answer. Use key words to navigate.
3. Read attentively the paragraph you’ve found, searching for the answer.
4. Once you've found the answer, check if it doesn't exceed the word limit.
5. Repeat this strategy with other questions.

If you prefer, you can read the text by passages.

Tips:

Make sure that your answer doesn't exceed the word limit. It’s super-
important.
The order of questions can help you. Answer for question 4 will be
between answers for questions 3 and 5 in the text.
If text introduces new terms, some answers are likely to be among them.

Example:

The fattest animals

As the largest animal in the world, the blue whale also has the most fat. In a
1968 study involving 49 different species of mammal from across the US and
Brazil, researchers deduced that the blue whale had the highest percentage of
body fat – more than 35%. With the whales weighing in at up to 180 tonnes,
that’s easily a record-breaking amount of fat for one animal.

But if we look at things proportionally, you might be surprised by some of the

world’s full-fat species. We’ll begin with blubber, the fat rich tissue belonging
to marine mammals that has myriad benefits for streamlining, buoyancy,
defence, insulation and energy storage.

In waters further north live bowhead whales. To survive in these frosty, remote
waters they have a layer of blubber almost half a metre thick. In his studies, Dr
Craig George found blubber mass ranged from 43% to 50% of the body mass of
yearling whales.

Answer the questions with NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS:

1. Which animal has the most fat?

 This question is quite simple as the answer lies in the first sentence of the
text:

As the largest animal in the world, the blue whale also has the most fat.

After we've found the potential answer (blue whale), it's time to check for
its validity:

✓ it's no longer than two words;

✓ it's clearly stated in the text that blue whale has the most fat;

Thus, we can deduce that correct answer is blue whale.

2. What is the tissue of marine mammals that is rich with fat called?

After we've read the text, we can see that fatty tissue of marine mammals
was mentioned somewhere in the second passage. Okay, we scan the
second passage for the answer. It's easy to find this sentence:

We'll begin with blubber, the fat rich tissue belonging to marine
mammals ...

The found word (blubber) is a valid and correct answer. You can see
how a new term from the text is used for question: it's very common for
short-answer questions in IELTS Reading.

3. Which marine animals need a thick layer of fat to survive in cold

waters?

As questions follow the order of the text, we can assume that answer
should be somewhere in the third paragraph. And that's true:

In waters further north live bowhead whales. To survive in these frosty,

remote waters they have a layer of blubber almost half a metre thick.

So the correct answer is bowhead whales.

IELTS Reading Lesson 4: Sentence Completion

There are questions on IELTS Reading that ask you to fill in the gaps in the
sentences. Those gaps should be filled with words taken directly from the
reading text. And you are given a word limit, for example: "Write NO MORE
THAN TWO WORDS ..."
This type of questions is called sentence completion and may look like this on
the question paper:

Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 28–30 on your answer sheet.

28. Nowadays, scientists consider atoms’ structures similar to tiny

..................................

Useful information about sentence completion questions:

You should complete statements that paraphrase sentences from the text.
You're given a word limit.
Questions follow the order of the text.

So you are given sentences, which you have to complete. Those sentences are
not exactly taken from the text: they are paraphrased. But they keep the initial
meaning.

Key words from questions may be your pointers: they'll help you to find the
passage that contains the answer. But to find the answer, you should understand
the meaning of the question and find the sentence with the same meaning in the
text. So you should look for meaning, not separate words.

Note that if you are asked to complete sentence with no more than two words,
you can write one or two words.

To understand the theory better, see an example below.

Answering strategy:

1. Read the text.

2. Use key words to find the needed paragraph.
3. Make sure you understand the question statement and search for sentence
with similar meaning.
4. Once you've found the answer, check if it fits into the statement
grammatically and doesn't exceed the word limit.
5. Repeat this strategy with other questions.

If you prefer, you can read the text by passages.

Tips:
 Make sure that your answer doesn't exceed the word limit.
Make sure that your answer fits into the sentence grammatically.
The order of questions can help you. Answer for question 4 will be
between answers for questions 3 and 5 in the text.
If text introduces new terms, some answers are likely to be among them.

Example:

How atoms were discovered

Hundreds of years ago in 1785 Dutch scientist Jan Ingenhousz was studying a
strange phenomenon that he couldn’t quite make sense of. Minute particles of
coal dust were darting about on the surface of some alcohol in his lab.

About 50 years later, in 1827, the Scottish botanist Robert Brown described
something curiously similar. He had his microscope trained on some pollen
grains. Brown noticed that some of the grains released tiny particles – which
would then move away from the pollen grain in a random jittery dance.
At first, Brown wondered if the particles were really some sort of unknown
organism. He repeated the experiment with other substances like rock dust,
which he knew wasn’t alive, and saw the same strange motion again.

It would take almost another century for science to offer an explanation.

Einstein came along and developed a mathematical formula that would predict
this very particular type of movement – by then called Brownian motion, after
Robert Brown.

Einstein’s theory was that that the particles from the pollen grains were being
moved around because they were constantly crashing into millions of tinier
molecules of water – molecules that were made of atoms.

By 1908, observations backed with calculations had confirmed that atoms were
real. Within about a decade, physicists would be able to go further. By pulling
apart individual atoms they began to get a sense of their internal structure.

It might come as a surprise that atoms can be broken down – particularly since
the very name atom derives from a Greek term “atomos”, which means
“indivisible”. But physicists now know that atoms are not solid little balls. It’s
better to think of them as tiny electrical, “planetary” systems. They’re typically
made up of three main parts: protons, neutrons and electrons. Think of the
protons and neutrons as together forming a “sun”, or nucleus, at the centre of
the system. The electrons orbit this nucleus, like planets.
Sentence completion questions:

1. The type of random jittery movement of tiny particles is called

...........................

The key words here are type of movement, and they direst us to the third
paragraph. There, we can see a phrase with the same meaning:

this very particular type of movement – by then called Brownian motion

It refers to the movement of tiny particles described in the first two

paragraphs.

So, the answer is Brownian motion.

Note how the new term from the text is used for sentence completion.
This is quite common for sentence completion questions in IELTS
Reading.

2. Einstein explained the phenomenon of particles' strange motion by the

fact that they were collapsing with ...........................

The key words here are Einstein explained. The fourth paragraph tells us
that

Einstein's theory was that that the particles from the pollen grains were
being moved around because they were constantly crashing into millions
of tinier molecules of water

Look how the synonyms are used:

o Einstein's theory = Einstein explained

o crashing into = collapsing with

Now we see that the correct answer is water molecules.

But why not "molecules of water" as it was stated in the text? Because
the question asked to complete the sentences with NO MORE THAN
TWO words, so three-word answer is automatically incorrect. That's why
here we had to rephrase the correct answer to make it fit into the word
number boundaries. You should always pay attention to this!

3. Nowadays, scientists consider atoms' structures similar to tiny

..........................
 Atoms' structures are discussed in the last paragraph, where we can find a
paraphrase of our question statement:

But physicists now know that atoms are not solid little balls. It's better to
think of them as tiny electrical, "planetary" systems.

o Scientists = physicists
o Nowadays = now
o Consider = think of them as

Correct answer: planetary systems.

4. .......................... are parts that are circling around the nucleus.

Again, nucleus was introduced only in the last paragraph, so we should

search for the answer there. The last sentence of the last paragraph states
that

The electrons orbit this nucleus, like planets.

Knowing that circle around = orbit, the correct answer is obvious:

electrons.

IELTS Reading Lesson 5 - Diagram Completion

In this lesson we'll learn how to tackle diagram completion questions on
IELTS Reading. In this type of questions, you’re given a descriptive text and a
diagram or plan, which you have to label according to the text. Your diagram
may be a technical drawing, a description of something from the natural world,
a process or a plan of something.

This is how the diagram completion question may look like on IELTS Reading
test:

Label the parts of a leaf on the diagram below. Choose ONE WORD from the
Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your
answer sheet.
Answering strategy:

Read the text, underlining the new terms and important names.
Look at the diagram and think which parts of it you can label.
Check your assumptions by looking back at underlined terms and label
the parts you’re sure of.
If there are some unlabelled parts left, check the diagram for key words.
Then, scan the text for the right answer.

Tips:

Always underline new terms in the text - 99% that they will be used in
the questions.
The key words in the diagram may help you to complete it.

Example:

Label the parts of a leaf on the diagram below. Choose ONE WORD from the
Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your
answer sheet.

Remember this useful technique: underline new terms as you read. In this
example, we've underlined all the new terms for you.
 Leaves' structure

Plants play a very important role in our surroundings. Trees provide us with
fresh air, shade in summers, food, and other benefits without which we cannot
even think of living.

One of the most principal organs of a tree is a leaf. The leaves are the organs for
photosynthesis - a process when carbon dioxide is turned into oxygen. The
structures of leaves are adapted for efficient photosynthesis.

Most leaves are broad and so have a large surface area allowing them to absorb
more light. Also, they are thin, which means a short distance for carbon dioxide
to diffuse in and oxygen to diffuse out easily. The blade is the broad, flat part of
the leaf. Photosynthesis occurs in the blade, which has many green food-making
cells.

If you look closer at leaves, you will notice networks of thin threads. Those
networks are called veins: they support the structure of the leaf and transport
substances to and from the cells in the leaf. The main vein of a leaf, running
down the centre of the leaf, is called midrib.

The area of some plants that connects the plant's stem and leaf is called the
petiole. The petiole is the pipeline through which the products of photosynthesis
are moved from individual leaves to the rest of a plant and through which
necessary chemicals and nutrients from other parts of the plant are brought to
individual leave.

Now it's time to label the diagram:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Answers and explanations

1. Arrow near the number 1 points to the little threads in the middle of the
leaf. After you look at the underlined words, you’ll see what’s written in
the fourth paragraph:

If you look closer at leaves, you will notice networks of thin threads.
Those networks are called veins.

So the correct answer is: veins or vein.

2. The second arrow points to a large vein in the centre of the leaf. The last
sentence of the fourth paragraph says: The main vein of a leaf, running
down the centre of the leaf, is called midrib. So the correct answer is:
midrib.

3. The bracket near number 3 captures the main part of the leaf. The third
paragraph tells us that

The blade is the broad, flat part of the leaf.

Thus, the correct answer is blade.

4. The fourth part you have to label is the part of the leaf that connects it to
the plant’s stem. And once again, you scan the text for the underlined
words and see this phrase in the last paragraph:
 The area of some plants that connects the plant's stem and leaf is called
the petiole.

So the correct answer is petiole.

IELTS Reading Lesson 6: Classification

In this lesson we’re going to learn about classification questions in IELTS
Reading and how to answer them. As you can guess, classification questions
ask you to classify information from the reading text. You have some statements
from your text, and a list of options (listed as A, B, C etc.). Your task is to
match each statement with the correct option.

Useful information:

Answers here do not necessarily appear in order of the passage.

You may use each option more than once.

Classification questions look like this on the question paper:

Classify the following statements as referring to

A Matthew Walker
B Ravi Allada
C Paul-Antoine Libourel

Write the appropriate letters A, B or C in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet:

1) There are three main behavioural features incident to sleep.

2) The idea that we sleep because we have nothing else to do is absurd.

3) At some point in the evolution, a new stage of sleep appeared: rapid eye
movement (REM) sleep.

4) Natural selection did not suppress sleep, but developed it.

5) Sleep makes animals’ reaction slower.

As you see, you’re tested on your ability to recognize the connection between
facts from the text and their characteristics.
How to answer classification questions in IELTS Reading?

1. Look at the given options (A, B, C).

2. Skim over the text to get its general idea and see where each option is
described. It may be useful to underline the options in the text, so it will
be easier for you to find them later.
3. Attentively read all the information that relates to the option A.
4. Read the statements. If the statement corresponds to what you have just
read, then classify it as A. You may use scanning to find the key words
from the statement in the text.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with other options (B, C etc.)

Practice
To understand the theory better, let’s look at the following example: read
the text and answer the questions below.

Questions 1-7

Classify the following statements as referring to

A Matthew Walker
B Ravi Allada
C Paul-Antoine Libourel

Write the appropriate letters A, B or C in boxes 1-7:

1) There are three main behavioural features incident to sleep.

2) The idea that we sleep because we have nothing else to do is absurd.

3) At some point in the evolution, a new stage of sleep appeared: rapid eye
movement sleep.
4) Natural selection did not suppress sleep, but developed it.
5) Sleep makes animals' reaction slower.
6) Every major system in human's body suffers because of lack of sleep.

7) Muscles are not very active during sleep.

Let’s take a closer look at the answering strategy and use it in

practice.
Firstly, you look at the given options and skim over the text. You have 3
options at which you should focus:

Matthew Walker
Ravi Allada
Paul-Antoine Libourel

After you’ve skimmed over the text, it’s a good idea to “divide” the text into 3
parts, each part relating to one option. We’ve coloured information relating to
Matthew Walker in blue, information about Ravi Allada in rose and part about
Paul-Antoine Libourel in yellow.

Now, read the first part attentively and look through the list of statements.

Why do we sleep?

Researchers have found that sleep is beneficial to humans in many ways: it

helps us process memories, and keeps our social and emotional lives on track.
Yet we still do not really know how, why or even exactly when sleep evolved.

“The cost of losing consciousness to survival is astronomical,” says Matthew

Walker at the University of California in Berkeley. Whatever functions sleep
performs, they must be so fundamentally important that they far outweigh the
obvious vulnerability associated with being asleep.

This means we can confidently reject one of the simplest theories of sleep: that
we drift off simply because we have nothing better to do. This could be
described as the indolence theory of sleep. Once an animal has eaten, seen off
any rivals and exhausted any potential mating opportunities, it effectively has an
empty schedule, and losing consciousness kills time for a few hours.

It is a fun idea, but considering that a sleeping animal is significantly more

likely to be caught and eaten than a waking animal, this hypothesis makes “zero
sense”, says Walker.

There is now an emerging consensus on the behavioural features that define

sleep, and these features can be used to look for sleep in simple animals, says
Ravi Allada at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

There are three main elements, says Allada. First and foremost, sleep renders an
animal quiet and still: muscles are not very active during sleep. Second, sleep
makes animals slower to respond. For instance, if you make a loud noise near a
sleeping animal, it will react more slowly than an awake animal. And finally,
we can recognise sleep because it keeps animals from getting tired.

“I believe that the behavioural features used to characterise sleep are quite
reliable for identifying this behaviour in animals… and to differentiate sleep
from a simple rest,” says Paul-Antoine Libourel at the Lyon Neuroscience
Research Center in France.

According to Libourel, sleep now appears to be an almost universal feature of

animal life. “This suggests that sleep is fundamental for the survival of species.
Natural selection did not suppress it. In fact, natural selection did the exact
opposite: it built on the concept of sleep, adding in new stages and new
functions.”

“At some point in prehistory, the most famous of all stages of sleep appeared:
rapid eye movement (REM) sleep,” says Walker. “Non-REM sleep was the
original form.”

Sleep impacts every major system in the body. Cut down on sleep and it is not
just your brain that struggles: the reproductive, metabolic, cardiovascular,
thermoregulatory and immune systems all suffer too, says Libourel.

All the explanations for sleep we have looked at ultimately boil down to the
same thing: sleep is a state we enter to fix the systems that are put under stress
when we are awake.

Answers & explanations

A. As you’ve read the information relating to Matthew Walker, look through the
list of statements and see which ones correspond to what you have just read:

1) There are three main behavioural features incident to sleep.

2) The idea that we sleep because we have nothing else to do is absurd.
3) At some point in the evolution, a new stage of sleep appeared: rapid eye
movement (REM) sleep.
4) Natural selection did not suppress sleep, but developed it.
5) Sleep makes animals’ reaction slower.
6) Every major system in human’s body suffers because of lack of sleep.
7) Muscles are not very active during sleep.

Clearly, sentences 2 and 3 belong to Matthew Walker. In the beginning of the

text, he said:
This means we can confidently reject one of the simplest theories of sleep: that
we drift off simply because we have nothing better to do.

And in the end of the passage, there’s Walker’s quote:

At some point in prehistory, the most famous of all stages of sleep appeared:
rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

B. Other statements are not referred to Mr. Walker, so we put letter A near
statements 2 and 3 and move on to the next part. Now you should carefully read
the Ravi Allada’s part and look through the rest of the statements:

1) There are three main behavioural features incident to sleep.

4) Natural selection did not suppress sleep, but developed it.
5) Sleep makes animals’ reaction slower.
6) Every major system in human’s body suffers because of lack of sleep.
7) Muscles are not very active during sleep.

Again, it is clear from the text that Ravi Allada describes 3 behavioural features
that define sleep (statement 1). The first feature corresponds to statement 7:

First and foremost, sleep renders an animal quiet and still: muscles are not very
active during sleep.

The second feature corresponds to statement 5:

Second, sleep makes animals slower to respond.

So, statements 1, 5 and 7 correspond to answer B.

C. Now, there are only statements 4 and 6 left. If you read the information
referred to Paul-Antoine Libourel, you will make sure that statements 4 and 6
correspond to answer C.

IELTS Reading Lesson 7: Matching Paragraphs

In this lesson we'll learn how to answer Matching Paragraphs questions on
IELTS Reading. In this type of questions, you're given a text that contains from
5 to 8 paragraphs and a list of headings. Your goal is to match the paragraphs
with the appropriate headings. Usually there can be up to 2 extra headings.
Useful information:

Headings do NOT follow the order of the text and are listed randomly.
You need to get the general idea of each paragraph, not the specific
details.
Sometimes the first few lines of the paragraph can give you its main idea.

Answering strategy:

1. Look through the list of headings.

2. Read the first paragraph. Don't pay much attention to details, just get the
general idea of it. You can ask yourself: "What does author want to tell
me in this paragraph?" or "How would most likely this text be called if I
saw it in the newspaper?". These questions will help you to think in the
right direction.
3. Read the headings list attentively and choose the best match.
4. If you don't see a match, move on to the next paragraph.
5. If you are unsure about the right match (you think that paragraphs A and
D are OK), write down all possible answers. Don't guess yet! Maybe
some of your choices will be crossed out later.
6. Move on to next paragraph and repeat this strategy.

Tips:

Don't waste too much time on one paragraph. You can skip it and come
back later.
Try all the headings for each paragraph. Even if you already used some
headings, it's always better to double-check!
If you see some unfamiliar words in the text, don't worry! In this section
you should just get the main idea of each paragraph. And you can do it
without knowing all the words.

Now take a look at the following example:

The lost giants of Australian fauna

(A) Australia's wildlife is unique. The vast majority of the animals that live
there are not found anywhere else – and things were no different 1 million years
ago during the Pleistocene: the age of the super-sized mammal. Before
humanity became Earth's undisputed superpower, giant beasts of all shapes and
sizes dominated every continent, but the Pleistocene mammals of Australia
were different. Some of them could grow to the size of small cars, or possessed
teeth longer than knife blades.
(B) None of these animals survive today – although exactly why that's the case
is a mystery. Humans, with their advanced hunting techniques and use of fire to
modify the landscape, may have played a central role in the megafauna's
disappearance, but this idea is still a matter of heated debate.

(C) Even if we cannot be sure that the arrival of Australian Aboriginals on the
continent had catastrophic effects on its native animals, it seems that the
animals had a rather spiritual effect on the humans. The Aboriginal
mythological "Dreamtime" includes a cast of monstrous creatures, many of
which bear a close resemblance to some of the real-life monsters that once
stalked Australia's plains. Are the myths based in fact? Perhaps: after all, these
creatures are far stranger than anything dreamed up by humans.

(D) For instance, the two-tonnes weighting Diprotodon comfortably holds the
title of largest marsupial ever. In size and appearance, it looked superficially
like a modern rhinoceros, but the Diprotodon seems to have had a social
lifestyle more like that of an elephant, another mammal with which it shares
anatomical similarities. What the Diprotodon most resembles, however, is
exactly what it is: an enormous wombat.

(E) Another record breaker, this time a world champion; Varanus priscus,
commonly known by its antiquated genus name Megalania – was the largest
terrestrial lizard the world has ever known. Megalania was a goanna lizard, a
relative of today's infamous Komodo dragon, and conservative estimates have
predicted that it was at least 5.5m long.

(F) These monster marsupials were not the only giants. Their numbers were
swelled by half-tonne birds and dinosaur-like tortoises. Although this biological
assemblage was truly nightmarish for humans, it greatly enriched the
Australia’s fauna and contributed to the world’s biological diversity.
Unfortunately, all of these species are extinct nowadays. This fact shows us that
even strong, monstrous creatures can easily die out. So we need to care about
animals that surround us today and don’t let them disappear as it happened to
their distant ancestors.

Matching paragraphs questions:

Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter,
A-F, in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet

1. Extinction of monstrous creatures

2. The largest mammal
3. Myths and reality
 4. Incredible creatures of Pleistocene Australia
5. Importance of animal protection
6. Giant lizards
7. Arrival of Australian Aboriginals
8. Mystery the giants' disappearance

Explanations

Paragraph A

After reading this paragraph we can clearly see that its main idea is to describe
the wildlife in Australia during Pleistocene. This idea is briefly written in the
first sentence:

Australia's wildlife is unique.

So, we can immediately cross out the irrelevant headings:

1. Extinction of monstrous creatures (there is nothing written about animals'

extinction in the first paragraph)
2. The largest mammal
3. Myths and reality (the text just gives information about the animals, it
says nothing about whether it is real)
4. Incredible creatures of Pleistocene Australia
5. Importance of animal protection (animal protection is not mentioned)
6. Giant lizards (nothing about lizards)
7. Arrival of Australian Aboriginals (nothing about Aboriginals)
8. Mystery the giants' disappearance (we're not given any information about
animals' disappearance)

So we're left with two headings. But despite that super-sized mammal is
mentioned in the text, the main focus of this paragraph is Australia's wildlife
during Pleistocene. So the correct answer is Incredible creatures of
Pleistocene Australia.

Paragraph B

This paragraph says that we don't know why these creatures disappeared. And
again, the first sentence of this paragraph summarises its main idea:

None of these animals survive today – although exactly why that's the case is a
mystery.
Now we can cross out the irrelevant headings:

1. Extinction of monstrous creatures

2. The largest mammal
3. Myths and reality

5. Importance of animal protection

6. Giant lizards
7. Arrival of Australian Aboriginals
8. Mystery the giants' disappearance

Both headings that are left look good. But the first one doesn't give enough
information, as it is highlighted in the paragraph that the case is a mystery. So
the correct answer is Mystery the giants' disappearance.

Paragraph C

These sentences contain the paragraphs main idea:

The Aboriginal mythological "Dreamtime" includes a cast of monstrous

creatures, many of which bear a close resemblance to some of the real-life
monsters that once stalked Australia's plains. Are the myths based in fact?
Perhaps: after all, these creatures are far stranger than anything dreamed up by
humans.

So the text tells us about myths and reality, which is the correct heading.

Note that arrival of Australian Aboriginals is also mentioned in this paragraph,

but it doesn't play a key role.

Paragraph D

This paragraph is clearly about Diprotodon:

the two-tonnes weighting Diprotodon comfortably holds the title of largest

marsupial ever. In size and appearance, it looked superficially like a modern
rhinoceros, but the Diprotodon seems to have had a social lifestyle more like
that of an elephant, another mammal with which it shares anatomical
similarities.

So the main idea of paragraph D is The largest mammal.

Paragraph E

The whole paragraph is dedicated to the giant lizard Megalania:

... Megalania – was the largest terrestrial lizard ...

So, Giant lizards is a correct choice of heading.

Paragraph F

Paragraph F tells a bit more about other extinct species and ends with a
conclusion:

Unfortunately, all of these species are extinct nowadays. This fact shows us that
even strong, monstrous creatures can easily die out. So we need to care about
animals that surround us today and don't let them disappear as it happened to
their distant ancestors.

This conclusion is the main idea of this paragraph - we need to protect animals.
That's why the correct heading is Importance of animal protection.

You can also see that two paragraphs (1 and 7) were not used at all. This
sometimes happens in IELTS Matching Paragraphs questions.