IELTS – READING
Reading test is more of a vocabulary test because most of the answers will be analyzing synonyms (words with the same or very similar meanings) and paraphrasing
(rephrasing or saying the sentence so it has the same meaning using different words) antonyms, collocations, part of speech, grammatical features, etc. because
Cambridge uses them so much in reading and listening tests and expects us to use them in writing and speaking tests.
General Test Strategies
1. Read the instruction; how many words allowed
2. Do the easiest questions first
3. Find and predict the keywords (usually nouns or noun phrase) and look
for the synonyms or paraphrased words in the text
4. Predict the answer by analyzing grammatical clues or part of speech in
the question sentence
General Reading Techniques
1. Understanding Question and Deciding Keywords; deciding keywords
and predicting the synonyms / paraphrases of keywords in the text
2. Skimming; quick reading to find the keywords / synonyms / paraphrases
to understand general meaning (gist)
How to skim the text:
 Read the first sentence/topic sentence of each paragraph that
introduces the subject matter/topic
 Read from left to right of the passage
 Glance down through noticing key information
 Read the last paragraph a little more slowly as it probably contains a
summary of the whole text
3. Context; if it is found in more than one paragraph, analyze and decide
the proper / closest / similar meaning with what questioned.
4. Scanning; deep reading to find specific or accurate information
How to scan the text
 When we spot what we are looking for, scan the sentences before
and after the keywords to find details the details and to aid
understanding
How to apply the techniques;
Example: question no. 5
1) Decide and predict the keywords
2012 – the Bronze-Age 5. ……… featured the boat and other objects.
Featured = combined, mixed, brought together, bound together
2) Skim the text; spotlight figure ‘2012’ easily
A small team began to make the boat at the start of 2012 on the
Roman Lawn outside Dover museum. A full-scale reconstruction of a
mid-section had been made in 1996, primarily to see how Bronze-Age
replica tools performed. In 2012, however, the hull shape was at the
center of the works, so modern power tools were used to carve oak
planks, before turning to prehistoric tools for finishing. It was decided to
make the replica half-scale for reasons of cost and time, and synthetic
materials were used for stitching, owing to doubts about the scaling and
tight timetable.
Meanwhile, the exhibition was being prepared ready for opening in
July 2012 at the Castle Museum in Boulogne-sur-Mer. Entitled ‘Beyond
the Horizon: Societies of the Channel & North Sea 3,500 years ago’, it
brought together for the first time a remarkable collection of Bronze-Age
objects, including many new discoveries for commercial archeology
and some of the great treasure of the past. The reconstructed boat, as
a symbol of the maritime connections that bound together the
communities either side of the Channel, was the centerpiece.
3) Decide the context; after reading and understanding both paragraphs,
then focus in the second paragraph
4) Scan the text; so, what is the answer?
Different Steps for Different Questions

Example;

Compared to
Questions Types

Matching headings (could be the first question to do)

Headings are short sentences that summarize the information in a paragraph.

Common Problems
1) Matching words from headings to text
2) Similar headings
3) Reading first sentence of each paragraph but not understanding the main idea
4) Reading paragraph incompletely

* Strategy in matching heading: reading headings or texts first?!

* Destructor in matching headings question: see example on previous page

Tips
 Read each paragraph and understand it
 Read the first one or two sentences and last sentence of the paragraphs or the rest of the paragraph if possible
 Look headings and identify keywords
 Compare similar headings and match with the text

Matching information (could be the last question to do)

The statements could be specific reasons, descriptions, summaries, definitions, facts or explanations in the paragraph and
match it to statement. The answers do not appear in the same order as the questions.

Common Problems
1) The answer could be anywhere, not coming in order
2) Many paragraphs do not contain what to be looked for, but one paragraph could contain more than one answer

Tips
 Do this question at last
 Identify specific details such as names, place names and numbers in the questions
 Beware of synonym; ‘34%‘ in the question but it might say ‘just over a third‘ or ‘about a third‘ in the text

Example;
True, False, Not Given and Yes, No, Not Given
True, False, Not Given : dealing with facts (sometimes rely on one sentence)

True is because the information in the question is the same as in the text.
False is because the information in the question is contradictive within the text.
Not Given is because there is no piece of information found in the text or no complete information about something.

True and False will consider the changing or switching of information in Subject and Object (grammatically) and how to make
sure if the information is Not Given, check on the Verb or action done.

Simple analogy:
In the text:
Perkin’s scientific gifts soon caught Hoffmann’s attention and, within two years, he became Hofmann’s youngest assistant.

In the question.
August Wilhelm Hofmann employed Perkin as his assistant. (True)
Perkin employed August Wilhelm Hofmann as his assistant. (False)
August Wilhelm Hofmann employed Michael Faraday as his assistant. (False)
August Wilhelm Hofmann employed Perkin as his trusted assistant. (Not Given)
August Wilhelm Hofmann then fired Perkin as his assistant. (Not Given)

Yes, No, Not Given : dealing with writer’s opinion (sometimes rely on some sentences then make a conclusion)

Common Problems
1) Focusing on keywords rather than understanding the whole statement
2) Understanding the question but not understanding the text
3) Finding the supporting sentences based on the synonyms but cannot relate to the questions (almost there, but fail)
4) Not understanding and/or finding the information and decide ‘Not Given’

Tips
 Be careful on words meaning of the qualitative words such as some, all, mainly, often, always, occasionally, etc.
 Be careful on meaning of the qualitative statement words such as suggest, claim, believe, know etc.
 Don’t waste time looking for something that is not there, it is probably “Not Given”
 Answers are in the same order they appear in the text. Do not waste time going back. Keep on reading.
Multiple choice
It tests student’s ability to understand the main ideas contained in a text and then look for specific information.

Common Problems
1) Reading the text first
2) Being trapped with distracting keywords/phrases that match with the options
3) Not reading whole sentence and text carefully

Tips
 Read the questions first
 Find the information by applying reading techniques
 Match with the options
 Choose option represents whole context, not distracted by words in the question and in the text
 Eliminate not potential choices which have the same meaning
 Guess if not knowing the answer and consider why other options unchosen

Sentence Completion
Common Problems
1) Writing many words not as instructed
2) Matching the same words between in the question and in the text
3) Reading the text before the questions
.
Tips
 Read the questions first
 The answers appear in the same orders as the questions

Summary, note, table, flow-chart completion

Common Problems
1) Trying to understand everything
2) Focusing the same words from the question to be found in the text
3) Being trapped by word/phrase from the text as one of the options

Tips
 The answers appear in the same orders as the questions
 Taken from one specific paragraph or idea spread in whole paragraph

Diagram label completion

Common Problems
1) Focus on the diagram
2) Wasting time by reading whole text
3) Writing more words not as instructed

Tips
 The answers do not always come in the same orders of the paragraphs
 Understand the diagram and the relationship between the text and diagram