IELTS   READING

Top Most Strategies

 

1. Strategy for Multiple Choice Questions:

This is my suggested strategy. There are many different strategies and you should use the one you feel comfortable with. You can also adapt this strategy to what suits you.

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1. Firstly, read the instructions carefully. Now, read questions to know what is being asked. Don’t be hasty because unless you understand the context of the question first, you will not be able to find the correct answer.

2. Skim the text to get the general meaning. Then, read the question first and at least underline two keywords in the question and start scanning/searching for them.

3. Underline any keywords in the question and think about any synonyms that might appear in the text.

4. Read the choices and underline any keywords. Think about the difference in meaning between the different choices.

5. Predict the correct answer. Pay close attention to "absolute" words in these answer options. These words include many adverbs of frequency and words that generalize ideas. The most common include: mainly, all, some, sometimes, often, usually, occasionally, hardly ever, never, only, and always. When these words are included in an answer option, it is usually harder to prove correct, and they are often included as answer options.

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6. Read the text and using keywords and synonyms locate the part containing the answers.

7. Read that part of the text very carefully, thinking about the difference in meanings.

8. Think about not only which options are correct but how the other options are wrong.

9. Go back and read the question again and mark your final choice.

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Identifying Writer's Views Questions: 

IWVQ is a difficult yet common IELTS reading question type. This type of question does not only require you to use various skills to find the needed information, but also to think logically to answer correctly.

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Your job is to decide whether they agree with the writer’s views or not. Your decision should be based only on the information from the text. There will be 3 answers: YES, NO, and NOT GIVEN

• YES – If the statement agrees with or is the same as the writer’s opinions and claims that you see from the reading text.

• NO – If the statement disagrees with or contradicts the writer’s opinions and claims.

• NOT GIVEN – If you cannot find any clue from the text to decide what the writer’s opinions are.

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From this definition, you can see that the IWVQ requires you to:
 

• Understand the statements and the text.

• Locate the information in the text quickly.

• Analyze and compare the information.

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When you can master this, both your reading skill and critical thinking will become stronger. This is a challenge yet a great opportunity to improve yourself! So let’s go to the second part where you can see how to solve these questions in the best way!

 

Solving Identifying Writer’s Views/Claim Questions – Step By Step

1. Warm-up: Familiarise yourself with the overall content of the article.
This is a must-have step before you start doing any IELTS reading question type.

Reading the whole passage quickly with strategies will give you an overview of the content while saving your time.

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So how to read a long article effectively? The answer is skimming skill. You will read the title, subtitles, the opening and closing sentences of each paragraph because they contain the key messages. After that, the information will connect with each other to help you get the most general idea about the text.

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Once you get the flow of it, you can identify the location of the needed information more quickly and precisely.

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Note: To save more time, you can choose to do this reading question type after finishing the others with which you are more comfortable.

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2. Step 1: Read the given statements with strategies
After skimming the passage, you will start to read every statement carefully and strategically. The objective of this step is to understand fully what each statement is about. You have to know what you are finding before you start finding it, right?

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It is highly recommended that you underline the keywords of each sentence. This will help you focus and find the information more easily by spotting those words or their synonyms in the text.

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3. Step 2: Match the statements with the information from the text
After you have got the flow of the content and the meaning of the statements with some keywords, you can easily locate where to find the answers from the whole passage.

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Try to look out for numbers, names, locations, synonyms of the keywords, so you can spot them as quickly and as possible!

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4. Step 3: Analyze the information and decide the answers
It’s time when you decide the answers to the questions. In this part, you will have to compare the statements with the information in the text. You will also have to use your critical thinking to give the final answers.

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5. Step 4: Transfer the answers to the answer sheet
After deciding the answers, you have to write them down on the answer sheet. Although it sounds easy, some examinees still make mistakes in this step which leads to their answers not being counted as correct (read more in the next part). Therefore, remember to be extremely careful!

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Tips To Win Identifying Writer’s Views/Claims Questions
 

1. Notice the order of the statements
The statements will appear with the continuing flow of the text. Therefore, once you can locate the information for Statement 1 correctly, keep on reading to find answers for the next statements. TRY NOT TO LOOK BACK – IT’S TIME – CONSUMING because the answer will not be there.

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2. Look out for important indicators
Important indicators include the name, number, location, synonyms, and different word forms (noun, adjective, verb, adverb) of the keywords in the statement.

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They are very helpful for you to find the correct section of the article that contains the needed information. By doing this, you can spot the location more easily and quickly especially when the keywords in the statements are often paraphrased when compared to the original text.

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Example
Statement: Emily started to manage the company three years ago.

 

In this case, you should look for indicators such as:

 

Name: Emily, or the name of the company

 

Number: 3 years, or any number of years

 

Synonyms: operate, run, lead,…..

 

Different forms of the word: manager, leader, managerial, leading,…

 

3. Absolute statements are often false statements
In most cases, you have to think more carefully about the statements that contain absolute qualifiers such as never, always, the + superlative comparison. Just for you to know,  the answer to this kind of statement is often NO. However, it is still better when you can find the reason for each answer. Only write NO when you cannot find logical evidence or understand the information.

 

Necessary Skills To Get The Correct Answers
 

1. Skimming and Scanning
For any IELTS learners, these two skills have become very familiar. However, they may be the hardest skills to gain and improve. If you are a little bit confused about the difference between these two skills, then have a look again at the definition here.

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Skimming means you have a quick look at the whole text in order to get the most general idea about the passage. There are some steps so you can be the master of skimming:

– Read the headlines;

– Underline the subtitles;

– Underline the opening and the closing sentence of each paragraph.

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Scanning means you look through a text for specific details. You can use this skill to locate the sentence that contains the answer to your question. In order to do that effectively, you have to identify and match keywords of the statements with the suitable words (synonyms and different word forms) in the text to get the information location.

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2. Paraphrasing skill
Paraphrasing skill is an essential skill for every IELTS test. When you actively work on this skill, it will enrich your vocabulary and help you spot the information more easily even when they are paraphrased (and they are, most of the time).

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So how to improve this skill? The answer is to learn new words, learn their synonyms and group them together.

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Learn new words: Vocabulary is very important for IELTS. However, if you think learning new words is “painful” and boring, you can be dead wrong. What if you can read about any subject that you like and watch any movie that you love without having to stop and look new words up in the dictionary? It’s great, right? Technology now allows us to do it. 

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Learn synonyms: It’s easy. You only need to search “word + synonyms” on Google or buy a type of dictionary called ‘Thesaurus Dictionary’. Then note them down in a notebook and practice every day to remember them longer.

3. Critical thinking
Critical thinking is essential to reach a higher band in the IELTS exam. It is the ability to think clearly about what to do and what to believe. With critical thinking, you can understand logical connections and spot illogical points. Therefore, it is very helpful for doing YES/NO/NOT GIVEN questions.

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You can practice critical thinking in many situations. The key is to question everything, even the things that seem to be certain.

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Let’s start by asking yourself  ‘Is it true that…?’, then try to find the reasons for your answer.

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Common Mistakes: Examples And Solutions
 

1. Do not follow the question’s instructions
You can think that no one can make this mistake in such an important exam. However, everything can happen when you are nervous. To avoid this, there are two things that you need to be careful:

– Notice if it is YES/NO/NOT GIVEN questions or TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN questions.

– Be careful when you transfer the answers to the answer sheet. If the test asks you to write ‘YES’ but you write ‘TRUE’, that answer will not be counted as a correct one.

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2. Making assumptions
Assumptions are statements or judgments that you believe to be right or wrong without any proof. Assumptions in this IELTS reading question type often come from 2 main reasons:

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First, it is because you use your knowledge to answer the questions, not the information from the text. This situation is common among students who meet the topics that are of their expertise. In this case, they often write YES or NO without reading the text carefully. However, you need to remember that this is ‘WRITER’S CLAIMS/VIEWS’, not YOURS. Therefore, the proof that you have to look for is in the passage, not from your own knowledge.

Solutions

– Forget what you know about the topic because it can be possible that the writer does not agree with and want to debate with that knowledge in the article, or that your knowledge may not have been proved.

– Make sure you have considered carefully by underlining the sentences in the text that give you the answer. This action will help you check again to make sure that every answer you give has its evidence.

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Second, examinees often make the mistake of assuming because of logical reasons. 

For example:

Article: “Apples first originated in South Africa 3000 years ago.”

Statement: “South Africans are the first people to eat apples.”

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In this case, many students may answer YES because when apples originated in South Africa, it is likely that South African people were the first to eat them.

But if you think a little bit more, you will find out that it can be some travelers from other regions going there and eating apples. That’s when the statement is not 100% correct. The answer should be ‘NOT GIVEN’ if the writer did not give you any more information about this statement.

 

Solutions:

In order to minimize your chances of making this mistake, the best advice may be to doubt everything before you give the final decision, even when it seems to be obvious.

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Remember to ask yourself repeatedly ‘Is it true that + statement?’ before you say YES, NO, or NOT GIVEN. Do not let yourself be tricked, look for the exception ACTIVELY.

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3. Do not notice qualifiers
Qualifiers are words that modify other words to limit or enhance it's meaning.

 

For example:

–  Qualifiers that limit meaning: slightly, sort of, somehow, somewhat, may, seem,…

–  Qualifiers that enhance meaning: always, never, every, all,…

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The sad thing is that qualifiers are often there to trick you. Therefore, you need to be careful whenever you see them in the statements.

 

Example 1
Article: Some European governments are against the wave of refugees from the Middle East.

 

Statement: All European governments are against the wave of refugees from the Middle East.

 

All the sentences are the same except for ‘some’ and ‘all’ (qualifiers). ‘Some’ and ‘all’ have totally different meanings. Therefore, the answer is ‘NO’.

 

Example 2
Article: He claims to come from England.

 

Statement: He comes from England.

 

If the article says ‘He claims to come from England’, it is still possible that he is lying. Therefore, it cannot be a fact as in the statement. The answer is NO.

 

4. You forget about verb tenses
For example

Article: He lived in Canada with his family.   

 

Statement: He lives in Canada with his family.

 

In this case, ‘lived’ means that the action had started and ended in the past, while ‘lives’ means the action is still happening. Therefore, they are disagreeing with each other, then the answer is ‘NO’.

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Solutions:

– Review English verb tenses to get the meaning of each tense.

– Always underline the main verbs of the statements and the information from the article.

– Be careful, compare and use your knowledge to identify the differences.

 

Things To Note Down To Master Identifying Writer’s Views/Claims Questions
Watch out for timing. If it is taking too much time to find an answer, you have to move on. If you do not have time to look back, you still have to write down one answer because the chance of getting it correct is still higher.

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Write down the reason why you choose that answer by putting ‘√’ in the correct part of the statements, ‘x’ in the wrong part, and circle the contradictory points between the statements and the article. This will help you check the answers more easily later.

Check the answers again after you transfer the answers to the answer sheet
Practice, practice, and practice – because it only makes perfect!!!

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Examples of Identifying Writers’ Views

Check out the practice task for identifying writers’ views. Below is the explanation for the answers.

 

1. "Thirty percent of deaths in the United States are caused by smoking-related diseases."
 

Related information can be found at the end of the second paragraph. Smoking, it is believed, is responsible for 30 percent of all deaths from cancer and clearly represents the most important preventable cause of cancer in countries like the United States today. From this text, we can know that 30 percent of deaths from cancer are caused by smoking. The statement doesn’t match the writer’s claim because it includes deaths from other reasons. Therefore, the answer is NO.

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2. "If one partner in a marriage smokes, the other is likely to take up smoking."

The first sentence in the fourth paragraph contains information about one partner in a marriage who smokes and indicates that the other one in that marriage will have a higher risk of death from heart disease. However, the writer didn’t mention anything about the possibility of taking up smoking. Therefore, the answer is NOT GIVEN.

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3. "Teenagers whose parents smoke are at risk of getting lung cancer at some time during their lives."
 

Though there is no direct information about this statement, the answer is still in the article. Leaving aside the philosophical question of whether anyone should have to breathe someone else’s cigarette smoke, the report suggests that the smoke experienced by many people in their daily lives is enough to produce substantial adverse effects on a person’s heart and lungs. We can infer from the end of the fifth paragraph that teenagers whose parents smoke have the possibility to get lung cancer because of the substantial adverse effects of passive smoking. Therefore, the answer is YES.

 

4. "Opponents of smoking financed the UCSF study."
 

The writer didn’t mention who financed the UCSF study at all, so the answer is NOT GIVEN.

 

In a word, it is not hard to identify writers’ views if you locate information accurately and read carefully. Check out more practice tests and go for it! 

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3. Strategy for Matching Information:

• In this kind of question, you are asked to match statements to paragraphs in the reading text. It requires you to match the sentences given with information that is contained in different paragraphs. 

• You must have strong skills in paraphrasing for this type of question. You will need to prepare lots of paraphrases for the statements in order to locate the right paragraph which contains that information. 

• The statements could be reasons, descriptions, summaries, definitions, facts, or explanations. What they are doesn’t really matter. You are not expected to have specialist knowledge in the reading test.

• You do not need to understand what the whole paragraph is about, just find specific information in the paragraph and match it to one of the statements. The answer will normally be contained in a whole phrase or sentence, rather than a single word. 

• You are given a number of statements and you are required to match these to the correct paragraphs in the reading text.

• The paragraphs in the reading text are labeled a, b, c, d, and so on. Your answer will be the letter of the paragraph, not the words or phrases in the paragraph.

• There will normally be more paragraphs than questions, so don’t worry if some of the paragraphs do not contain the information you are looking for. Also, don’t worry if you find more than one answer in one paragraph. A paragraph could contain more than one answer.

• The answers do not appear in the same order as the questions.

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Reading Skills:

• You will first have to be able to skim the reading text to get a general meaning of each paragraph.

• You will also have to scan for specific words within the paragraphs. It is more likely that you will be looking for synonyms (different words that mean the same or nearly the same) and paraphrases rather than keywords from the question statements.

• When you have found the words or phrases you think might give you the correct answer, you have to read very carefully in order to fully understand the meaning to be able to decide if it is really the correct answer.

• Matching information questions are a real test of your paraphrasing skills as the information will be expressed in different ways in the statements and in the text. Many synonyms will be used and sentence structures often altered.

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Common Problems:

The biggest problem is the fact that you need to look at the whole text. The answers could be anywhere in the text and they do not come in order, so it takes time.

 

Also, the answers might not be the main idea of each paragraph. Normally, paragraphs contain one main idea, and reading the first and last lines of the paragraph can help you understand this. With these questions, the answer could be in any part of the paragraph and you cannot therefore just quickly skim to find it.

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There is also lots of irrelevant information that you do not need to consider. The strategy below will help you ignore much of this irrelevant information.

 

Finally, as stated above, not all paragraphs contain an answer and some paragraphs contain more than one answer.

 

Tips:

• Read through the questions. 

• Think of ways to paraphrase keywords. 

• Try to locate the keywords or the paraphrases in the paragraphs. 

• The answers do not come in order. 

• Your answer should be a letter, not a word. 

• Start with the easiest questions first. This will usually be in a statement that contains keywords that are easy to find in the text such as names, numbers, places, and dates. 

• This way, if time runs short and you’re forced to move on before completing the question, you’ll at least have picked up the easiest marks rather than wasting lots of time on a difficult question.

• Do this question last. If you do other questions first, you will become familiar with the passage and this will help you identify the correct information more quickly and easily.

• Try to find names, place names, and numbers in the questions. These are often easier to find in the text.

• Be aware that there may be synonyms. For example, you might see ‘34%‘ in the question but it might say ‘just over a third‘ or ‘about a third‘ in the text.

 

Strategy:

• This is my suggested strategy. There are many different strategies and you should use the one you feel comfortable with. You can also adapt this strategy to what suits you.

• Read the instructions carefully. Read the questions first. Think about synonyms and how you could paraphrase the statements. This will help you identify the answer. Saying each statement in your own words can help do this.

• Quickly skim the reading text to try to understand the general meaning of the text.

• Read the question statements again and predict which paragraph contains the answer.

• Scan the text paragraphs you think might contain the answer for synonyms. If you find a possible answer underline it.

• Check back with the question statement and mark the answer if correct. If not, move on to other paragraphs.

• Expect lots of synonyms. Be particularly aware of information that can be represented in words and figures. For example,

  •      ½  – a half

  •      15º – fifteen degrees

  •      69% – sixty-nine percent

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• You can narrow down the match of statement and paragraph by a process of elimination. For any specific statement, there will be paragraphs that are clearly not a match.

• If you are right and can confirm the match, fill in the answer sheet and cross through the statement to eliminate it from further consideration.

• If you’re wrong, continue scanning for the correct paragraph. Repeat this process until you have matched all the statements to paragraphs.

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4. Strategy for Matching Headings:

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Matching headings in the IELTS Reading test can be tricky. Find out strategies to help you answer matching headings questions in a more effective way.

One type of question that test-takers often find tricky in the IELTS test is matching headings in the Reading test.

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This question type requires you to match the heading in the question to the correct paragraph or reading section in the text. There will always be more headings than paragraphs or sections so that some headings will not be used.

 

It is also possible that some of the text may not be included in the task. This task type is used with texts that contain paragraphs that have clearly defined themes. It tests your ability to recognize the main idea in the paragraph and to identify supporting ideas.

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The question type can be tricky because of the following reasons:

• It takes a little more time than other questions to complete.

• Often, there are more headings than paragraphs.

• Some paragraphs don't need headings.

• There are some similarities between headings.

• Headings that only include specific details rather than the main idea may mislead you.

• Some headings have the same words that are in a paragraph but don't match.

 

How you approach this question type is personal, so you should choose the strategy that suits you best. We outline two strategies to help you match headings more successfully.

 

Strategy #1: Read the question first
1. First, read each heading
Try to completely understand the meaning of each heading by reading all of them thoroughly. Understanding the main idea of the heading can be made easier by paraphrasing.

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2. Circle keywords within the headings
Underline or circle keywords in each heading such as names, places, dates, and nouns, once you have read them fully. Connecting the correct heading to the appropriate paragraph may become easier with this step.

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3. Any similarities or differences between the headings should be noted
In this type of question, headings are often very similar or completely opposite. Similarities and differences will become clearer among the headings, once you have picked out keywords. This will make choosing an option clearer.

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4. Read the first and last sentence of the paragraph
The first and/or last sentence of a paragraph often contains the main idea. It is good practice to read these sentences carefully as it will save time. It is also important to skim the other sentences quickly within the paragraph because the main idea might not be apparent until the second or third sentence.

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5. The heading that is most suitable for the paragraph should be chosen
Choose the heading that most closely matches the paragraph once you have read through them again. Make a note if you are unsure of the difference between multiple headings, and move on. You may be able to cross some heading options out and answers may become clearer once you’ve read all of the paragraphs. Remember, a heading is the main idea of the paragraph, NOT a specific detail. The same detail in the paragraph such as a matching word may be in the heading, but it may not be the main idea. This can be confusing to test takers.

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Strategy #2: Read the text first
Some test takers prefer to skim through the text reading each paragraph quickly to get the general gist of what the text is about and what the main idea of each paragraph is. However, be very careful with timing. Remember you only have 20 minutes per Reading part, so you don't want to spend the full 20 minutes on one question type.

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1. Read one paragraph at a time
Again, spend more time on the first and last sentences of a paragraph, trying to identify the main idea.

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2. Create your own heading
As soon as you have skimmed through the paragraph, think of your own heading or short sentence that summarises what you have read. Your heading should encompass the main idea and not just specific details.

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3. Read each individual heading
For a complete understanding of the meaning, read the headings thoroughly. This time, try to choose a heading that is closely related to the heading that you made up for the same paragraph. Again, make note of multiple options that may fit the paragraph and move on. As you read more paragraphs you may be able to eliminate options. Mark keywords that note similarities and differences as this will aid in eliminating headings with similar meanings.

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General tips
a. Be as efficient with your time as possible when choosing the correct heading for both strategies as this can be very time-consuming. Make a note of all answers and move on to the next paragraph if you are unsure of the difference between two or more headings.

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b. Eliminating possible answers as you read further into the passage may be an option. Crossing out the heading on the test booklet once you are sure you have the correct heading for the paragraph or have eliminated an option is good practice. This results in less time spent on repeatedly reading the same heading.

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c. Finally, skimming is an essential skill for time-consuming question types such as matching headings. This skill will also provide you with more time to do the other questions within the reading section.

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d. What you are most comfortable with as well as how much time you have to spend on the question will help you find the best strategy when tackling matching heading questions. This will also become more apparent through practice.

 

Tips for Matching Headings:

• Pay attention to headings that are different or similar to each other. 

• Spend time paraphrasing keywords in the possible headings.

• Read the Paragraphs to find the main idea.

• Distinguish between main ideas and extra information in the paragraph. 

• The headings should provide the main of the paragraph. 

• Do not try to match words - this is about paragraph aims. 

• Not all headings might be used. 

• Your answer will be a numeral (for example, i or vi) or a letter - do not write the words. 

• There can only ever be one possible heading for each paragraph. 

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Common Problems:

Below is a list of common problems my students tend to have. Have you experienced any of these problems?

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Later in the post, we will look at tips to overcome these problems and a strategy for answering this kind of reading question.

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• There is too much information to get through and not enough time.

• Trying to match a word or words from the headings to a word in the text and eventually end up with a wrong answer.

• Some of the headings may appear to have the same meaning.

• Some students only read the first sentence of each paragraph and do not understand the main idea of the paragraph in a very short time.

• Spending too much time on one paragraph or heading can create pressure on other questions that come afterward.

• Answers are not in the same order as the text.

 

Tips and Solutions:

• A million-dollar tip is, do answer this question first. Because you are summarising the paragraphs. By doing this you will be able to get the general meaning of the text as a whole and this will help you with the rest of the question that requires you to take a more detailed look at the text.

• You are not expected to read every word of the text. Do not try to understand the details of a paragraph.  This will take too long and you don’t have time for this. In this kind of question, you are only expected to understand the main idea of each paragraph. A good way to do this is to read the first one or two sentences and the last sentence of the paragraphs.

• You can also briefly look at the rest of the paragraph but you don’t have to read every word. It will help you get a general meaning of the paragraph and guess the probable heading.

• Skim the text to understand the general meaning of the paragraph. Don't read too fast. If you go through the information too fast, you may end up understanding nothing which turns out a complete waste of time.

• If there are words you don’t understand, don’t worry about this. Again, you should only worry about the general meaning of the paragraph as a whole, not individual words. Even native speakers will fail to understand every word in the IELTS reading test.

• Always stay aware of synonyms and paraphrases. Many students look for words that match exactly with words in the text and ignore synonyms.  Don't rush to match the words from the headings to the words in the reading passage. Examiners know that you might have this tendency, that's why they usually put synonyms or paraphrases to test your vocabulary skill. For example, a keyword in the heading might be ‘Beautiful’, however, the word you’re looking for could be many different synonyms of ‘beautiful’ like ‘attractive’, ‘pretty’, ‘lovely’ or ‘stunning’ in the article.

• If there are two or three headings that are similar, write them beside the paragraph and try to find out the difference between the two headings. What are the keywords? How does this change the meaning? Which one matches the paragraph best?

• If you still can’t decide which one suits you best, move on and come back to it later. The answer will normally be easier to find after you have matched some more headings.

• Ignore anything you already know about the topic. You are being tested text-only.

• Don’t read too quickly. Some teachers advise that students should just ‘skim’ the text because they don’t have much time. In my experience, this leads to students not understanding most of the text and making mistakes. It is better to do this a little slower and actually understand what is in front of you.

• Don’t panic if you know nothing about the general topic of the reading text. The IELTS reading test is not a knowledge test and you are not expected to have prior knowledge of the topic.

• Don’t look at the headings first. This will automatically make you look for specific words in the text rather than the main idea. Remember it is your ability to find the main idea that is being tested, not your ability to find specific information. Instead of reading the headings first, ignore them and get the general meaning of each paragraph first by reading the first and last sentences.

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