IELTS Reading

The Reading Module is typically considered one of the hardest sections by the students. You will be provided a long text from books, magazines or articles and will be asked to answer a series of questions based on the text provided.

Reading Module consists of three different passages and you have to answer 40 questions. Try to spend around 20 minutes for each passage. The Reading Test is different for Academic and General test takers.

There are 14 different categories of Reading Questions like Paragraph Heading, True False Not Given, Fill in the Blanks, etc.

Example Passage

True False Not Given:

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 1-2 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.

1. Franklin’s lost expedition was a search party attempting to find Lady Jane Franklin

• True
• False
• Not Given

2. John Rae suspected that Franklin’s lost expedition likely suffered from a food shortage aboard the ship

• True
• False
• Not Given

Fill in the Blanks:

Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

1. The Northwest Passage is a route which connects  __________ by sea.

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There are 12 other question types similar to these which you need to learn prior to attending your IELTS Exam. Please see the video below where we explain a sample Reading Question.
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Reading: Tips and Strategies

• Question Number Technique:
  This tip can be used to help distinguish between 'False" and "Not Given." Under this technique, after finding the answer to the first question, probably the answer to the third question lies someplace below it. Then the chances for the second question to be False or Not given are high. (Not always, but possibilities are high)
• Prioritising the Right Passage
  Reading test doesn't make it compulsory to attempt the paragraphs in order. You need to prioritise the right passage out of the available ones so that you can manage time wisely. If you gave three passages with headings:
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  1. From Macintosh to Macbook, the revolution in UX
  2. Convergent Evolution and its attributes
  3. Story of Buddha
  
  For most students, out of this possibly the story of Buddha will be the easiest to attempt, then convergent evolution and its attributes and finally from Macintosh to Macbook , the revolution in UX

• Looking for Keywords
  It is good to focus on the keywords such as, pioneer, early developments and so on for paragraph heading beginning
  It is good to focus on the keywords such as, future, message and so on for paragraph heading last paragraph.
• Elimination Method
  For list of headings category of questions, headings which have no connection to the passage can be eliminated. If one doesn't get which heading to assign to a particular paragraph, you can move to next and make the list shorter before attempting that paragraph again.
  
  For Paragraph Heading Questions,  when there are many options, the elimination method can be used. This means rather than getting confused with the right answer, first eliminate the wrong ones or the ones that have no connection at all. This will make it easier to find the right answer.
• Choosing which question type to attempt first
  It is better for the students to attempt true, false, not given category questions first as there is a fifty- fifty chance of getting the answers right as compared to paragraph heading where the probability is just one eighth that is there is one question with many options making it difficult to find the right one.