Overview of the IELTS Reading Exam
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The IELTS reading test is a 60-minute exam with 40 questions based on three passages totaling around 2,750 words, requiring efficient reading skills such as skimming and scanning. Various question types, including multiple choice and true/false/not given, necessitate familiarity with synonyms and negative frequency words to improve accuracy. Successful strategies include focusing on topic sentences, practicing reading diverse texts, and managing time effectively.
Overview of the IELTS Reading Exam
- 1. A N I N T R O D U C T I O N A N D S O M E T I P S IELTS READING TEST
- 2. OVERVIEW • The IELTS Reading Exam lasts for 60 minutes. • (Including time to transfer answers.) • It is comprised of 40 questions, each worth 1 pt. • There are 3 reading passages. • They total around 2,750 words. • The reading passages may be from: • Magazines, books, newspapers, websites, journals, etc • Texts range from descriptive and factual to the discursive and analytical.
- 3. QUESTIONS • A variety of questions is used, chosen from the following types: • multiple choice • identifying information • identifying writer’s views/claims • matching information • matching headings • matching features • matching sentence endings • sentence completion • summary completion • note completion • table completion • flow-chart completion • diagram label completion • short-answer questions.
- 4. IMPORTANT • Time is very important. You only have 60 minutes to answer 40 question. How? • You must read quickly and efficiently. • Learn how to skim and scan. • Learn how to find information quickly. • Become familiar with the question types.
- 5. HOW TO SUCCEED Learn Synonyms Such as “intelligent,” “clever,” and “smart” This will help you search for information by finding key words in the question and then the related part of the text.
- 6. HOW TO SUCCEED Pay Attention to Negative Words For example, “hardly,” “never,” “seldom,” “rarely” This is especially important for true/false/not given questions.
- 7. HOW TO SUCCEED Pay Attention to Frequency Words Like “always,” “often,” “sometimes,” “never.” Again, these will help with T/F/NG questions.
- 8. HOW TO SUCCEED Questions Usually Follow Passage Order Follow the questions through the reading passage. You will usually be guided to the answers.
- 9. HOW TO SUCCEED Look for Topic Sentences This is usually the first sentence in a paragraph. It will tell you what the paragraph is about, so you can save a lot of time in reading.
- 10. HOW TO READ QUICKLY • Practice reading a variety of texts. • Don’t get stressed by unfamiliar vocabulary. • Learn to read for main ideas – of the whole text, and of each paragraph • Underline important words and remember where important ideas were expressed • Then practice locating information – single words or phrases, names, numbers, etc
- 11. • For more IELTS hints and tips, check out TED-IELTS.