IELTS

READING STRATEGY
 THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 10 QUESTION TYPES

• Short Answer Questions

• Multiple Choice
• Summary Completion
• Matching Sentence Endings
• Sentence Completion
• True, False, Not Given / Yes, No, Not Given
• Matching Tips and Strategy
• Labeling a Diagram
• Matching Headings
• Matching Information to Paragraphs
 READING
 Before you begin to read the passage, always check what type of question you have been
given.
 As there are only 3 question types that will require you to read the passage first.
• Matching Headings
• Matching Information to Paragraphs &
• Matching Sentence Endings.
• All the rest will require you to read the question first and then go to the passage.
• Always focus on what the question response is.
• If you notice that a passage has not been given a “Title”, then you can be sure that you will get
a question at the end of the passage, asking you to choose the best suitable Heading. All you
would need, is to just read the ‘first and the last’ paragraph to understand the whole article.
• To quickly find your answers for ‘Match the Headings/Paragraphs/ Sentence Endings’. Just
read the top 3 lines and the last 2 lines of each paragraph.
• When you do this, always make sure that you are Underlining the Key Words.
• Your Key Words in the passage are : Names/Places/Addresses/ Numbers/Dates. Underline them
each time you see them in the passage.
• Your Prime Key Words will be put in : “ “ and ( ) . If it is a single word then circle it and if it is in
a long sentence then put them in brackets.
• For Fill in The Blanks / Complete the table, diagram : All you need to do, is to carefully focus on
the Key Words assigned before the ________ . Go to the passage and you will notice that all
your answers will be in Maximum 3 Paragraphs.
 READING
• Multiple Choice: The question will clearly tell you what to search in the passage. It may seem
easy, but you may not be able to find them if you have not underlined the Key Words.
• Fill in the Blanks with less __________ and too many options. : Again the beginning to the first
question will always help you find the answer in the passage. Also, all your answers will come
from mostly 1 paragraph. However, the options given will confuse you as they may all fit. Just
look at the passage and you will surely find the exact answer.
• True, False and Not Given / Yes, No and Not Given : If you notice that a passage has T,F & NG, it
means that the passage you are reading are factual texts based upon Literature, Science,
History, Geography.
• If you notice that a passage has Y,N & NG, it means that the passage you are reading are taken
from famous Writers.
• Finding the answers to both in the passage are the same, but writing them down in your
answer sheet, is doing exactly what its asking you to respond.
• For eg: Yes – Yes = Right / No – False = Wrong
• Always note that for either, Not Given will never come in the 1st Question. However, it may
come anywhere next. Therefore, always try to attempt the 1st question.
• Further, as per the questions placed, you will also find them in the same manner in your
passage.
• Do not waste any time on any new word that you see. Rather, just look at the complete
sentence that the word has been attached and try to comprehend the simpler meaning.
 READING [T/F/NG]
 True means that the meaning is same. If it is similar then it is
FALSE. Remember we are dealing with factual info so there is no
room to say similar or nearly the same or kind of.
 “Not Given” – doesn’t mean there are no words in the statements
that match words in the text. Not Given answers, they just don’t
have enough info to answer the question as a whole.

TIPS
 Identify any words that qualify the statement, for example some,
all, mainly, often, always and occasionally. These words are there
to test if you have read the whole statement because they can
change the meaning. For example, ‘Coca-Cola has always made its
drinks in the U.S.A.’ has a different meaning from ‘Coca-Cola
has mainly made its drinks in the U.S.A.’
 READING [T/F/NG]
 Be careful when you see verbs that qualify statements, such
as suggest, claim, believe and know. For example, ‘The
man claimed he was a British citizen,’ and ‘The man is a British
citizen’ mean two different things.
 Don’t look for words that exactly match those in the statements.
You should also look for synonyms. Remember that you
are matching meaning, not words.
 If you have no idea what the answer is put ‘not given’. You
probably have no idea because the answer is not there.
 Answers are in the same order they appear in the text. Do not
waste time going back. Keep on reading.
 YES/NO/NOT GIVEN questions are slightly different because they
deal with opinion. TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN questions deal
with facts.
 If you are really unsure or can’t find the answer, mark it as ‘not
given’