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8 Tips on IELTS Reading
We’re going to take a look at 8 of the tips on IELTS reading. The thing you need to know to take a step forward towards a better score in the IELTS test. In this regard, having enough information about the way we are going to start your journey on will be a great help in planning and embracing success. On our journey to a better IELTS score, we passed on the tips for listening, speaking and essay writing. Now we are going to take a look at IELTS reading.
General IELTS reading format
In this test, there are 3 sections which include 40 questions in total. The length of IELTS reading is 60 minutes.
Section 1:
contains 2 or 3 short texts extracted from magazines or newspapers. One of them may be a compilation of 6 to 8 short texts related to a general topic such as advertising, social events and etc. In general, the topics are associated with daily life in an English-speaking country.
Section 2:
includes two short texts focusing on work-related issues, such as job applications, company policies, salaries and conditions, workplace facilities, staff development and training, and topics like these.
Section 3:
contains a longer and more complex text than the topics of public interest and requires great care. This section is similar to reading passages in the academic IELTS test.
Academic IELTS reading section
There are 3 reading passages in the IELTS reading test, and it lasts 60 minutes.
Each section contains a long text from 800 up to 1200 words. These texts are extracted from research journals and books. These texts are written for a non-specialist audience, and their topics are completely academic and popular. This means that you do not need any special specialized knowledge to read them. If there were any terms, they would be defined in a glossary, added to the text, or in the footer of the text. These texts are suitable for candidates who intend to continue their education and enter undergraduate or postgraduate courses. These texts range from descriptive and research topics to analytical and argumentative topics. They may also contain visual items such as charts, pictures or diagrams.
To get ready for IELTS and receive a desired score in each of the test formats, we introduced the main sources. However, depending on your level of English, from elementary to intermediate, you will have to use different sources. Practice is the key to success.
8 Tips on IELTS reading
- Reading passages always contain the information you need to answer the questions. You do not want to be frustrated if you cannot get the right pitch. What you must not do is to interpenetrate the information in the text, or involve your personal or general knowledge in while answering the questions.
- The reason why you read the text is to answer the questions, not to have fun. So, you choose to read any part of the passage on purpose.
- The first thing you need is the general idea of the reading passage. In IELTS, you have limited time for each question. The faster you can get the overview of the text, the more successful you will be in answering the questions. Therefore, try to make best use of sources presenting the overview such as title, subtitles, pictures, glossaries and, last but not least, the questions. There’s no enough time to read the text word by word.
- The IELTS reading test may also include questions that seek your overall understanding of the text. For example, you may be asked what the title of the text is. To answer these questions, you should underline the key words and ideas of each paragraph while you read the text. Putting these ideas together will form the title of the passage.
More tips:
- Make yourself familiar with different IELTS tests (general or academic) and types of questions. Time yourself and record it. You are the one who has to decide what question to answer and what question to skip. Ignoring the question that is difficult for you to answer, or you cannot find any information related is itself a technique that has to be practiced.
- If there are questions you can’t answer, skip them and move on to the next question. This will help you save your time and stay calm and positive. If any time remained, then you could refer to those questions at the end, and try to answer or at least make a guess, but do not leave them unanswered.
- For each certain type of question is a certain type of technique. Sometimes we read to check the correctness of an idea, and sometimes we skim scan the text to find some details. Make sure what you are going to do when you come to each type of question.
- If you use any words of the texts in your answer, make sure that the spelling of them is correct.
The abstract of the article:
In this article, we’ve covered 8 tips on IELTS reading and examined the format of this part of the test.
