IELTS Reading Questions – IELTS Academic Reading Sample 1 | BestMyTest

One of the most common mistakes that candidates make when
approaching the reading exam is reading every single word of the passages. Although you can
practice for the exam by reading for pleasure, “reading blindly” (reading without any sense of
what the questions will ask) will not do you any favors in the exam. Instead, it will hurt your
chances for effectively managing your time and getting the best score.

The main reason to read the questions first is because the type of question may determine what
you read in the passage or how you read it. For example, some question types will call for the
“skimming” technique, while others may call for the “scanning” technique.

It is important to answer a set of questions that are of the same question type. You’ll need to determine which question type you want to tackle first.
A good strategy would be to start with the easier question type and move on to more difficult question types later.
The Easiest question types are the ones where you spend less time reading.
For example, the Matching Heading question type is an easier one because you
only need to find the heading that best describes the main idea of a paragraph.
An example of a difficult question type would be Identifying Information. For this question type,
you’ll need to read each paragraph to find out if each statement is TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN according to the passage.

Here is a table that lists the difficulty levels for each question type. Use this table as a reference when choosing which question
type you want to tackle first.

Difficulty level
Question Type

Easy

Sentence Completion
Short answer

Medium

Matching Features
Multiple choice
Matching Headings
Summary, Table, Flow-Chart Completion

Difficult

Matching Sentence Endings
Matching Information
Identifying Information (TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN)
Identifying Viewer’s claims (YES/NO/NOT GIVEN)

After you’ve read the questions for the passage, you will be able
to read for an objective. What does this mean? For example, if you come across a question that
includes the year “1896”, you can make a note of when this year comes up in the text, using it
to answer the question later on.
There are two reading techniques that will help you stay on track with reading for an objective.
The first one, skimming, is best defined as reading fast in order to get the “gist”, or general
idea, or a passage. With this technique, you are not stopping for any unfamiliar words or
looking for specific details. The second technique, scanning, is best defined as reading for
specific information. With this technique, you are not reading for the overall gist, but rather,
specific information. Notice how each of these techniques has a specific objective in mind. This
will help you find information more quickly.

As you’re reading for an objective, you should also be making notes on the
margins of the passage, placing stars next to key information, or underlining things that you
believe will help you answer the various questions. This will make it easier for you to check back
when you are asked certain things in the questions. Choose whichever note-taking system is
right for you – just make sure you do it!

After you’ve read the questions, read the passage, and have taken any
appropriate notes, you you should have located
the part of the text where you where you need to read carefully.
Then just read carefully and think critically to determine the correct answer.