All About Reading Test in IELTS Exam?

TIPS TO PASS IELTS READING TEST

International English language testing system is where a person fluency on English is tested, who intend to go to English speaking countries for academic purpose or on work migration.

IELTS comprises of two different tests, one for academic and other for general training and each test consists of four skills to assess a person ability on language through listening, reading, writing and speaking.

Now coming to the crux of the topic on "IELTS Reading Test", this part of the exam consists of 3 sections, where the 1st section has several texts on social survival in short, 2nd section has 2 texts on workplace survival and 3rd section has one long text on general news to read through.

40 questions are asked based on the content given in 3 sections and a candidate should complete the paper in 60 minutes, and questions vary from multiple choices, identifying information, identifying writer’s views, matching sentence endings, sentence completion, summary completion, note completion, table completion, flow chart completion, diagram labeling, matching information, headings, features, and short answer questions.

QUESTION VARIANTS IN DETAIL:

Multiple choice: where the candidate's ability is tested on basic reading skills. one should read the content carefully and memorize specific points to choose the correct answer from multiple options given.

Identifying information: one should recognize particular points and understand deeply to analyze if the given statements are true or false.

Identifying writer views: one should be able to understand the subject from the writer's point of view.

Matching information: candidate should be able to match information when asked in bits and pieces rather than the whole context.

Matching headings: one should understand the main idea given in each paragraph to match a precise heading from the given options.

Matching features: a person should recognize particular features, traits, and emotions related to the topic to be able to match in specific detail.

Matching sentence endings: this is similar to "identifying information", where one should understand the content correctly to find the perfect sentence-ending.

Sentence completion: where a candidate should complete a sentence only with the given words without missing the main meaning.

Summary, Note, Table, and Flowchart completion: where the information is given partially in the form of one big summary or notes, it can also be given in tables or flowcharts with blanks in between and one must fill up the gaps with appropriate words or phrases given.

Diagram label completion: one should be able to identify and label a diagram to match the description given.

Short answer questions: this is more like proper question and answer where one should answer the question in short from the information provided.

NOTE: The candidate will lose a mark if answered without following the given instructions.

All the answers are to be submitted in the given time. The answers will be further examined by professionals of Cambridge assessment English and the results are given on band score conversion table on a band scale of 1 - 9, where 1 being the lowest and 9 being the highest.

TIPS: IELTS is merely a test to identify a person's basic communication skills to survive in English speaking countries.

One can always better their skills by using language in their daily activities, such as:

1) Prefer to communicate in English in your workplace and home which lets you understand the phrasing and sentence forming.

2) Read an English daily mail or magazines to understand how the information is conveyed and to check if you understand the main purpose of the article.

3) To understand the grammar one can read through high school and secondary school English literature books where it is easily understood.

4) Reading books daily will help a lot, be it fictional, romantic or factual. Where writer’s views and connections between the characters used are identified.

PRO TIP: Practice makes anything possible; make it a routine to use the language, which helps you boost confidence in professional life and daily life as well. After all English is the most common language used to communicate.