How to Answer Questions for IELTS Reading Passages?

Are you studying for the IELTS this year? When taking mock IELTS reading passages, do you also struggle with the tricky questions lurking behind every paragraph?

With the right methods, you can transform this overwhelming task into a chance to show your comprehension skills. Moreover, by practicing with IELTS reading passage with answers, you can gear up to ace your test easily.

Let us delve into the art of solving the tough questions in the reading section in this blog.

Knowing the Landscape: Question Types You’ll Encounter

Before looking at the passages, it is crucial to familiarize yourself with the common question types in the test. Each needs a slightly different approach:

• True, False, Not Given: You will be given statements per the IELTS reading passages, and you need to determine if they align with the text.

• Sentence Completions: You can also be asked to complete sentences using words or phrases taken directly from the paragraph. This would need you to scour the text and find the right answers.

• Matching Features: In this, you have to match items from a list, like names, dates, theories, to the statements from the passage.

• MCQs: It is the most common question type found in IELTS reading passages and also the easiest to get wrong. These present you with an incomplete sentence or a question and four possible options. Your task is to select the one that best answers the question or completes the phrase based on the text. To solve this, you need to have a clear idea of what the paragraph is trying to convey.

• Matching Headings: For this, you will be given a list of headings and a set of paragraphs. Your task is to match the most suited heading to each of these.

• Summary: Another common question type is to complete the summary, where you need to fill in gaps in a given passage. This can be either the entire IELTS reading passages or a small section.

• Yes, No, Not Given: Similar to True/ False question types, it is often used when the paragraph presents opinions or claims. Here, ‘Yes’ means the writer agrees with the statement, ‘No’ means the writer disagrees. Moreover, ‘Not Given’ means the writer does not explicitly state their agreement or disagreement.

There are many other types of questions, and practicing them with the mock IELTS reading passage with answers is necessary. It will help you cross-check and find the questions where you make the most errors.

How to Succeed: Your Arsenal of Strategies

Knowing how to tackle the diverse query types in the reading section can help you score more. Moreover, it can also save you time and find the right answer easily.

• Skim and Scan: It is necessary to find the big picture before you move on to the questions. This means you need to know what the text is about. Hence, quickly skimming the passage to find the main topic and structure is a good idea. Moreover, underlining the keywords related to the questions can help you save time and find relevant sections easily.

• Know Your Error Patterns: What using an IELTS essay checker is to the Writing section, knowing error patterns is to the Reading section. It can help you work on specific types of queries and avoid the same mistakes on the actual tests.

• Focus on Explicit Info: Base your answers solely on the info given in the text. Do not bring in outside knowledge. If the paragraph does not support the statement, the answer is ‘No’.

• Know the Question: Carefully read and know what each question is asking. This is necessary to avoid any silly errors when solving the section.

Sample

Here is a sample of an IELTS reading passage with answers to help you learn more:

• Excerpt of the text:

Close your eyes and think of a time when you did not have a mobile to connect you to the world. You wrote letters to your friends, talked with family over dinners, and cranked up the radio to hear music. It is hard to imagine that just a few decades ago, this was the world we lived in. Then, we did not have mobile phones, doom-scrolling, or every facility at our fingertips. While this new world facilitates ease of living, it is slowly turning into a dystopian fantasy.

• Question Type: Yes, No, Not Given

Writing letters can save the world from doom-scrolling. [Not Given]

• Approach:

The author uses the power of imagination and nostalgia to point to the benefits of slow living. The statement seems true from the tone and intent of the writer. However, nowhere in the passage is it clearly stated that there is a connection between writing a letter and doom-scrolling. In a Yes/No/Not Given question, you need to be extremely specific and to the point. If the text does not offer any info about the statement, the answer needs to reflect it, and not the passage’s tone.

Conclusion

Scoring well on the Reading section of the IELTS test is easy. All you need is some practice and a well-mapped-out approach to every question type. With constant efforts, you will be familiarised with the methods that work out best for you. For this, you can use a wide array of tools digitally, like an IELTS essay checker, free mocks, etc.