THE IELTS READING TEST
There are 3 sections with different reading passages and 40 questions which test your ability to read effectively and efficiently, using skills such as skimming, scanning and reading for detail. The passages come from various sources such as books, journals, magazines and newspapers and the topics are of general interest.
In the IELTS Academic Module, there are 3 different texts which are written in an academic style. They may be argumentative or descriptive. In the IELTS General Training Module, the focus is on more general topics or subjects related to work. In Section 1, there are at least two or three short texts. In Section 2, there are two texts concerned with a work context. In Section 3, there is one long discursive text.
The tasks include:
- Completion of notes, tables, flow-charts, sentences or summaries.
- Matching headings, information or sentence endings.
- Saying whether a statement is True, False or Not Given or identifying a writer’s views by answering Yes, No or Not Given.
- Labelling a diagram.
- Multiple choice.
- Short-answer questions.
The IELTS Reading Test lasts 60 minutes. You are not given any extra time to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
You are given one mark for each correct answer. The final result is translated into a score based on the IELTS nine-band scale.
READING
The READING module of the IELTS exam has three passages and a total of 40 questions, which test different reading skills such as skimming, scanning and reading for detail. It lasts 60 minutes.
IT IS A GOOD IDEA to learn how to develop these skills so that you can not only read efficiently and quickly but also but also complete the tasks promptly.
SKIMMING means reading fairly quickly to get a general idea of the passage and the main subject of each paragraph. This skill is particularly useful if you need to answer the global multiple choice question or do the task where you have to identify the main topic in each paragraph by choosing suitable headings.
SCANNING means reading fairly quickly to find a specific fact like a date, name or place. This skill is particularly useful if you need to do the short-answer questions.
READING FOR DETAIL means studying the relevant parts of the text carefully so that you can determine exactly what the writer is trying to say. This skill is particularly useful if you need to do the Yes/No/Not Given or the True/False/Not Given tasks.
The passages come from magazines, books and newspapers. Therefore, IT IS A GOOD IDEA to read from such a wide range of sources in your free time.