IELTS reading lesson

IELTS Reading Lesson Reading Lesson - Matching Paragraph Headings Objective: to practice matching paragraph headings to paragraphs A common type of IELTS Reading question will ask you to select headings of paragraphs and match them to the paragraphs from a text On this page there is a full reading text and some practice questions At the end of the page, there is a discussion of the answers and how you should have identified the correct match Strategies to answer the questions Quickly read through the paragraph headings so you can see what they say Then look at the first paragraph Often only the topic sentence needs to be read carefully because the main idea and answer are there - you may be able to just skim the rest Sometimes, however, the answer is not in the topic sentence and the whole paragraph needs to be read more carefully If a match is not immediately obvious, move on to the next one If you are unsure between two answers at first, put them both in You may be able to eliminate one answer later if it fits another paragraph better If at the end you are still stuck between two answers for a question, pick which fits best Things to beware of There are always more choices of paragraph headings on the list than paragraphs, so be careful when matching them Watch out for synonyms - often words in the paragraphs and paragraph headings will not be the same; they will be synonyms Having a noun from a heading that is in the paragraph does not guarantee they match - you still need to read it carefully to check One Paragraph Practice Exercise Before you a full reading, we'll have a practice with one paragraph This is the first paragraph from the full reading you will There are only five choices of paragraph headings for this first one (less than on the full reading) Follow the procedure shown above, and click on what you think is the correct answer The topic sentence is in red to remind you to focus on that Yoruba Towns A The Yoruba people of Nigeria classify their towns in two ways Permanent towns with their own governments are called “ilu”, whereas temporary settlements, set up to support work in the country are “aba” Although ilu tend to be larger than aba, the distinction is not one of size, some aba are large, while declining ilu can be small, but of purpose There is no “typical” Yoruba town, but some features are common to most towns Match the correct heading to the paragraph Town facilities Oyo’s palace Urban divisions Architectural features Types of settlements Now you know some strategies and have practiced with one paragraph, you can now practice matching paragraph headings with a full text Matching Paragraph Headings - Practice Read and focus on the topic sentences in the text below and then match the paragraph headings to their paragraphs One has been done for you The reading passage has seven paragraphs: A – G Choose the most suitable paragraph headings B – G from the list of headings on the right Write the appropriate numbers (i –ix) in the text boxes below the headings NB There are more paragraph headings than paragraphs so you will not use them all Yoruba Towns A The Yoruba people of Nigeria classify their towns in two ways Permanent towns with their own governments are called “ilu”, whereas temporary settlements, set up to support work in the country are “aba” Although ilu tend to be larger than aba, the distinction is not one of size, some aba are large, while declining ilu can be small, but of purpose There is no “typical” Yoruba town, but some features are common to most towns B In the 19th century most towns were heavily fortified and the foundations of these walls are sometimes visible Collecting tolls to enter and exit through the walls was a major source of revenue for the old town rulers, as were market fees The markets were generally located centrally and in small towns, while in large towns there were permanent stands made of corrugated iron or concrete The market was usually next to the local ruler’s palace C The palaces were often very large In the 1930’s, the area of Oyo’s palace covered 17 acres, and consisted of a series of courtyards surrounded by private and public rooms After colonization, many of the palaces were completely or partially demolished Often the rulers built two storey houses for themselves using some of the palace grounds for government buildings D The town is divided into different sections In some towns these are regular, extending out from the center of the town like spokes on a wheel, while in others, where space is limited, they are more random The different areas are further divided into compounds called “ile” These vary in size considerably from single dwellings to up to thirty houses They tend to be larger in the North Large areas are devoted to government administrative buildings Newer developments such as industrial or commercial areas or apartment housing for civil servants tends to be build on the edge of the town E Houses are rectangular and either have a courtyard in the center or the rooms come off a central corridor Most social life occurs in the courtyard They are usually built of hardened mud and have roofs of corrugated iron or, in the countryside, thatch Buildings of this material are easy to alter, either by knocking down rooms or adding new ones And can be improved by coating the walls with cement Richer people often build their houses of concrete blocks and, if they can afford to, build two storey houses Within compounds there can be quite a mixture of building types Younger well-educated people may have well furnished houses while their older relatives live in mud walled buildings and sleep on mats on the floor F The builder or the most senior man gets a room either near the entrance or, in a two storied house, next to the balcony He usually has more than one room Junior men get a room each and there are separate rooms for teenage boys and girls to sleep in Younger children sleep with their mothers Any empty room are used as storage, let out or, if they face the street, used as shops G Amenities vary In some towns most of the population uses communal water taps and only the rich have piped water, in others piped water is more normal Some areas have toilets, but bucket toilets are common with waste being collected by a “night soil man” Access to water and electricity are key political issues 569 words Paragraph Headings Answer Discussion Paragraph B (vi) - Historical foundations B In the 19th century most towns were heavily fortified and the foundations of these walls are sometimes visible Collecting tolls to enter and exit through the walls was a major source of revenue for the old town rulers, as were market fees The markets were generally located centrally and in small towns, while in large towns there were permanent stands made of corrugated iron or concrete The market was usually next to the local ruler’s palace In this first question, the word 'foundation' is in the topic sentence This does not automatically make 'vi' the correct answer However, it is a good reason to flag this up as a possibility The heading also refers to 'history', so the reference to '19th century' in the topic sentence tells us the paragraph is about the history A quick skim of the paragraph confirms this Paragraph C (ix) - Various changes C The palaces were often very large In the 1930’s, the area of Oyo’s palace covered 17 acres, and consisted of a series of courtyards surrounded by private and public rooms After colonization, many of the palaces were completely or partially demolished Often the rulers built two storey houses for themselves using some of the palace grounds for government buildings The second part of the paragraph goes on to discuss changes that took place Paragraph D (iii) - Urban divisions D The town is divided into different sections In some towns these are regular, extending out from the center of the town like spokes on a wheel, while in others, where space is limited, they are more random The different areas are further divided into compounds called “ile” These vary in size considerably from single dwellings to up to thirty houses They tend to be larger in the North Large areas are devoted to government administrative buildings Newer developments such as industrial or commercial areas or apartment housing for civil servants tends to be build on the edge of the town The answer is first seen in the topic sentence The word 'divided' should have flagged this up to you as a possibility Notice the use of the synonym 'urban' to replace 'town' It is common to see synonyms in paragraph headings questions and other IELTS reading questions Paragraph E (iv) - Architectural features E Houses are rectangular and either have a courtyard in the center or the rooms come off a central corridor Most social life occurs in the courtyard They are usually built of hardened mud and have roofs of corrugated iron or, in the countryside, thatch Buildings of this material are easy to alter, either by knocking down rooms or adding new ones And can be improved by coating the walls with cement Richer people often build their houses of concrete blocks and, if they can afford to, build two storey houses Within compounds there can be quite a mixture of building types Younger well-educated people may have well furnished houses while their older relatives live in mud walled buildings and sleep on mats on the floor The topic sentence starts to give you a clue that 'iv' is the correct choice of the paragraph headings as it discusses architectural styles, which are then discussed further in the supporting sentences that follow Paragraph F (vii) - Domestic arrangements F The builder or the most senior man gets a room either near the entrance or, in a two storied house, next to the balcony He usually has more than one room Junior men get a room each and there are separate rooms for teenage boys and girls to sleep in Younger children sleep with their mothers Any empty room are used as storage, let out or, if they face the street, used as shops In this context, 'domestic' means of or relating to the home, so the heading is referring to the arrangements within the home Again, just by reading the topic sentence you can see that this paragraph is discussing home arrangements and skimming through the rest of the paragraph confirms this Paragraph G (i) - Town facilities G Amenities vary In some towns most of the population uses communal water taps and only the rich have piped water, in others piped water is more normal Some areas have toilets, but bucket toilets are common with waste being collected by a “night soil man” Access to water and electricity are key political issues 'Facilities' is a synonym of 'amenities' so this is the first clue that this could fit this paragraph, but you need to read on to confirm that the paragraph is discussing the facilities of the town, which it is Lesson 2: IELTS Multiple Choice Practice Objectives:  To practice IELTS multiple choice questions  To practice scanning techniques  To look at the use of synonyms in IELTS reading questions Strategies to answer the questions Look through the questions first Underline key words from the question Then scan the text for those key words that you have underlined The answer should be found close to that word The answers will be found in the text in the same order as the questions Things to beware of There will be synonyms used in the reading - the words in the IELTS multiple choice questions may not be the same as in the text One Paragraph Practice Exercise Before looking at a longer reading, we'll have a practice with two paragraphs It is the first part of the full reading you will Identify the key word in the question first of all Then scan the text to find it When you have done this, read the sentences around this key word and see what information best matches the three choices you have What is dry farming? Preserving nitrates and moisture Ploughing the land again and again Cultivating fallow land Australian Agricultural Innovations: 1850 – 1900 During this period, there was a wide spread expansion of agriculture in Australia The selection system was begun, whereby small sections of land were parceled out by lot Particularly in New South Wales, this led to conflicts between small holders and the emerging squatter class, whose abuse of the system often allowed them to take vast tracts of fertile land There were also many positive advances in farming technology as the farmers adapted agricultural methods to the harsh Australian conditions One of the most important was “dry farming” This was the discovery that repeated ploughing of fallow, unproductive land could preserve nitrates and moisture, allowing the land to eventually be cultivated This, along with the extension of the railways allowed the development of what are now great inland wheat lands To answer this question you should have highlighted the word dry farming You should then have been able to scan the two paragraphs to quickly find this word Reading the information around it more carefully would the give you the answer: Cultivating means to improve and prepare (land) by ploughing or fertilizing, for raising crops So the answer was "the ploughing of fallow land to eventually be cultivated." _ Full Practice - IELTS Multiple Choice What is dry farming? Preserving nitrates and moisture Ploughing the land again and again Cultivating fallow land What did H V McKay do? Export the stripper Improve the stripper Cut, collect and sort wheat What was the stump jump plough’s innovation? It could cut through tree stumps To put the plough shear on wheels It allowed farmers to cultivate land that hadn’t been fully cleared What did John Custance recommend? Improving wheat yields Revitalising the industry Fertilizing the soil Why was William Farrer’s wheat better? It was drought resistant It wasn’t from England or South Africa It was drier for Australian conditions Australian Agricultural Innovations: 1850 – 1900 During this period, there was a wide spread expansion of agriculture in Australia The selection system was begun, whereby small sections of land were parceled out by lot Particularly in New South Wales, this led to conflicts between small holders and the emerging squatter class, whose abuse of the system often allowed them to take vast tracts of fertile land There were also many positive advances in farming technology as the farmers adapted agricultural methods to the harsh Australian conditions One of the most important was “dry farming” This was the discovery that repeated ploughing of fallow, unproductive land could preserve nitrates and moisture, allowing the land to eventually be cultivated This, along with the extension of the railways allowed the development of what are now great inland wheat lands The inland areas of Australia are less fertile than most other wheat producing countries and yields per acre are lower This slowed their development, but also led to the development of several labour saving devices In 1843 John Ridley, a South Australian farmer, invented “the stripper”, a basic harvesting machine By the 1860s its use was widespread H V McKay, then only nineteen, modified the machine so that it was a complete harvester: cutting, collecting and sorting McKay developed this early innovation into a large harvester manufacturing industry centred near Melbourne and exporting worldwide Robert Bowyer Smith invented the “stump jump plough”, which let a farmer plough land which still had tree stumps on it It did this by replacing the traditional plough shear with a set of wheels that could go over stumps, if necessary The developments in farm machinery were supported by scientific research During the late 19th century, South Australian wheat yields were going down An agricultural scientist at the colony’s agricultural college, John Custance, found that this was due to a lack of phosphates and advised the use of soluble superphosphate fertilizer The implementation of this scheme revitalised the industry From early days it had been obvious that English and European sheep breeds had to be adapted to Australian conditions, but only near the end of the century was the same applied to crops Prior to this, English and South African strains had been use, with varying degrees of success William Farrer, from Cambridge University, was This will help you tackle the questions  Look at the title - what is the reading about?  Look at the topic sentences - what topics does the reading discuss? What is the difference between False and Not Given? Follow this link for some general strategies on IELTS true false not given reading questions A particular problem, though, for students is spotting the difference between something that is 'False' and 'Not Given' Firstly see if the statement agrees with what is in the reading If it does it is true If not it is obviously false or not given The important point is that if you can say 100% from what you are given in the text that the statement you have been given is not true, then it is 'false' If the evidence is not there to say that it is false, that means that it could be true or false but you don't know - you cannot know from the information you have been given IELTS true false not given reading questions: Practice Using these strategies, look at this reading and answer the questions that follow UN warns over impact of rapidly ageing populations The world needs to more to prepare for the impact of a rapidly ageing population, the UN has warned - particularly in developing countries Within 10 years the number of people aged over 60 will pass one billion, a report by the UN Population Fund said The demographic shift will present huge challenges to countries' welfare, pension and healthcare systems The UN agency also said more had to be done to tackle "abuse, neglect and violence against older persons" The number of older people worldwide is growing faster than any other age group The report, Ageing in the 21st Century: A Celebration and a Challenge, estimates that one in nine people around the world are older than 60 The elderly population is expected to swell by 200 million in the next decade to surpass one billion, and reach two billion by 2050 This rising proportion of older people is a consequence of success - improved nutrition, sanitation, healthcare, education and economic well-being are contributing factors, the report says But the UN and a charity that also contributed to the report, HelpAge International, say the ageing population is being widely mismanaged "In many developing countries with large populations of young people, the challenge is that governments have not put policies and practices in place to support their current older populations or made enough preparations for 2050," the agencies said in a joint statement The report warns that the skills and experience of older people are being wasted, with many under-employed and vulnerable to discrimination HelpAge said more countries needed to introduce pension schemes to ensure economic independence and reduce poverty in old age It stressed that it was not enough to simply pass legislation - the new schemes needed to be funded properly The UN report used India as an example, saying it needed to take urgent steps in this area Almost two-thirds of India's population is under 30 But it also has 100 million elderly people - a figure that is expected to increase threefold by 2050 Traditionally, people in India live in large, extended families and elderly people have been well looked after But the trend now is to have smaller, nuclear families and many of the country's elderly are finding themselves cast out, says the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi There are more and more cases of physical and mental abuse, including neglect, suffered by the elderly at the hands of their families It is slowly becoming a widespread social problem, particularly in urban areas, one which India still has not got to grips with, our correspondent says By contrast, the UN report cited the case of Bolivia as an example of good practice in the developing world All Bolivians over the age of 60 get a pension that is the equivalent of about $30 (£19) a month Bolivia suffers from frequent flooding and landslides, and older people there have been organised into "Brigadas Blancas" - White Haired Brigades They help with preparations for emergencies, and accessing humanitarian aid Source: BBC News Website Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading? Mark: TRUE - if the statement agrees with the information FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this IELTS Reading Strategies The aim of this exercise is to develop your IELTS reading strategiesin order to find the answers to questions such as 'short answer' as quickly as possible The key to doing this quickly is to recognize the section of the text which relates to the question However, it is usual to find that the question stem will include words that are synonyms of the words rather than the words from the actual text, or if it is not synonyms there will be phrasesthat have the same meaning as a phrase in the text If they did not this it would be too easy to find the answers This text is shorter than the texts you will get in the test, but it is just an activity to introduce you to the idea of using the question to help you find the answer and to provide you with some IELTS reading strategies that you can put to use in the test IELTS Reading Strategies Exercise Hong Kong takes steps to improve English a) The Hong Kong government today published proposals to introduce basic English language competency assessments for primary, secondary and university students as well as some professionals The goal is to bolster written English and Chinese as well as spoken English and Mandarin in the former British colony b) The government said it wanted to push students to improve their English, but officials acknowledged Hong Kong had little chance of competing with rival trading centre Singapore c) English is an official language in both Hong Kong and Singapore, but many more Singaporeans are fluent in it because it is taught as a first language in schools d) "People always compare Singapore's English with our English," said Michael Tien, a businessman who also serves as chairman of Hong Kong's standing committee on language education and research e) "Don't forget English in Singapore is their first language," he told reporters "I don't think it's a fair comparison With reading and writing Chinese, they are way behind us." f) Hong Kong's dominant language is the Cantonese dialect of Chinese Mr Tien said the territory is also pushing ahead to lift standards of Mandarin, the main dialect in mainland China Although Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997 and many residents speak impeccable English, many more not Some critics believe this to be an economic hindrance because English is the international language of business g) Many students in Hong Kong are taught in Cantonese because few teachers are proficient enough in English Mr Tien said raising the standard would be a "tall order." h) "English is challenging," he said "I don't think we can expect 100% of our people to be fluent in English, so I'm shooting for university graduates to start with." Tips Look at question (1) and compare it with paragraph (a) Which words help you identify the answer? example: (1) How does the Hong Kong government intend to measure the level of spoken English? The ‘Hong Kong government’ indicates that we are looking at the correct paragraph but we need to find how they ‘intend to measure.’ The word ‘proposals’ is used as a noun in the text, but ‘to propose’ is a verb that means ‘intend’, so we can say that the Hong Kong government intends to introduce basic English Language competency assessments To ‘assess’ means to ‘measure the level’ of something, and in this case we know that they want to measure peoples’ Basic English Language, so we can answer: Answer To introduce competency assessments Paragraph Indicator Words that help to identify “The Hong Kong Government.” “proposals” and “assessments.” So you can use these IELTS reading strategies to help you find answers to questions quickly _ Practice Now it is your turn to have a practice It is important to note though that if you choose a different paragrah indicator, this does not matter as long as it was correct in helping you to find the right paragraph and answer Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN WORDS (1) How is English learnt in Singaporean schools? Answer Paragraph Indicator _ Words that help to identify (2) It what areas are the Hong Kong people ahead of those in Singapore? Answer Paragraph Indicator Words that help to identify _ _ (3) What other areas of language does the chairman want to improve? Answer Paragraph Indicator Words that help to identify _ (4) What a number of people think the poor quality of English is? Answer Paragraph Indicator Words that help to identify _ (5) What does the chairman consider to be very difficult due to the lack skilled instructors? Answer Paragraph Indicator Words that help to identify _ _ IELTS Reading Strategies - Answers (1) How is English learnt in Singaporean schools? Answer As a first language Paragraph Indicator Singapore/schools Words that help to identify taught (2) It what areas are the Hong Kong people ahead of those in Singapore? Answer Reading and writing Chinese Paragraph Indicator compare Singapore’s English Words that help to identify behind (3) What other areas of language does the chairman want to improve? Answer standards of Mandarin Paragraph Indicator Mr Tien/ dominant language is Cantonese Words that help to identify pushing ahead to lift standards (4) What a number of people think the poor quality of English is? Answer an economic hindrance Paragraph Indicator many not speak impeccable English Words that help to identify some critics believe (5) What does the chairman consider to be very difficult due to the lack skilled instructors? Answer raising the standard Paragraph Indicator Mr Tien/ lack of skilled instructors Words that help to identify tall order/very difficult IELTS Short Answer Questions This lesson provides advice on IELTS short answer questions and further practice on True, False, Not Given questions What can you predict from the title? Skim read the first paragraph What is the topic? What are the aspects of the topic? What type of language you expect to be in this passage? Does the writing include any examples? If so, what are they examples of? Education Industry Revving Up A recent newspaper investigation into the growing number of foreign fee-paying students raises some issues for timely reflection To be blunt, we need to prepare ourselves for a sudden and major increase in population This new population may not be permanent but it will continue to increase in numbers and make itself at home in New Zealand for the main purpose of intellectual advancement It will, in effect, be a rotating population but one that produces an increase in the total population at any one time If you think, as even some Asian students do, that Auckland is already too Asian (one in eight Aucklanders is now Asian), be prepared for it becoming too European or too South American Our booming education industry still catches some locals by surprise and, depending on your point of view about racial diversity, it may or may not be of comfort to know that it has only just begun The only limitations to its growth will be the decisions and behaviour of organizations serving these students from overseas who want to study here - whether it is English language or IT skills And I not mean just the education function itself: it includes health, transport, property and entertainment The list increases into all aspects of society as more students arrive from the major continents My own company has grown 500 per cent in the past four years and our board is anticipating an even higher rate over the next five years I see no reason we should consider industry growth expectations below this Early next month we will open a new international language school in Queen St designed to give students internationally accredited English language skills so they can stay longer and study IT courses Some will go on to our universities This one new school alone will inject an extra $60 million-odd annually into Auckland's economy What does this industry growth mean? It could mean a $10 billion (contribution to gross domestic product) industry by the end of this decade, employing 100,000 New Zealanders directly and many more indirectly The conditions which have created this opportunity are many, but underlying them all are the standards which shape education in this country Some will argue that whimsical circumstances, such as a favourable exchange rate or our distance from the troubled areas of the world, have caused it all But without the right internationally recognised education standards we would have no such booming industry Make no mistake, this is our trump card As long as we are known for quality education we can develop what we have started regardless of almost any other change of circumstance Undoubtedly, there are financial benefits for society But we would be blind not to acknowledge and address the many other implications which the newspaper article began to identify The growth opportunity is so good that we must effectively evolve as an industry and fast, too We must eliminate the clumsy, experimental mistake-ridden phase of youth Fundamentally we must leap from childhood to maturity But how? Experiences in my company lead me to suggest three main areas to address - total service, performance regulation and long-term planning By total service I mean accepting some responsibility for students inside and outside of campus Within two years, my company expects at least 1000 overseas students to be studying at all our six campuses We must take some responsibility for this size of customer base, as any normal company would 10 This means we must attract other suppliers as dedicated partners with us - property, insurance, healthcare, transport, social support, the list goes on Education New Zealand has a valuable role here 11 This type of care begins in the students' countries of origin, ensuring they have correct information about our country and how different it will be in many small and large ways Our company, intent on achieving this, is introducing marketing programmes in three continents Performance regulation will be vital in our leap to adulthood We cannot leave it up to the Government; it will mean a private sector-Government partnership 12 I am also not surprised to hear calls for the Government to introduce an industry levy - frankly, just another tax - to "protect" standards We should keep in mind that foreign students are happy to come here because of our stable Government, virtually non-existent corruption, and education standards For the Government to come to our support with an extra levy imposition reminds me of an old saying: When a sufficient number of management layers are superimposed on top of each other, it can be assured that disaster is not left to chance 13 Long-term planning usually begins with a vision agreed by the industry and I will support any immediate efforts in this area We now have an industry that is arguably our country's third largest export earner We need to know where we can take this industry, how it fits with society and its place in an increasingly systemic world where people move more freely and technology drives a global economy True (T) False (F) Not Given (NG) Tips Remember with True, False, Not Given questions, you should first see if the statement given agrees with the information in the reading If it does it is true Otherwise, it must be false or not given If the evidence is not there to say that it is false, that means that it could be true or false but you don't know - you cannot know from the information you have been given IELTS Short Answer Questions Tips  Read the instructions carefully - these tell you how many words you can use (a maximum of three in this case)  In IELTS short answer questions you should use words from the text rather than your own, and don't change the words  Quickly read through all of the questions so you can get an idea of what information you will have to find in the text  Use key words from the question to help you skim the text quickly to find the information For example, in the first one, you need to look for "type of care"  Remember though that synomys will also be used in the text, so you must be careful when you look for the information  Read the section of the text where you know the answer is carefully to see which words will answer the question  Your answer must make sense grammatically to be correct Using the above tips and advice, try to answer the following IELTS short answer questions You can write your answer in the text box below each question You can the click at the end to reveal the answers Answers Discussion for Section 1 The new residents will stay in New Zealand forever? F This new population may not be permanent but (para 1) The main reason these people are in New Zealand is to progress academically T in New Zealand for the main purpose of intellectual advancement (para 1) There are many Vietnamese people living in New Zealand NG Auckland is already too Asian (one in eight Aucklanders is now Asian), (para 2) - we are told Asians are in Auckland but we don't know what country they are from The success of the education industry has been happening for many years F Our booming education industry to know that it has only just begun (para 2) People from Auckland are surprised at the number of Asian students there are NG Our booming education industry still catches some locals by surprise.(para 2) the word 'surprise' is mentioned here but it is nothing to with surprise at the number of Asian students People could be surprised but we don't know This information is not given in the text All students want to study English and IT NG these students from overseas who want to study here - whether it is English language or IT skills (para 3) - It is possible that ALL students want to study English and IT, but we are not told whether this is true or not There could be other subjects as well The writer’s company has increased in size over the last few years.T My own company has grown 500 per cent in the past four years (para 4) The country’s financial situation will benefit from overseas students.T will inject an extra $60 million-odd annually into Auckland's economy (para 5) There will be less jobs for native speakers in the future F employing 100,000 New Zealanders directly and many more indirectly (para 5) 10 According to the writer, New Zealand's exchange rate and location underpin the opportunities available F without the right internationally recognised education standards we would have no such booming industry (para 6) Lesson 11: Reading Gap Fill A reading gap fill is one task you may get in the IELTS test You have to fill in the gaps of a summary of part of the text using words from a box There may be more words than you need to use so you need to find the part of the reading that refers to the summary and make sure that you work out which word will fit You also need to think about thegrammar as the word you put in the reading gap fill must fit grammatically as well Here are some general strategies Strategies for Reading Gap Fill Tasks Looking at question 1, these are the strategies you can try following: Read through the summary carefully to make sure you understand it Work out which section of the reading the summary comes from (in this example, the whole of the text is summarized but in the real test you'll need to look through the reading to find the right paragraphs) Carefully read the sentence with the first gap and think aboutwhat form will fit i.e should it be an adjective, noun, infinitive, present participle etc? And what type of word is needed i.e is it an amount, a change, an action? You should have worked out that for questions you are looking for a noun because 'an' comes before it Then look at the words that are in the box - which ones have the right form to fit and the right type? There are several nouns Look at the correct part of the full reading that refers to the reading gap fill section you are looking at and decide what happened for the first time to with air rage in the 1940s? Use this information to help you choose the correct word for the reading gap fill _ Reading Gap Fill Practice Air Rage The first recorded case of an airline passenger turning seriously violent during a flight, a phenomenon now widely known as “air rage”, happened in 1947 on a flight from Havana to Miami A drunk man assaulted another passenger and bit a flight attendant However, the man escaped punishment because it was not then clear under whose legal control a crime committed on plane was, the country where the plane was registered or the country where the crime was committed In 1963, at the Tokyo convention, it was decided that the laws of the country where the plane is registered take precedence The frequency of air rage has expanded out of proportion to the growth of air travel Until recently few statistic were gathered about air rage, but those that have been indicate that passengers are increasingly likely to cause trouble or engage in violent acts For example, in 1998 there were 266 air rage incidents out of approximately four million passengers, a 400% increase from 1995 In the same period American Airlines showed a 200% rise Air travel is predicted to rise by 5% internationally by 2010 leading to increased airport congestion This, coupled with the flying public’s increased aggression, means that air rage may become a major issue in coming years Aside from discomfort and disruption, air rage poses some very real dangers to flying The most extreme of these is when out of control passengers enter the cockpit This has actually happened on a number of occasions, the worst of which have resulted in the death and injury of pilots or the intruder taking control of the plane, almost resulting in crashes In addition, berserk passengers sometimes attempt to open the emergency doors while in flight, putting the whole aircraft in danger These are extreme examples and cases of air rage more commonly result in physical assaults on fellow passengers and crew such as throwing objects, punching, stabbing or scalding with hot coffee Look at the words in the table and decide which word will fit in the reading gap fill summary Type the word into the gap (when you have completed it you can click below to reveal and check your answers) predicted rose incident passenger found assault established occurring hoped Summary increased injury passengers The first time that an (1) of air rage was recorded was in the 1940’s, but the passenger was never actually charged for an offence because there were no clear rules in place to specify where to prosecute It was later (2) that it would be the country where the plane is registered Air rage has (3) significantly since this time, growing by a staggering 400% from 1995 to 1998 Air rage is (4) to be a major problem in the future as air travel increases, as levels of aggression Angry (5) can put everyone in danger including the pilots, the crew and the other passengers, with some form of (6) being the most common consequence Reading Gap Fill Answers [...]... of cover Lesson 6: IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Objective: IELTS reading multiple choice and skimming and scanning practice You won't have time in the reading test to carefully read the whole passage all of the way through, so you need to find the answers in the text quickly This lesson shows you how skimming and scanning can help with this Identifying the question type Before you start any reading. .. closest meaning to the word: IELTS True False Not Given reading questions This lesson provides further practice on IELTS true false not given reading questions Before looking at the questions for the reading, you should take a quick look at the reading passage and get an idea of what it is about This will help you tackle the questions  Look at the title - what is the reading about?  Look at the... but not cancelling it Lesson 5: IELTS Sentence Completion Objectives: to practice how to answer IELTS sentence completiontasks and to examine paraphrase and synonyms Often in the reading the test requires the candidate to complete a sentence In this type of task, you are given a sentences from the reading with a gap in it You have to fill it with words taken directly from the reading Check if the question... to work out that the correct answer to put in the gap is "a number of" Now, using this technique and the tips at the top, read the full passage and do the IELTS sentence completion exercise below (the reading is shorter than a real IELTS reading) IELTS Sentence Completion Practice Exercise European Settlement of Australia European settlement of Australia began in 1788 when a British penal colony was... are just descriptions about how they are hot We are not told specifically that this is the reason they are breeing them Lesson 4: IELTS Paragraph Headings This lesson provides you with further practice on IELTS paragraph headings matching type questions Imagine you are doing a reading task which involves choosing the correct headings for paragraphs from a list of possible headings It may be very tempting... By 1914, Australia was no longer thought of as a land suitable only for sheep, but as a wheat growing nation 422wds Lesson 3: IELTS True False Not Given Objectives: to practice answering IELTS True False Not Givenquestions This lesson explains how to answer True and False questions for IELTS You also have a Not Given option with this type of task Firsly, you will be presented with a list of facts You... News Website Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading? Mark: TRUE - if the statement agrees with the information FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this IELTS Reading Strategies The aim of this exercise is to develop your IELTS reading strategiesin order to find the answers to questions such as 'short answer'... (b) should be decreased (c) is irrelevant to crime rates Lesson 7: Guessing meaning from context Guessing meaning from context in the IELTS exam is an important technique that will improve your reading skills and the speed with which you can read Obviously you do not have a dictionary in the exam so there are likely to be a lot of words from the reading text that you do not understand and you cannot... first may help with this IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions This type of question follows the order of the text So when you have found one answer, you know that the next one will be below, and probably not too far away When you start looking at the questions, you should underline key words in the question stem to help you find the answers in the text Look at the IELTS reading multiple choice questions... sentences - what topics does the reading discuss? What is the difference between False and Not Given? Follow this link for some general strategies on IELTS true false not given reading questions A particular problem, though, for students is spotting the difference between something that is 'False' and 'Not Given' Firstly see if the statement agrees with what is in the reading If it does it is true If ... abandoned openess lack of cover Lesson 6: IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Objective: IELTS reading multiple choice and skimming and scanning practice You won't have time in the reading test to carefully... the word: IELTS True False Not Given reading questions This lesson provides further practice on IELTS true false not given reading questions Before looking at the questions for the reading, you... are breeing them Lesson 4: IELTS Paragraph Headings This lesson provides you with further practice on IELTS paragraph headings matching type questions Imagine you are doing a reading task which