READING IELTS

- IELTS with Lana Lee - READING IELTS Analysis of task format: a) Time: 60 minutes b) Number of sections: reading passages The Academic version includes three long texts which range from the descriptive and factual to the discursive and analytical The texts are authentic and are taken from books, journals, magazines and newspapers These have been selected for a non-specialist audience but are recognizably appropriate for anyone entering undergraduate or postgraduate courses or those seeking professional registration c) Number of questions: 40 d) Marking: Each correct answer receives mark Your final score is given as a band score from 1-9 in whole or half bands, e.g 5.5 The approximate band scores can be calculated using this table Band Score 8.5 7.5 6.5 5.5 4.5 3.5 2.5 Score / 40 40 39 37-38 36 34-35 32-33 30-31 27-29 23-26 19-22 15-18 12-14 9-11 6-8 e) Question type: A variety of question types is used in order to test a wide range of reading skills These include Question Type – Multiple choice What's This type of question may be a question with four possible answers or the first half involved? of a sentence with four possible sentence endings You have to choose one correct answer (A, B, C or D), then write the correct answer on the answer sheet Sometimes you are given a longer list of possible answers and you have to choose more than one answer You should read the question carefully to check how many answers you need to choose What skills are tested? The questions are in the same order as the information in the text: that is, the answer to the first question will be before the answer to the second question, and so on This type of question tests many different reading skills including: detailed understanding of specific points or general understanding of the main points of the text Question Type – Identifying information (True/False/Not given) What's involved? In this type of question, you are given a number of statements and are asked: ‘Do the following statements agree with the information in the text?’ You have to write ‘True’, ‘False’ or ‘Not given’ in the boxes on your answer sheet It is important to understand the difference between ‘False’ and ‘Not given’ ‘False’ means that the statement contradicts the information in the text ‘Not given’ means that the statement neither agrees with nor contradicts the information in the text You must be careful not to use any information you already know about the topic of the text when choosing your answer What skills This type of question tests your ability to recognise specific information given in the - IELTS with Lana Lee are tested? text Question Type – Identifying writer’s views/claims (Yes/No/Not given) What's involved? In this type of question, you are given a number of statements and asked: ‘Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer?’ or ‘Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer?’ You have to write ‘Yes’, ‘No’ or ‘Not given’ in the boxes on your answer sheet It is important to understand the difference between ‘no’ and ‘not given’ ‘No’ means that the statement contradicts the writer’s view or claim ‘Not given’ means that the statement neither agrees with nor contradicts the writer’s view or claim You must be careful not to use any information you already know about the topic of the text when choosing your answer What skills This type of question tests your ability to recognise opinions or ideas are tested? Question Type – Matching information What's In this type of question, you have to find specific information in the paragraphs (or involved? sections) of a text The paragraphs (or sections) are identified by letters (A, B, C, etc.) You will need to write the letters of the correct paragraphs (or sections) in the boxes on your answer sheet Not every paragraph (or section) may be used and some paragraphs (or sections) may be used more than once When the paragraphs (or sections) may be used more than once, the instructions will say: ‘You may use any letter more than once’ What skills This type of question assesses your ability to scan a text in order to find specific are tested? information Unlike Task Type (Matching headings), it focuses on specific information rather than the main idea You may have to find: specific details, an example, reason, description, comparison, summary or explanation Question Type – Matching headings What's In this type of question, there is a list of headings which are identified by Roman involved? numerals (i, ii, iii, etc.) A heading summarises the main idea of a paragraph or section of the text You must match the heading to the correct paragraph or section The paragraphs (or sections) are identified by letters (A, B, C, etc.) You will need to write the correct Roman numerals in the boxes on your answer sheet There will always be more headings than paragraphs or sections, so some headings will not be used It is also possible that some paragraphs or sections may not be included in the task One or more paragraphs or sections may already be matched with a heading as an example on the question paper No heading may be used more than once What skills This type of question tests your ability to identify the general topic of a paragraph are tested? (or section) and to recognise the difference between the main idea and a supporting idea Question Type – Matching features What's In this type of question, you have to match a set of statements or pieces of involved? information to a list of options The options are a group of features from the text, and letters (A, B, C, etc.) are used to identify them Write the correct letter on the answer sheet You may, for example, have to match descriptions of inventions to the - IELTS with Lana Lee people who invented them It is possible that some options will not be used, and that others may be used more than once When it is possible to use any option more than once, the instructions will say: ‘You may use any option more than once’ What skills This type of question tests your ability to recognise relationships and connections are tested? between facts in the text and your ability to recognise opinions and theories You need to be able to skim and scan the text to find the information quickly so that you can then read that part more carefully for detail Question Type – Matching sentence endings What's involved? In this type of question, you are given the first half of a sentence based on information in the text and you have to choose the best way to complete the sentence by choosing from a list of possible endings The endings are identified by letters (A, B, C, etc.) There will be more sentence endings than beginnings, so you will not use all of them You must write the letter you choose on the answer sheet The sentence beginnings are in the same order as the information in the text What skills This type of question tests your ability to understand the main ideas in the text are tested? Question Type – Sentence completion What's involved? In this type of question, you have to fill in a gap in each sentence by choosing words from the text You must write the words you choose on the answer sheet You should read the instructions very carefully as the number of words or numbers you may use to fill the gaps can change A word limit is given, for example, ‘NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER’ You will lose the mark for writing more than the word limit Contracted words such as ‘they’re’ will not be tested Hyphenated words such as ‘check-in’ count as single words The questions are in the same order as the information in the text What skills This type of question tests your ability to find detail/specific information in a text are tested? Question Type – Summary/note/table/flow chart completion What's involved? In this type of question, you are given a summary of a part of the text, and have to complete it using words taken from the text Note that the summary is not normally of the whole text The summary may be in the form of: a continuous text (called ‘a summary’ in the instructions) several notes (called ‘notes’ in the instructions) a table with some parts of it left empty or partially empty (called ‘a table’ in the instructions) a series of boxes or steps linked by arrows to show the order of events, with some of the boxes or steps empty or partially empty (called ‘a flow chart’ in the instructions) The answers may not come in the same order as in the text However, they will usually come from one part of the text rather than the whole text - IELTS with Lana Lee There are two variations of this task type In the first variation, you need to select words from the text which fit into gaps on the question paper You must write the words you choose on the answer sheet You should read the instructions very carefully as the number of words or numbers you may use to fill the gaps can change A word limit is given, for example, ‘NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER’ You will lose the mark for writing more than the word limit Contracted words such as ‘they’re’ will not be tested Hyphenated words such as ‘check-in’ count as single words In the second variation, you have to choose from a list of words to fill the gaps The words are identified by letters (A, B, C, etc.) You must write the letter you choose on the answer sheet What skills This type of question tests your ability to understand details and/or the main ideas of are tested? a part of the text When completing this type of question, you will need to think about the type of word(s) that will fit into a gap (for example, whether a noun is needed, or a verb, etc.) Question Type 10 – Diagram label completion What's involved? In this type of question, you have to complete the labels on a diagram The diagram is based on a description given in the text The diagram may be a type of machine, part of a building or of other information in the text that can be shown through pictures Write the words that fit into the gap on the answer sheet You should read the instructions very carefully as the number of words or numbers you may use to fill the gaps can change A word limit is given, for example, ‘NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER’ You will lose the mark for writing more than the word limit Contracted words such as ‘they’re’ will not be tested Hyphenated words such as ‘check-in’ count as single words The answers may not come in the same order as in the text However, they will usually come from one part of the text rather than the whole text What skills This type of question tests your ability to understand a detailed description in the are tested? text, and then relate that description to information given in a diagram Question Type 11 – Short-answer questions What's involved? In this type of question, you have to answer questions about factual details in the text You must write your answers in words or numbers on the answer sheet Answers must be taken from words in the text A word limit is given, for example, ‘NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER’ You will lose the mark for writing more than the word limit Numbers can be written using figures (1, 2, etc.) or words (one, two, etc.) Contracted words such as ‘they’re’ will not be tested Hyphenated words such as ‘check-in’ count as single words The answers come in the same order as the information in the text What skills This type of question tests your ability to find and understand specific information are tested? in the text - IELTS with Lana Lee - Note for IELTS reading practice “Dead” vocabulary is very important in improving candidates’ speed and efficiency of reading Therefore, it is advisable that candidates have a notebook of dead words extracted from practice reading passages and study it regularly SKIMMING - READING FOR TOPIC, MAIN IDEAS, AND ORGANIZATION Skimming is to read a text quickly for its topic, main idea, and organization Techniques ON EACH PARAGRAPH 1) Find the topic Read paragraph below and underline the word that is repeated several times A metaphor is a part of language that is a direct comparison between two unrelated things The metaphor describes a first subject as being equal to the second one in some way There are many types of metaphors, such as mixed, active, and dead A mixed metaphor combines two commonly used metaphors, to create some nonsensical image An example of this is, “he stepped up the plate and grabbed the bull by the horns” An active metaphor is not part of daily language, such as “you are my sun” A dead metaphor is used to describe a metaphorical cliché, such as “to break the ice”  The repeated key words are often nouns or verbs, which are used again and again to link the ideas together Sometimes they are substituted by pronouns or reduced verb phrases Practice a) Acid rain was first reported in Manchester, England This was an important city during the British Industrial Revolution But the acid rain problem wasn’t studied closely until the late 1960s A Canadian scientist named Harold Harvey was the first to research a “dead” lake and alarmed the seriousness of the problem In the 1990s, the New York Time published about acid rain effects This brought the problem into public awareness b) While she lived, the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was known mainly as the wife of the famed muralist Diego Rivera Yet in the decades since her death, Kahlo has become hugely famous in her own right and is probably now better known than her husband In 1990, Kahlo became the first Mexican artist to break the one million mark at an auction The vivid, self-portraits that Kahlo created in the thirties and forties continue to be widely sought after by collectors willing to pay high prices for her paintings Although Kahlo is often described as a painter intent on exploring her own personal reality, many of her paintings include references to Mexico’s political and social history It’s not surprising then that in 1985, the Mexican government publicly proclaimed her work as a national treasure In summary, her fame stood on its own feet 2) Find the main idea Each paragraph often has one topic sentence, which contains the topic and main idea The topic sentence can be in the first, last or middle sentence Sometimes this sentence is implied - IELTS with Lana Lee - PRACTICE Read the first and last sentence of the paragraph below and can you find the main idea and how? By careful selection, breeders throughout history have developed various kinds of horses with a wide variety of characteristics to suit many different needs The Great Horse of the Middle Ages, for example, was bred for size and strength to carry a heavily armored knight The massive horses of such breeds are often called “cold blooded” The Arabs bred lithe desert horses that were small and swift These animals are often referred to as “hot-blooded” Cross-breeding of hot-blooded and cold-blooded horses for certain characteristics produced breeds ranging from riding horse to draft horse”  Read the first and the last sentence, then underline the key words Compare the two sets of key words If they have the same meaning, that is main idea If they match, the main idea lie in the sentence with broader meaning If they are different or contrasting, read the whole paragraph again to imply Exercise a) Scientists estimate the Earth’s age by measuring the ratios of various radioactive elements in rocks The oldest Earth rocks tested thus far are about and 1/3 billion years old But no one knows whether these are the oldest rocks on Earth Tests on rocks from the moon and on meteorites show that these are about 4.6 billion years old Scientists believe that this is the true age of the solar system and probably the true age of the Earth b) As adults, how we encourage our children to explore the rich resources of the Internet without exposing them to a steady stream of marketing messages, such as junk e-mail or sexually explicit material? This is a question that many people, especially parents, are struggling to answer Although a solution has not yet been found, one possibility to filter or block this objectionable material from children without interfering with the rights of adults to view and visit any website they like When the US Supreme Court rejected the Communications Decency Act in June of 1997, industry and government officials alike looked to computer technology companies to create screening and filtering products to fill the gap left by this court decision ON THE WHOLE TEXT You should • Read the title if available • Read the first paragraph carefully (sometimes the second one also) • Look at the first sentence of each paragraph Also, look at the last sentence of the paragraph in case the topic sentence is at the end • Skip some paragraphs • Read the last paragraph more carefully The author often summarizes main idea in the end - IELTS with Lana Lee - - IELTS with Lana Lee - - IELTS with Lana Lee - SCANNING Scanning is to quickly cover a great deal of material in order to locate a specific fact or piece of information Steps of scanning: • Keep in mind which word/fact you are searching for • Anticipate in what form the information may appear - number, proper nouns, • If possible, remember the organization of the text (thanks to skimming earlier) and locate the piece of information more quickly • Let your eyes run rapidly over several lines at the same time • When you find the sentence that has the information, read the whole sentence - IELTS with Lana Lee PRACTICE: Look through the questions 1-8 and underline key words and phrases Study the first paragraph, looking for information which matches any of the questions When you find a possible answer, check that there is an exact match between question and information in the text Continue working through the text in the same way, paragraph by paragraph 10 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 11 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 12 - IELTS with Lana Lee - YES, NO, NOT GIVEN QUESTIONS Features of Yes question a) Paraphrasing People find it challenging to master English  Question: Having a good command of English is hard b) Part-to-whole relationship His actions, though thoughtless, and impulsive, endanger his chance of promotion  Question: That he cannot stand the opportunity to be upgraded in his job results from his careless acts c) Logical inference All people are equal to each other  Question: The black and white are put on the equal footing d) Summarizing He owns houses in countries Many women admire him and are willing to marry him However, he does not want to tie the not, and rather enjoy the freedom of bachelorhood  Question: He is rich, admirable, but a free man SAMPLE Question: Microdrone is currently not used to check drivers Features of No question a) Contrasting information He is handsome  Question: He is not good-looking b) Wrong information • Purposes: His aim of survey is to show how unfair the justice system is  Question: His survey aims at stating the pervasive corruption in the justice system • Scale This product is useful for only infants and teenagers  Question: Both the old and the young benefit from this product • Time In the 1920s, this movement began to deeply influence America  Question: In 1931, America were profoundly impressed by this movement • Quantity Quite a few people seem to have self-esteem  Question: A sense of respect of his or her self is seen in several people • Degree The girl I saw yesterday was extremely excellent 13 - IELTS with Lana Lee  Question: I saw a fairly sexy girl • Name The man creating this item was Robert  Question: The creator of this item was Jim • Order First pour oil into the saucepan, then put in the sliced meat Last, add some spices  Question: After pouring oil into saucepan, add some spices to meat and then place the meat onto the saucepan Features of Not given questions a) Totally new information When the economy begins to recover, people are happy/  Question: When war happens, people are sad b) Added information in form of noun, adjective and adverb preposition, verb phrases, comparison and contrast Her voice is beautiful  Question: Her voice is very beautiful c) Whole-to-part relationship Her strong personalities are decisive, enthusiasm, and creativity  Question: She is enthusiastic, creative, assertive and cooperative d) Replaced by different word whose meaning does not contrast or is not synonyms with words stated in the reading passage, though the word is a bit related She criticizes him of his laziness  Question: She does not like him TIPS In case, the questions consist of the following words/phrases • exactly, accurately, correctly, relatively  The answer is often Yes • only, mainly  The answer is either No or Not given (rarely is it Yes) • aim to do, purpose, goal to V  The answer is often No in terms of purposes (never NOT GIVEN) • phrases of causal relationship  check whether the order has been changed or not If changed, then No, If unchanged, then Yes • Words/phrases of superlative comparison  The answer is often NOT GIVEN • Other (exclusion of human)  The answer is often NG PRACTICE 1) Yesterday, I hang out with my friends  Question: Today, I am staying home _ 14 - IELTS with Lana Lee 2) He is good at Maths  Question: He is relatively good at Maths _ 3) She is very short  Question: She is the shortest person in her class _ 4) He studied in the U.S from 1998 to 1999  Question: He spent two years 1998-1999 studying in Russia • _ STEPS OF APPROACHING YES/NO/NOT GIVEN QUESTIONS Locate the task (If this task comes before other tasks, the information is likely to be within the first paragraphs, and otherwise) Read the questions and highlight/underline signal words (of time, names, proper nouns) to identify the original information in the text Read the questions and highlight key words (of comparison, only, mainly, of time, adverbs, phrasal verb) and predict the answer basing on the tips Using the features of each type of Answer to find the correct answer 15 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 16 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 17 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 18 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 19 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 20 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 21 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 22 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 23 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 24 ... - IELTS with Lana Lee - 16 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 17 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 18 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 19 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 20 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 21 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 22 - IELTS. .. are tested? in the text - IELTS with Lana Lee - Note for IELTS reading practice “Dead” vocabulary is very important in improving candidates’ speed and efficiency of reading Therefore, it is advisable... working through the text in the same way, paragraph by paragraph 10 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 11 - IELTS with Lana Lee - 12 - IELTS with Lana Lee - YES, NO, NOT GIVEN QUESTIONS Features of Yes question