Ielts how to improve reading skills ielts

IELTS Reading

IELTS Reading tests a variety of reading skills, and although the question formats are the same, the text styles are different for Academic and General Training. You will be given around 60 minutes to answer 40 questions, and there are 3 different reading texts to read.

The Number 1 Way to Improve your IELTS Reading Scores

In this video, I’ll show you the best way to improve your IELTS Reading score at home for free:

The IELTS Reading test requires you to answer 40 questions in 60 minutes, so you must be fully prepared before you book your exam. In this video, I’ll show you exactly how to get the score you need in IELTS Reading.

Top 5 Tips for IELTS Reading

1. Timing is key.

You will have just 1 hour to complete 40 questions, so you must use your time wisely. I advise my students to try and get each section finished in 20 minutes. This will give you 16-17 minutes to read and answer the questions and 3-4 minutes to transfer and check your answers. You’ll find more help with time management here.

2. Read the instructions carefully.

Many strong candidates lose marks in IELTS Reading because they don’t read the instructions properly. Pay close attention to the instructions you’re given to avoid losing easy marks.

3. Don’t panic.

Some of the questions will be easy and some will be extremely difficult. (I knew many IELTS teachers who had to check the answers to some questions because they are so challenging!)

The wrong thing to do is spend a large amount of time on a hard question. If the answer does not present itself, move on to the next one. You can always come back to the difficult questions later.

It’s important that you stay calm and keep your nerves under control. Accepting that you are probably not going to get all of the questions correct might help you to control your nerves and timing on test day!

4. It’s really a vocabulary test.

In many ways, IELTS Reading is more of a vocabulary test than a reading test. The reason is that you need a wide range of vocabulary to understand the passages of text given to you. You must also have an awareness of synonyms and paraphrasing if you wish to identify the information required to answer the questions correctly.

5. Don’t expect to understand every word.

If you don’t understand a word in the test, you should look at the words and sentences around it for clues as to its meaning. Alternatively, you can move on and forget about it.

Focus on the words that are related to the question and don’t worry about the words you don’t understand.

For more help with improving your reading skills, click the image below to join my free IELTS Reading challenge:

IELTS Reading Question Types

Click on any of the links below for a full step-by-step guide to answering each IELTS Reading question type:

This post will help you answer short answer questions more effectively by looking at a sample question, identifying common problems and giving you a strategy to use on exam day.

This article will help you answer multiple-choice questions more effectively. We look at common problems and how to fix them.

In these kinds of questions, you will be given a summary of information from the text and there will be some gaps in that summary.

In this IELTS Reading question, you will be given a list of incomplete sentences with no endings and another list with possible endings. Your job is to match the incomplete sentences with the correct ending based on the reading text.

In this question type, you will be given a number of sentences with gaps in them and asked to complete the sentences with words from the reading text. Check out this article to learn how to do so strategically.

‘True, False, Not Given’ questions requires you to identify if the information in a text is true or not. You will be given a number of factual statements and you have to check in the text if they are true or not. This is probably the most difficult question in the reading paper.

In the IELTS Reading test, you may be asked to match headings to sections of text. This type of question tests your ability to understand the main idea of each paragraph.

In the IELTS Reading test, you might get a question that asks you to label a diagram. This post will show you examples, look at common problems and provide you with a strategy for answering these questions effectively.

In this kind of question, you are asked to match statements to paragraphs in the reading text. This post will look at example question types and show you my step-by-step strategy for matching information to paragraphs.

IELTS Reading Essential Information

In the IELTS Reading exam, you must answer 40 questions in 60 minutes. The test is also divided into three sections of increasing difficulty.

There are two types of exam: Academic or General Training. Before you begin preparing, you need to find out:

You can get this information by contacting the institute that requires your IELTS certificate.

What’s the Difference Between the Academic and General Training Reading Test?

The types of question that you receive in the Academic exam are exactly the same as the question types that you get in the General Training exam. However, the passages of text that you must read are different.

General Training students will have to read a combination of long and short texts of both a general and work-specific nature. In comparison, Academic students must interact with three long texts of an academic nature.

IELTS Reading Time Management

One of the most challenging parts of IELTS Reading is completing it within the time that you are allocated.

You will be required to answer 40 questions in 60 minutes, so you must be fully prepared before you book your test!

Learn how to complete IELTS Reading in less than an hour by reading our blog post here, or watch my video lesson here.

Reading Practice

It’s important that you use reliable materials when you practice IELTS Reading – this is the only way of getting an accurate idea of your current ability. The post below will show you how to find reading practice materials and improve your practice sessions from home:

The links below will direct you to multiple reliable sources of IELTS Reading practice papers:

IELTS Reading Lessons

See the interactive tool below for the most commonly asked questions we receive about IELTS Reading:

IELTS Reading FAQs

How can I improve my reading?

You will find all of the free guidance you’ll need for IELTS Reading on my Reading Mini-Course. It’s completely free to join and has all the free strategies you will need to improve your IELTS Reading exam skills.

Click the link below to get started:

Can I use all capital letters?

Yes, as long as you are consistent with your answers.

How do I answer _____ questions?

You’ll find strategies for each question type listed on the page below:
Reading

Do you have practice questions?

We do, but they are only available to our VIP Students.

You will find free and reliable practice questions at the following websites:

The British Council
IDP
CambridgeYou will also find these in the Cambridge Past Paper books, available in any good book store.

How can I read faster?

This depends on a number of factors, but you’ll find our guide to improving your reading speed here:
Speed Reading: How to Increase Your Reading Speed

How can I complete the reading test on time?

In short: improve your exam technique and your reading speed. You’ll find a strategy for improving both of these features at the link below:

How many questions do I need to answer correctly?

That depends on the score you need to achieve. You’ll find help with calculating your score here:

Do skimming and scanning work?

To a very limited extent. Read the following article if you wish to gain a comprehensive understanding of skimming and scanning and when to use them:

How to improve IELTS reading

Test takers often ask how to improve reading skills in IELTS. Well, the answer is that there are no shortcuts or secret techniques to improve IELTS reading band score. You can improve your reading by consistent practice, improving your vocabulary for IELTS reading, time management and by taking professional help from a certified IELTS trainer. So if your question is how to improve IELTS reading, continue to read further.

How to improve IELTS Reading skills

Everyone has a different reading style or different level of reading skills. Some find it interesting to read the text in various books, magazines, articles or journals whereas others may find it boring or difficult to maintain concentration while reading passages.

It is imperative for the IELTS test takers to develop the habit of reading and also develop the interest in reading from various resources so that they don’t face difficulty on the actual exam day in the reading tests. A consistent effort along with the guidance of a certified IELTS tutor can definitely help to improve your score in the IELTS test.

The following IELTS reading improvement tips can help you improve your score in IELTS reading sections of both General Training and Academic modules.

How to Improve Reading Skills in IELTS

1. Read a lot:

Before we get to the tips and techniques to crack the IELTS reading section, it is critical to understand the importance of building reading skills. Just like sportsmen work on their stamina along with the actual techniques of that particular score, IELTS test takers should practice reading through various resources.

Once you become comfortable with familiar with reading, it becomes easier to read the text in the IELTS exam and helps in answering the questions. It can be stressful for many test takers to read and answer the questions in a time bound test scenario so a lot of IELTS reading practice tests should be attempted to be familiar with the actual test scenario.

2. Be familiar with the IELTS Reading Test format:

Both the IELTS General Training reading section has 3 sections and 40 questions. IELTS General Training reading has four short passages and one long passage whereas IELTS Academic reading section as three long passages. The techniques to approach and answering the questions, however, remains the same.

The language in IELTS General Training reading may be simple as compared to the IELTS Academic reading. The first section of the IELTS General Training reading deals with the “social survivor” and reading passages are also designed accordingly containing notices, brochures, instruction manuals advertisements etc.

The second section of IELTS General Training reading contains text relating to “workplace survivor” like the description of jobs, interview techniques contracts etc.

3. Use strategies – Skimming and Scanning:

Many test takers start to read the text in the test and read each and every word in the passage and waste time. This is not the right approach to begin with. You need to improve your reading skills by practising techniques like skimming, where you just read to get an overview and don’t read the entire passage.

You need to have an overview and focus on main areas and mark keywords while skimming through. Then you solve the IELTS reading questions by scanning – which is reading with a specific purpose. In this way, you can find correct answers in less time.

Students who read each and every word in the text are often unable to solve all the 40 questions of the test. It may seem difficult in the beginning but when you get used to it, this will help to improve your score in IELTS reading.

4. IELTS Reading – Question Types:

It is recommended to practice various question types which are asked in the IELTS reading test. You can improve your score by knowing your strengths and weaknesses by doing IELTS mock tests and identifying the question types which you find difficult to solve.

A wide range of questions are asked in the IELTS reading exam: Fill in the blanks questions can be in the form of – sentence completion, summary completion, note completion, table completion, flowchart completion, diagram label completion. Other types are – MCQ’s and short answer questions.

Students generally find it difficult to answer questions like TRUE – FALSE – NOT GIVEN or YES – NO – NOT GIVEN in the form of identifying information or identifying writer’s views/claims and in matching headings or matching the information type questions. It is a good idea to take IELTS coaching from an IELTS expert to improve your score in IELTS reading.

You need to practice a lot of IELTS mock tests for reading to be familiar with various question types. The Cambridge IELTS books have authentic tests and have a good repository of a variety of questions. These can be effectively used for the preparation of IELTS reading section.

5. Build your vocabulary:

Lexical resources is an assessment criterion in the IELTS writing but a test taker’s range of vocabulary is assessed in the reading section in an indirect way. Many reading questions can be answered only if the vocabulary is really strong. It cannot be developed in a short period of time so efforts should be made to enhance these resources.

If you want to improve your score, you need to practice reading through a variety of resources and keep noting down the uncommon words that you come across. Additionally, make efforts to check the synonyms and antonyms of those words. This will slowly but surely help to enhance the vocabulary. It will become easier to find correct answers in this way.

6. Manage your time well:

The reading sections is of 60 minutes and there is no extra transfer time to transfer the answers. So answers should be simultaneously transferred to the answer sheet. In the computer-based test, this is done side by side so the test takers are not much concerned here for the loss of time.

You are expected to read more than 2200 words in a typical IELTS reading test which takes a lot of time and effort. So, the techniques of skimming and scanning become useful along with the marking of keywords. You must also keep an eye on the time left while doing the reading section.

If you take any break in the test for going to the bathroom, no extra time will be allotted for that. Also, you can block the time for each section while practising. You can get a fair idea of how much time you generally take in each section when you do the IELTS practice tests before the exam.

7. Check your work:

Do remember to revise the work done in the end. All of us do mistakes in the actual exam scenario so time should be allocated to check the answers in the end so that it doesn’t add to the pressure. It is important to read the instructions carefully to write the correct answers.

Check the limit of words mentioned for the fill in the blanks or short answer questions to avoid any unnecessary mistakes. The grammatical accuracy of the answers is another key point to take care of. If the spellings of the answer is wrong then the answer would be automatically wrong. Care should be taken to write the answers clearly so that the IELTS examiner can easily read them.

8. Take professional help:

It is highly recommended that the test takers should join the best IELTS coaching in Dwarka or the best IELTS coaching in Delhi to improve the IELTS reading score from 6 to 7.5 or 8 or 9 bands. A certified faculty for IELTS can help to achieve and improve your score in IELTS reading in an effective and professional manner.

They are experienced and understand the strength and weakness of the students and provide effective IELTS training. Doing free online coaching for IELTS from unknown sources or from unofficial resources can be a waste of time and energy.

Mindmine Global by Mindmine Academy Private Limited provides the best IELTS Coaching in Dwarka Sector 7 and Delhi NCR. It offers both classroom and online coaching with flexible timings.

Many students from outside Delhi and also from outside India take online IELTS coaching to improve their band scores. A vast number of students have scored more than CLB9 in IELTS General Training and more than 7 Bands in IELTS Academic module with the help of trainers who are certified by British Council and IDP.

Harpal Singh completed his graduation from Delhi College of Arts and Commerce (DCAC), Delhi University and thereafter did his Post Graduation studies from Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) and International Management Institute (IMI), Delhi. He has worked in the financial sectors with organisations like HDFC and Kotak in sales and training profile and joined the education sector with the biggest education company – Educomp Solutions Ltd. in 2011. He got an opportunity to introduce Digital Learning in thousands of classrooms of the schools and also interacted with a large number of students and teachers. This motivated him to start his own venture in 2014 to train and counsel the young learners with the help of the latest technology and teaching methodologies.
He is one of the most sought after IELTS trainers in the world right now and has trained students from India, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Nepal, Uganda and Middle East countries. Harpal Singh is a certified trainer from – British Council, IDP, Pearson – PTE, TOEFL and Cambridge.
He has keen interest in counselling students for Study Abroad opportunities and professionals for PR in various countries. All his students are either studying in various prestigious institutes abroad or pursuing their dream careers in countries like Canada or Australia as permanent residents.

Guide To Improve Your IELTS Reading

The IELTS exam comprises of four main sections, the reading is the second part. In this section of the test you are given a question booklet and an answer sheet, both of which you will return at the end of the test.

Your timing is an important factor for the test as you’ll be allocated one hour. During this time you need to complete 40 questions from the three required sections.

There are a few differences between the paper-based and computer-based versions of the IELTS Reading test. It is more a matter of the advantages or disadvantages of the two formats.

You can become acquainted with the computer-based IELTS Reading test interface by visiting the following link from the official IELTS website here.

There you will find official samples of all question types for both the Academic and the General Training tests and answer keys for them.

Now have a look at the detailed comparison between the paper-based and computer-based Reading tests below and choose the best format for you.

What are you given at the start of the test? Paper-Based Test:

Computer-Based Test:

Where will I write my answers? Paper-Based Test:

Computer-Based Test:

Will I get additional time to transfer my answers onto the answer sheet? Paper-Based Test:

Computer-Based Test:

What can (and should) I do while I’m working on the test? Paper-Based Test:

Computer-Based Test:

The IELTS academic test will evaluate if your level of English is good enough for an academic environment like studying at an English university or college whereas the General test will determine your English proficiency in everyday situations.

The academic passages that you will need to read in your exam are a maximum of 2750 words whereas the general test has a maximum of 2350 words. Let’s look at how you can improve your reading in your IELTS Exam!

This reading technique will help you save time in your exam. It means that you will read over the passage to just get a general idea. Underline any keywords that are important to the context of the reading piece. Don’t spend too much time trying to understand every little detail of the reading passage. It is important for you to be fast, focused and alert so that you do waste time.

Don’t assume that you know what you need to do in a question. Always make sure that you read the instructions carefully so circle or underline the key words before you start looking for the answer.

To understand and remember the most important part of what you’re reading, you should say it in your own words. Explain to yourself what you have just read. This will help you focus not only on the words in front of you, but also the ideas.

You need to find 100% proof in the text that you are on the right track to the band score you need.

It is possible that you won’t understand all the words in the passage, but don’t panic. Try to conclude the meaning from the context. The content of the sentence where you found it can help you deduce whether it’s positive or negative, a person or a job, an animal or a feature.

When you know there’s no time left, instead of leaving it blank, guess the answer. If you leave the cell in your answer sheet blank because you don’t know AND have no time for it, you will get zero points. For sure. But if you strike it lucky and manage to guess it correctly, you will have at least one more point which is totally able to get you from band 6.5 to 7.0.

An important factor to improving your IELTS reading, is to understand where you’re going wrong. If you’re losing points because you don’t understand the question, you need to work on your vocabulary and language skills.

If you’re losing points because you run out of time, you need to look at your technique and try to improve it. Bonus advice on How to Get a Band 8 or Higher in IELTS Reading

There’s one simple secret to learning vocabulary well.

Write your notes in the margins of paragraphs in note form and don’t forget to “discuss the idea with yourself” and always put it in your own words. This will help you prepare for the same restated idea in the question and answer options.

If you can do things the right way and it brings you great practise scores, then try challenging yourself and doing the same even faster.

If you want to improve your IELTS reading, you have to prepare! Make sure that you do practice tests and try different types of questions to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Once you identify what you need to work on, you’ll be able to better your IELTS score. You can download or listen to the audio version here:

IELTS Reading Tips

These are the 10 IELTS reading tips I share with all of my IELTS classes. First, let’s look at an overview so we can understand what the reading paper is about.

Are the IELTS reading papers the same for both Academic and General Training?

The reading skills required (prediction, finding specific information, identifying opinion etc.) are the same for both tests. The styles of question, for example, multiple-choice, sentence completion etc., are also the same for both the Academic and General Training papers.

The only difference is the type of text you will be given. This is to reflect the different expectations and motivations of both types of candidate. On the Academic paper, there will be three long academic texts that are similar to the type of reading you might expect at university. The readings are taken from academic journals, magazines, books and newspapers.

On the General Training paper, you will be given a mixture of long and short texts of a much more general nature and some related to work or social situations. The readings are taken from notices, flyers, timetables, documents, newspapers, instructions and manuals.

How much time will I have?

You will have one hour to complete 40 questions in full and write your answers on the answer sheet. You will NOT be given extra time to transfer your answers to the answer sheet as you do in the listening test.

What skills will be tested?

The reading paper will test a number of different skills, including:

The reading test is also as much a vocabulary test as it is a reading test because most of the answers will be synonyms or paraphrases of the question.

What are the different question types?

There are several different question types all designed to test different reading skills. It is essential that you familiarise yourself with each different question type.

Please click on the link below for common problems, IELTS Reading tips and a strategy for each type. They are as follows:

I need a band 7. How many questions do I need to get correct?

The number of correct answers needed to get a band 7 will vary slightly from test to test. All tests have, in theory, the same level of difficulty but the score required to achieve a certain band changes depending on how everyone who took that test did on that particular day.

For a Band 7, you should be aiming to get around 30 out of 40, but this might be slightly more or slightly less depending on the test.

Please also remember that the questions get more difficult as the test goes on. You should be getting the first questions all correct.

IELTS Reading Tips

1. Don’t expect to understand every word

Many of my students have been taught to look up every word in a dictionary they don’t understand in a dictionary. The theory behind this is good, a wide vocabulary is key to getting a good score in the IELTS test, but worrying about all the words you don’t understand in the reading exam is one of the worst things you can do.

If you don’t understand a word in the reading test there are two things you can do. You can look at the words and sentences around it for clues as to its meaning or you can move on and forget about it. You don’t have to understand the meaning of every word. Even native speakers- and many IELTS teachers- would not be able to understand all the words in the reading test.

Candidates who worry about the meaning of every word, panic and spend too much time thinking about words that might not be related to the question. Focus on the words that are related to the question and don’t worry about the words you don’t understand.

2. Practice your reading skills NOT your IELTS skills

It is important to familiarise yourself with the IELTS reading test, IELTS reading tips and gain an understanding of the various questions. It is also important to learn from your mistakes (see below). However, students who just practice IELTS exams are missing out on a good opportunity to improve their general reading skills.

IELTS reading texts can be a little boring and you are more likely to read regularly if you read about something you are interested in. Reading for pleasure a little every day will not only improve your English skills but also improve your vocabulary. There are thousands of blogs, newspapers, magazines, and newspapers to choose from online. Practice makes perfect.

3. Read the instructions VERY carefully

So many easy marks are lost by good IELTS candidates because they fail to read the instructions properly. This is especially true in the reading and listening tests because they give very specific instructions. If you don’t follow these instructions exactly, you will get the question wrong.

For example, the instructions might state ‘write two words and/or a number’. This could mean:

One word
One word and a number
Two words
Two words and a number

Even if a number is written as a word it counts as a number e.g. Thirty two is counted as 32. ‘Thirty two cars’ is one word and a number. If you don’t do this, as stated in the instructions, you will lose a mark.

If the answer asks for two words only and the answer is red and yellow, you should write ‘red, yellow’, not ‘red and yellow’. Red, yellow is two words. Red and yellow is three and therefore incorrect.

Finally, one word only means just one word. We should, therefore, be very careful with articles like ‘a’ and ‘an’. For example, the text might say ‘an earthquake’, but if it asks for one word simply write ‘earthquake’. ‘An earthquake’ is two words and is therefore wrong.

4. Don’t panic

Some of the questions will be easy and some will be extremely difficult. The key is not to panic when trying to answer a difficult one. Nearly all of the IELTS teachers I know have to check the answers to some questions because they are so difficult.

The wrong thing to do is spend a large amount of time on a question and fail to spend enough time on the rest of the questions. If the answer does not present itself, move on to the next. You can always come back to the difficult questions later and answering the other questions will often help you.

Time and nerves need to be controlled in order to do well in the reading test all the IELTS reading tips in the world won’t help you if you can’t control your nerves. You are probably not going to get all of the questions correct and accepting this will help you to control your time and emotions on test day.

5. It’s really a vocabulary test

In many ways, the reading test is more of a vocabulary test than a reading test. They will use synonyms and paraphrase sentences to test how wide your vocabulary is. To prepare for this I advise my students to do three things: read, note, and review.

As mentioned in tip number 2, reading is the best way to improve your vocabulary. Memorising lists of words is not as effective as seeing words in context. When you see a new word you don’t understand, try to guess the meaning from context. This means that you try to guess the meaning based on the words and sentences around it. You will be expected to do this in the exam so it is a good idea to get practicing now. Only when you have done that should you check the meaning.

Next, you should put all of your new words in a special IELTS vocabulary notebook. Record not only the meaning but also things like synonyms, antonyms, collocations, form, examples, pronunciation and pictures. You don’t have to record all of these things; just the ones that work for you. All our brains work differently so find out what helps you remember vocabulary and use it.

Finally, there is no point in recording all this new vocabulary if you don’t review it. After putting all the effort into looking up the meaning and record everything in a notebook, it would be a waste of time if you don’t look at it regularly again. I advise students to look at new vocabulary one week after first studying, then two weeks later and finally a month later. Test yourself by covering up the meanings or try to think of a sentence.

By following these steps you will soon have a notebook full of words that you will remember and be able to use effectively in all sections of the IELTS test.

6. Timing is crucial

If you spend too much time on one question you will leave less time for the other questions, however, if you try to do the test too quickly you will miss information and may get confused.

I advise my students to try and get each section finished in 20 minutes. This breaks down to 16-17 minutes to read and answer the questions and 3-4 minutes transferring and checking your answers.

Some teachers advise students to spend a set or fixed amount of time on each question but this is bad advice for one main reason- some questions are more difficult than others and will, therefore, take you more time. What you should do is pay attention to your timing when practicing. You will notice which questions take you longer and which questions take you less time. This will give you the confidence to spend a little longer on certain questions and stop panicking in the exam.

Everyone reads and answers questions at different speeds and styles, so work out what is best for you and be wary of people who tell you to spend a set amount of time on each question.

7. Ignore anything you already know about the topic

The higher the level the more this problem affects people. Please remember that you are being tested on your understanding of the text only; your own knowledge of the topic should not influence your answers.

I had one student who I thought was going to get an 8 or 9 in their reading test. All of their practice tests had been at this level and I wasn’t worried about them at all. Unfortunately, this person had a degree in biotechnology and the reading was on this subject. Instead of carefully reading the text they used their own knowledge to answer many of the questions. They were very angry when the results came back and it was only after talking about the test that we established what had happened.

Make sure you don’t make the same mistake and base your answers on the text only. Don’t make assumptions based on your own knowledge.

For example, when you read the title of this article ‘IELTS reading tips’, you probably made lots of assumptions about what was in it and you probably knew some tips already, but I’m sure there have been some that have surprised you or even contradicted your views.

8. Practice slow and fast

Many teachers advise students to practice for the IELTS reading test ‘under exam conditions’. This means you do the practice test in one hour without any help, just like in the exam. This is poor advice for a few reasons.

By doing the test under exam conditions you put too much pressure on yourself and you don’t give yourself time to reflect on how to answer specific question types, spot patterns in questions and how you answer them, note down common vocabulary and notice how much time you spend answering certain questions.

It also does not give you a chance to analyse your mistakes. You should really focus on your mistakes and figure out why you were wrong and then improve. This is a slow process and should be prioritised.

Once you have practiced several tests slowly, you can then practice them under exams conditions.

9. Be careful when transferring your answers

In the test, you will be asked to transfer your answers to an answer sheet. A common mistake is to spend too much time on reading and answering questions and leaving very little time to transfer the answers. It is only natural that silly mistakes are made when people are under pressure.

I advise my students to practice with an IELTS answer sheet and see how much time it takes them to transfer their answers. This will allow you to familiarise yourself with the process and have confidence on test day.

10. Leave no blanks

This might seem one of the most obvious IELTS reading tips but you would be surprised how many people leave blanks. Even if you don’t know the answer, make sure you attempt every question. You might get lucky and you have nothing to lose.

Как сдать IELTS Reading на высший балл: IELTS Academic Reading Tips for Students

Хотите сдать IELTS Reading на высший балл? Мы расскажем вам о том, как правильно подготовиться к этому экзамену и как работать с текстом во время него. Все секреты успешного прохождения IELTS Reading в нашей статье!

Для успешной сдачи экзамена нужно не просто уметь читать, а уметь читать правильно. Как? Смотрите наши советы!

Второй частью IELTS Academic является чтение. На проработку трех текстов у вас будет всего лишь час! Как работать с текстами и успеть ответить правильно на все вопросы?

Как сдавать IELTS Academic Reading

На экзамене вам предлагается прочитать три текста и выполнить разного рода тесты, проверяющие ваше понимание прочитанного. В целом заданий 40, то есть около 13 на каждый текст. Каждый правильный ответ «стоит» 1 балл. На выполнение всех заданий у вас ровно 1 час. Важно помнить, что в отличие от Listening part, у вас не будет дополнительного времени на то, чтобы перенести свои ответы в специальный бланк. Поэтому нужно оставить хотя бы 7-8 минут, чтобы перенести ответы.

Нужно признать, что когда человек видит один из типичных для IELTS Academic текстов впервые, он повергается в состояние легкого шока. Тексты достаточно длинные (2150-2750 слов) и аутентичные: взяты из книг, научных журналов и т. д. Темы самые разные и могут быть, мягко говоря, не очень знакомыми вам: может, придется читать о мурашках, а может, о самолетах. Тем не менее, все не так страшно. Для начала нужно запомнить два простых правила:

Как «правильно» читать на экзамене IELTS

Дальше спешим сообщить еще одну приятную новость: вы не обязаны успеть вдумчиво прочитать и осмыслить весь текст за такой короткий период времени. А что надо сделать? Для начала нужно ознакомиться с тремя основными типами чтения в английском языке.

Теперь давайте рассмотрим, как выглядит употребление этих техник на практике. Для начала советуем прочитать заглавие текста и первый абзац, т. е. Introduction. Это поможет сформулировать представление, о чем идет речь в данном тексте. Далее прочитайте первые предложения каждого абзаца. Почему именно первые предложения? В английском языке их называют topic sentences. Именно они сообщают нам, о чем рассказывает абзац, служат заглавием для него.

Далее приступайте к чтению вопросов. Не исключено, что ответы на некоторые вопросы будут вам известны из того, что вы уже прочитали. Что касается остальных, вы будете примерно знать, в каком абзаце их искать. При этом иногда вам придется применять scanning (если ответ на вопрос предполагает цифры, имена и даты, то их легко можно найти в тексте глазами) или detailed reading (если встречаете вопрос типа True / False / Not Given, когда нужно подумать, что имелось в виду).

Нужно отметить, что это только один из подходов. Испробуйте его, проверьте, насколько он эффективен в вашем случае. Не бойтесь вносить коррективы. Вы должны найти что-то, что будет работать именно для вас. Конечно, для этого нужно проделать не один десяток пробных тестов, именно поэтому важно начать подготовку заранее.

Как готовиться к IELTS Academic Reading

Надеемся, наши советы помогут вам в подготовке и сдаче IELTS Academic Reading. Наши преподаватели готовы помочь вам не только советами, но и практическими занятиями, которые подготовят вас к испытанию. Хотите получить высокий балл? Приглашаем на курс подготовки к экзаменам по английскому по Скайпу. Удачи на экзамене!