IELTS Reading Strategies !!

Here are some steps recommended to approach the IELTS READING TEST.

1.         First of all, glance through all the passages, get an idea of the subject matter and then decide which passage to attempt first. First of all read the tile and heading of the passage to understand the general idea about the passage topic. The heading of the passage is very important to provide you information about structure of the passage.

2.         Before attempting the questions, read the instructions carefully and follow them religiously. Carelessness may cost you marks. (Many students ignore this, but be careful in reading the instructions).

3.         Don’t waste your time by reading whole paragraph, look at the questions quickly and find out the required information of the questions in the passage through skim and scan skill. In the reading part, one has to read & understand, THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PASSAGE.

4.         Don't panic if the subject matter is not of your choice. All the answers are in the passage, so try and attempt the questions by reading the passage. In difficult passages, go for a ' skim and scan' approach -- read the questions and try finding out the answers by locating keywords. Try to answer the simplest questions at first. If you are not sure about any question, skip that question, move on to the next question and then come back to the question later.

5.         Circle key words on the QUESTIONS like dates, names, places etc. This is so that you can have an idea of the type of information you will be looking for & when you are reading the passage these key words/triggers will ring a bell.

6.         The most important step is to set a time limit for every passage and attempt that in the specified time only.

7.         If you are not able to answer any question or say are stuck in one question, don't waste your time. Move to the next question. Later, if you have some extra time, make a guess as there is no negative marking. You are advised not to leave any question unanswered.

8.         Write your answers directly on the answer sheet to save you time. No extra time is given to transfer answers. Also transfer answers very carefully, as any carelessness may cost you marks.

9.         Be very careful with spellings. Wrong spellings mean wrong answers.

Here are some books that you might want to have in order to score better on your READING SUBTEST.