1. Finding:read the text to find words from the question.
2. Understanding:when you have found some key words from the question, read that part of the text carefully in order to understand it and get the right answer.

Remember:

– Spend 20 minutes on each passage.

– Miss any questions that seem too difficult.

– Move on if a question is taking you too long.

– Get to the end of the test, and return to the questions you missed.

People who read too quickly in the IELTS test often miss the answers. If you go too fast, you won’t really understand what you’re reading, and you’ll start to panic when you don’t find what you’re looking for.

On the other hand, some people read too slowly; they read each word as if it were a separate item on the page. These people tend not to finish the test.

Instead of skimming too quickly or reading each word slowly, you can read phrase by phrase. For example, read the first sentence of this lesson as three phrases:

People who read too quickly …..  in the IELTS test ….. often miss the answers.

Try to get into the habit of reading phrase by phrase. You should find that you can go at a reasonable speed and that you’ll understand (almost) everything.

Whenever you do a practice reading test, keep a record of the key vocabulary i.e. the words and phrases that gave you the answers.

The vocabulary should be kept by topic.

If you have a vocabulary notebook (which is a good idea), add the phrases above.

Here’s an interesting way to use reading tests from the Cambridge IELTS books:

1. Choose a passage from one of the reading tests.
2. Get the correct answers from the back of the book.
3. Now read the first question, underline keywords, and search for the answer in the passage – you already know the correct answer, so your only aim is to find whereit is in the passage.
4. Underline words in the passage that have the same meaning as the keywords in the question.
5. When you have done this for each question, make a keyword table.

This technique forces you to stop testing yourself. Instead, it makes you focus on finding key vocabulary and understanding the reason for each answer. You might be surprised at the improvements you make if you regularly practise in this way.

You can try this way of practising: get the correct answers from the back of the book, and try to prove why they are correct.

Here’s an example reading passage:

Behaviourism is a systematic approach to understanding the behaviour of humans and other animals. During the first half of the twentieth century, John B. Watson devised methodological behaviourism, which rejected introspective methods and sought to understand behaviour by only measuring observable behaviours and events.

It was not until the 1930s that B. F. Skinner suggested that private events—including thoughts and feelings—should be subjected to the same controlling variables as observable behaviour. This approach became the basis for his philosophy called “radical behaviourism”. While Watson and Ivan Pavlov investigated the stimulus-response procedures of classical conditioning, Skinner assessed the controlling nature of consequences and also their potential effect on the antecedents of behaviour; the technique became known as operant conditioning.

Now look at the ‘true, false, not given’ statements and correct answers below. Can you explain why each answer is correct?

1. Watson measured both visible behaviour and hidden emotions. (FALSE)
2. Skinner’s approach differed from that of Watson and Pavlov in that he went beyond the strictly observable. (TRUE)

The real secret to improving your reading is not a special trick, method or exam technique. It’s simpler than that.

If you want to improve your reading, you need to read more.

In addition to doing your IELTS reading practice, read things that truly fascinate you. Read about your hobbies, people you admire, gossip, or whatever you would choose to read for fun in your own language. Do some reading that isn’t a form of study. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand every word; just expose your brain to lots of interesting English, and you’ll learn without even realising!

If you read too quickly, or if you try to find the answers by skimming and scanning, you probably won’t fully understand what you’re reading, and you might miss the answers that you’re searching for. On the other hand, if you read at normal speed, you’re more likely to understand what you’re reading, and you’ll have plenty of time to find the answers.

If you struggle to finish all 40 questions in one hour, it’s probably because you didn’t understand the passage well enough, not because you didn’t read it fast enough. So, you need to analyse your mistakes and look up the words and phrases that you didn’t understand. In other words, work on becoming a better reader, not a faster reader.

You should test yourself from time to time (do a practice test with the time limit), but spend much more time studying rather than testing. ‘Studying’ means that your aim is to learn something from what you read. For example, when reading newspaper articles, you might learn a new word or phrase, or you might learn how to use a word correctly in a new context. Don’t forget to check things in a dictionary or by searching online, and write new language in a notebook.

The Cambridge IELTS books are a great resource for studying (as well as testing). Try doing some reading tests without a time limit. Allow yourself to use a dictionary to check words, and aim to get all of the answers right. Analyse your mistakes carefully, and make keyword tables.

Above all, remember that IELTS reading is a vocabulary test. Ask yourself what new vocabulary you have learnt this week. Can you point to a page of your notebook and say “I’ve learnt these 10 or 20 new words and phrases this week”? If you can, you are improving.

‘Not having enough time’ is the biggest problem for most people taking the reading test. Here are some tips for dealing with this problem:

1. Go straight to the first question. Don’t waste time reading the full passage or the first sentence of each paragraph.
2. Do ‘paragraph’ questions last. Questions that ask you to match headings or statements with paragraphs are much easier if you are already familiar with the passage.
3. Don’t get stuck on one question. As soon as you realise that you are having difficulties with a question, leave it and move to the next one. Return to difficult questions later if you have time.
4. Remember that the answers to most question sections are in order in the passage. You don’t need to go back to the beginning of the passage to search for each answer.
5. Only skim or scan for numbers and names. Otherwise, read at normal speed.
6. Work with an alarm. You can’t do this in an exam, but at home you could set the alarm (on your phone) for 2 minutes and try to do each question within this time.

Note:
When preparing for the reading test at home, try not to worry about time at first. Your first concern should be to get the score you need, even if it takes you 3 hours instead of 1 hour to do a full test.

Similar to Listening

You can try this way of practising: get the correct answers from the back of the book, and try to prove why they are correct.

Here’s an example reading passage:

Behaviourism is a systematic approach to understanding the behaviour of humans and other animals. During the first half of the twentieth century, John B. Watson devised methodological behaviourism, which rejected introspective methods and sought to understand behaviour by only measuring observable behaviours and events.

It was not until the 1930s that B. F. Skinner suggested that private events—including thoughts and feelings—should be subjected to the same controlling variables as observable behaviour. This approach became the basis for his philosophy called “radical behaviourism”. While Watson and Ivan Pavlov investigated the stimulus-response procedures of classical conditioning, Skinner assessed the controlling nature of consequences and also their potential effect on the antecedents of behaviour; the technique became known as operant conditioning.

Now look at the ‘true, false, not given’ statements and correct answers below. Can you explain why each answer is correct?

1. Watson measured both visible behaviour and hidden emotions. (FALSE)
2. Skinner’s approach differed from that of Watson and Pavlov in that he went beyond the strictly observable. (TRUE)

You should test yourself from time to time (do a practice test with the time limit), but spend much more time studying rather than testing. ‘Studying’ means that your aim is to learn something from what you read. For example, when reading newspaper articles, you might learn a new word or phrase, or you might learn how to use a word correctly in a new context. Don’t forget to check things in a dictionary or by searching online, and write new language in a notebook.

The Cambridge IELTS books are a great resource for studying (as well as testing). Try doing some reading tests without a time limit. Allow yourself to use a dictionary to check words, and aim to get all of the answers right. Analyse your mistakes carefully, and make keyword tables.

Above all, remember that IELTS reading is a vocabulary test. Ask yourself what new vocabulary you have learnt this week. Can you point to a page of your notebook and say “I’ve learnt these 10 or 20 new words and phrases this week”? If you can, you are improving.

If you read too quickly, or if you try to find the answers by skimming and scanning, you probably won’t fully understand what you’re reading, and you might miss the answers that you’re searching for. On the other hand, if you read at normal speed, you’re more likely to understand what you’re reading, and you’ll have plenty of time to find the answers.

If you struggle to finish all 40 questions in one hour, it’s probably because you didn’t understand the passage well enough, not because you didn’t read it fast enough. So, you need to analyse your mistakes and look up the words and phrases that you didn’t understand. In other words, work on becoming a better reader, not a faster reader.

The real secret to improving your reading is not a special trick, method or exam technique. It’s simpler than that.

If you want to improve your reading, you need to read more.

In addition to doing your IELTS reading practice, read things that truly fascinate you. Read about your hobbies, people you admire, gossip, or whatever you would choose to read for fun in your own language. Do some reading that isn’t a form of study. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand every word; just expose your brain to lots of interesting English, and you’ll learn without even realising!

1. Finding:read the text to find words from the question.
2. Understanding:when you have found some key words from the question, read that part of the text carefully in order to understand it and get the right answer.

Whenever you do a practice reading test, keep a record of the key vocabulary i.e. the words and phrases that gave you the answers.

The vocabulary should be kept by topic.

If you have a vocabulary notebook (which is a good idea), add the phrases above.

Remember:

– Spend 20 minutes on each passage.

– Miss any questions that seem too difficult.

– Move on if a question is taking you too long.

– Get to the end of the test, and return to the questions you missed.

Similar to Listening

Here’s an interesting way to use reading tests from the Cambridge IELTS books:

1. Choose a passage from one of the reading tests.
2. Get the correct answers from the back of the book.
3. Now read the first question, underline keywords, and search for the answer in the passage – you already know the correct answer, so your only aim is to find whereit is in the passage.
4. Underline words in the passage that have the same meaning as the keywords in the question.
5. When you have done this for each question, make a keyword table.

This technique forces you to stop testing yourself. Instead, it makes you focus on finding key vocabulary and understanding the reason for each answer. You might be surprised at the improvements you make if you regularly practise in this way.

People who read too quickly in the IELTS test often miss the answers. If you go too fast, you won’t really understand what you’re reading, and you’ll start to panic when you don’t find what you’re looking for.

On the other hand, some people read too slowly; they read each word as if it were a separate item on the page. These people tend not to finish the test.

Instead of skimming too quickly or reading each word slowly, you can read phrase by phrase. For example, read the first sentence of this lesson as three phrases:

People who read too quickly …..  in the IELTS test ….. often miss the answers.

Try to get into the habit of reading phrase by phrase. You should find that you can go at a reasonable speed and that you’ll understand (almost) everything.

‘Not having enough time’ is the biggest problem for most people taking the reading test. Here are some tips for dealing with this problem:

1. Go straight to the first question. Don’t waste time reading the full passage or the first sentence of each paragraph.
2. Do ‘paragraph’ questions last. Questions that ask you to match headings or statements with paragraphs are much easier if you are already familiar with the passage.
3. Don’t get stuck on one question. As soon as you realise that you are having difficulties with a question, leave it and move to the next one. Return to difficult questions later if you have time.
4. Remember that the answers to most question sections are in order in the passage. You don’t need to go back to the beginning of the passage to search for each answer.
5. Only skim or scan for numbers and names. Otherwise, read at normal speed.
6. Work with an alarm. You can’t do this in an exam, but at home you could set the alarm (on your phone) for 2 minutes and try to do each question within this time.

Note:
When preparing for the reading test at home, try not to worry about time at first. Your first concern should be to get the score you need, even if it takes you 3 hours instead of 1 hour to do a full test.