Want To Know How To Improve Your IELTS Reading Test Score?
The video below produced by the British Council (who are one of the owners of the IELTS exam), offers a very effective method to complete the IELTS reading exam successfully.
Watch it now and make notes if you can. The script is provided underneath so you can read the advice at your own pace too.
Play The Video…
IELTS Reading: Improve Your English And Prepare For IELTS Reading (Script)
So you’ve decided to take the IELTS exam. Great choice, it’s the test that opens doors around the world. These are the key details of the IELTS reading test.
The test includes forty questions spread over three articles. You have a total of sixty Minutes for the reading test.
Unlike the IELTS listening there is no additional time to transfer answers so write these directly onto your answer sheet as you proceed through the test.
Read the instructions very carefully be familiar with different question types.
Here’s Some Advice To Prepare For The Reading Test:
Practice reading skills such as skimming, skimming means looking over an article or paragraph to identify the key themes or general ideas. This includes paying attention to titles subtitles key words and topic sentences
Scanning, scanning is when you are looking for specific information. Perhaps a number or a name or a date. If you know the specific type of answer you need to find you don’t need to read every word in the article.
For example if you know you need to find out how much money something costs. Run your eyes quickly down the article looking for a number with a currency indicator then decide if this is referring to what you are looking for.
Skimming provides a bird’s eye view of some material. Scanning helps you swoop down to locate the specific details you need.
Another key skill is intensive reading, this helps you to understand the details in an article. When you practice reading tests, don’t read an article intensively to start with this is a common mistake.
How To Do The IELTS Reading Exam:
♦ First skim the article quickly get a sense for what the subject of the article is and look at the title, any headings or diagrams.
♦ Read the first sentence of each paragraph to determine the theme of each paragraph.
♦ Make notes around the article as you do this, then read with specific purpose, read the questions and be clear what you are looking for.
♦ Once you have skimmed and scanned you are prepared to analyze the questions carefully. Circling key words and thinking of synonyms for those key words, don’t expect to find the exact same words in the article.
♦ Then use your scanning and skimming skills to home in on the right paragraph in the article, here you’ll need to read in detail to find the specific answer to each question.
How To Improve Your IELTS Reading Skills:
To improve your reading skills, read as much as you can, anything you read in English is good practice and the more variety the better. There are no shortcuts or secret techniques you will only improve with time, practice and persistence.
For more information on IELTS other videos on speaking, writing and listening (available on this site from the menu bar).
Where To Next?
