How To Do IELTS Listening Summary Completion Questions
Remember, the IELTS listening test has 4 parts each with 10 questions and lasts for 30 minutes in total. After that you will then have 10 minutes to move your answers to the answer sheet provided.
- Part 1 is a general conversation between 2 people.
- Part 2 is a monologue with just one person talking about a general topic.
- Part 3 is an everyday conversation between 2-3 people.
- Part 4 is one speaker giving an academic lecture.
Summary completion in the IELTS listening test is often more difficult than it should be. This is how it might appear:
Below is my step by step guide on how to do IELTS summary completion questions:
1.Read all of the question instructions carefully and check if there is a word limit.
2.Read the summary you are given to get a general idea about what it is about.
3.Use this information to consider the context and predict what you are going to hear.
4.Think about synonyms and paraphrases that may have been used to generate the summary do far.
5.Predict possible answers that could fill in the gaps.
6.Fill in the answers as you listen.
Tips and Tricks
This question type tests your ability to use synonyms and paraphrase efficiently. This is a crucial skill for anyone going to a university in an English speaking country who might need to make notes in a lecture.
Read the text before listening and try to get a good idea of what it is about so that you are aware of what you are going to hear. The sentences that you read will be a summary of the the recording. Try and guess what the next part of the recording will be about, this will make sure you are ready for it and that you hopefully do not miss any answers.
You can use your knowledge of grammar to try and guess what words/word types might fit in the gaps. Is it likely to be a verb, noun or an adjective and so on? The context of the sentence should help you do this too.
A Few More Ideas To Help:
Sometimes between recordings there is an opportunity for a short break. Avoid using this time to check previous answers and instead use this to read ahead and understand the upcoming multiple choice questions.
Don’t get ‘held up’ on one question if you are not sure, make your best guess and be ready for the next question.
If you hear words such as, ‘even though’, ‘but’, or ‘however’ then this can be a sign that the meaning of a sentence is going to be modified in some way which may affect your choice.
And finally, make sure you are clear on the the steps you are going to go through when answering each IELTS listening question type. Practicing the steps will give you confidence and help you remain calm on test day AND hopefully boost your score!
Free IELTS Listening Samples And Practice Tests
A full online version of the listening test from the British Council.
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