Hi! I’m Bee.
Today I’m going to tell you about how you can prepare for the IELTS
academic reading test.
First I’ll give you an overview of the reading test.
Then I’ll talk about some strategies you can use for answering questions.
And finally, towards the end, I’ll give you some tips to help you for the reading test.
So, first the reading test lasts one hour.
There are three texts to read, and a total of 40 questions.
You aren’t allowed any extra time to transfer your answers, so write them directly onto
your answer sheet.
And you’ll need to manage your time during the test because you won’t be told when
to start or finish each section.
You can expect to read around 2500 words in total during your test – that’s the length
of the three texts combined.
These texts are taken from books, journals, magazines and newspapers.
They’ve been written for a non-specialist audience and are on academic topics of general
interest.
So, reading a magazine such as Nature can give you good preparation.
The texts range from the descriptive and factual to the discursive and analytical.
So, expect a range of different texts.
As I mentioned earlier there are 40 questions.
You can be asked to fill gaps in a passage of a written text or in a table,
match headings to written texts or to diagrams or charts,
complete sentences, give short answers to open questions,
or answer multiple choice questions. Sometimes you will need to give one word as
your answer, sometimes a short phrase, and sometimes simply a letter, number or symbol.
So always, make sure you read the instructions carefully.
Each correct answer receives one mark.
So, don’t spend too much time on one question.
Spend at most 20 minutes on each text.
And use your time wisely
Let’s now look at reading strategies.
First let’s look at skimming and scanning. Skimming is when you read something quickly
to get the general idea of a text.
You’ll need skimming skills to complete a question where you need to match headings
or other information to paragraphs.
When you skim, you look at the titles and headings.
You’ll also read the first sentence of each paragraph.
Skimming should only take you a minute or two for each text.
Scanning is when you look through a text quickly to find a specific piece of information.
You’ll need this skill for certain IELTS type reading questions.
For example, if you know that one answer requires you to find something that happened in ‘Peru’,
you can look quickly over a block of text until you spot the word ‘Peru’, and then
read around that word until you find the correct answer.
The main point is that you do not need to read the entire text to answer this type of
question.
OK, so skimming and scanning will help you answer many of the questions in the IELTS reading
exam.
However, for some questions you will need to read a paragraph in detail to find the
answer.
This means you will need to read some sentences very carefully to understand the full meaning
and answer the question correctly.
Right, use these strategies to help you to improve your speed in an exam, to give you
more time to answer the test in full, and to leave you more time to double-check your
answers at the end.
OK, now we come to the third part of the video, some general tips about the IELTS academic reading
test.
First, use that skimming skill!
Skim the text.
Look out for the title, headings and any special features such as capital letters, underlining,
italics, figures, graphs and tables. Also, make sure that you understand the questions
and follow instructions carefully.
Pay attention to your timing; do not spend too long on one text or question.
Spend 20 minutes per text maximum.
Remember, you don’t need to read or understand every word.
You just need to understand enough to answer the questions.
Don’t waste time.
If you are having problems finding an answer, do attempt to answer it, but don’t spend
lots of time on it.
All the answers are found in the text – so don’t panic – use those skimming, scanning
and reading for detail skills.
Remember to check your spelling and grammar carefully
Pay attention to the word limit.
for example, if you are asked to complete a sentence using no more than two words, and if
the correct answer is ‘leather shoe’, the answer ‘shoe made of leather’ would
be incorrect.
Make sure that you attempt all questions; there are no penalties for incorrect answers,
so you have nothing to lose. And of course, leave some time at the end to check your
answers.
OK. That's it for this video.
Remember to practise your reading skills.
The more you read, the better at reading you'll get.
Goodbye, and good luck on the IELTS academic reading test!