good morning Aubry how's it going I'm great how are you Jessica still freezing up in Portland
cold it is so cold right now um just a quick topographical note there's a great vocab word
guys topography topography describes describes the uh landscape shapes around you whether it is
flat or hilly or what so the Topography of where I live we are next to the gorge The Gorge is like um
a deep Canyon with like a river going through it and so the wind that hits us is the most freezing
wind I've ever experienced so that's that's what I'm dealing with what about sorry I didn't have
to play volleyball in the Wind on Sunday and it's so tough tricky like outdoor sports with
the wind moving the ball but it wasn't like a frigid wind so I guess I can't complain
that'd be fun that would just be like an extra challenge like oh where's the ball gonna go and
also we're freezing yeah two challenges all right everyone so we are talking about some
very challenging huh there's the transition some very challenging reading questions today guys
um so we have done a few reading episodes lately and we've noticed just some great feedback from
these episodes so we thought we'd bring you another one today specifically focusing on the
trickiest matching headings to paragraph questions yes this is so tough we did an episode about this
recently and we know you guys struggle with these they are difficult they're difficult for native
English speakers too which we saw recently when we saw how terrible their scores were yeah last year
these are tough for everybody so we're excited to be able to help you with something that we
um a student let us know about something she noticed and this could really trip you up on
test day on the IELTS reading exam so we want to make sure you're aware of this and after today
you're going to be even better prepared for your reading exam completely um to be a hundred percent
prepared though you really should check out our IELTS course because so many of our students have
gotten nines on IELTS reading and that is 100 True look it up guys we have so many students that have
come on the show talking about their reading nines so if you do want to check that out go
to allearsenglish.com k-e-y-s okay so let's get in to this student question and then we will give you
guys the uh advice to not get tricked on test day yeah so this was a student named Gabriella in our
three keys Facebook group so one of our three key students and she found a reading question this was
matching headings to paragraphs where she was able to match the keywords to one of the paragraphs but
then was very surprised to find that it ended up being incorrect when she compared her answers to
the answer key so she shared the question with us like what did I do wrong why didn't this work and
I was immediately able to look at the question and see oh okay the problem was a few tricky
words that indicate reversals so it had sort of the keywords and then there was a however
this is what's accurate and then a phrase at the beginning that shared um it was like it was once
assumed this however this right so when things like this happen we realize oh there's a change
in meaning here so a couple notes about this guys I want to relate this to listening distractors
um on the listening exam IELTS always throws in one or two answers like this where they give you
a keyword that is that you're staring at as an answer as a possible answer but then they have a
negative word around it you know like I don't want to go there tomorrow I um it's not at 8pm and so
students would hear 8 p.m and like Circle 8 P.M instead of tuning into that negative word around
it telling you that is not the answer not at 8pm so this is this is very similar to that right
yes the end really quick we talked very recently about how often when they do this the keywords are
exact it's not like a parallel expression it's not a synonym because they're really trying to
trick you and this was a very good example of that right the keywords in the heading matched
exactly the text right telecommunication maths with telecommunication dispersal in population
matched with population distributions so similar so just like like you said Jessica a lot of
students will just circle that and then not look at those smaller words around it and not realize
oh I'm getting tricked here negative phrases are always keywords okay even in true false not given
yes no not given negative words that are included in those statements those are always keywords
guys they are often the ones that will give you the answer right the no not yet never these are
always important all right and here I'm looking at what the student posted and I see that she only
underline keywords in the first sentence and not the first two lines the three key strategies guys
what we tell you in the course is to look at the first two lines of the paragraph and the last two
lines of the paragraph because matching headings to paragraphs these are main ideas that's where
the answer is found okay the beginning and end but not just the first sentence no the first two
lines because sentences are of different lengths we can't tell you to just look at a sentence yes
and you're right if the student had read the full two lines that however that was really a like
warning warning that there's a reversal here is in that those two lines exactly exactly so let's just
um outline that strategy one more time for you guys and again you'll get the complete system in
the course all earsenglish.com k-e-y-s but here's the thing about matching headings to paragraphs
again their main ideas guys so a majority of them are going to be found in the beginning and end of
the paragraph So we underline the keywords in the first two lines and the last two lines and then
you match those to a heading yes and we also want to share some linking phrases these are the same
linking phrases that you want to be using in your writing essays yeah to get that cohesion coherence
higher you also want to be looking for these on IELTS reading to see oh there's contrasting
information these are indicating a reversal just like the however in this reading question exactly
so guys take out a pen and paper or open your notes app and make note of these guys because
again these are key words these are always keywords yes they're just transition phrases
but they carry all the meaning that will give you the wrong or right answer so first we have however
like we saw in that example and then the it was once assumed now what does that mean it was once
yes so at one time right so examples very similar phrases you might see doctors once thought right
or scientists once believed or in the past it was common knowledge that and we're always here
talking about what once was believed and now what will be shared is what is now believed and that's
what you need to look for yeah exactly so just remember if you see that once it was once thought
doctors once said that word once indicates that this is something that was true in the past and
is not at all true now yes and then with however there are several linking phrases that you these
are twofold they're going to help you in two ways you want to make sure to have them for
your IELTS essays and look for them in reading so nevertheless which means the same as however in
spite of this regardless that being the case right they're all of these have that same meaning of now
we've just shared some information but in spite of that we're going to say something else that
contradicts it yes exactly um and you just did an episode on Ollie's English with some interesting
contrast oh yes we talked about the phrases that being said yes having said that yes that's true
if you guys aren't listening to aller's English there's so much great vocabulary that you could
use on the IELTS exam and that's a really good example Jessica as we were recording doing that
I was thinking I hope our IELTS students are also following this podcast because these phrases are
so useful for IELTS speaking yeah definitely and that is a very recent ollers English episode guys
so definitely check that out and follow all yours English so okay so that being the case that was
the last phrase that you mentioned that is such a high level phrase it is a very formal it is
fantastic for speaking part three writing task two but honestly I would even use it informally
um because it is such a powerful linking phrase right um for example if asked about family in
speaking part one I know we're talking about reading and I'm transitioning to speaking real
fast but it's useful on all of it exactly so um like if you're talking about whether or not you
live close to your family you know um I could say I I do not live close to my parents at all
but that being the case I still try and talk to my mom at least twice a week yes or if you're asked
about your favorite restaurant I could imagine saying something like I stick to the restaurants
I know well that being the case last night we checked out a new Mediterranean spot right such
a good linking phrase and you're right this could be used anywhere on the speaking exam and also in
your essays to get those linking phrases you need definitely and remember even in general
training task one formal letters informal letters doesn't matter every letter has to have linking
phrases and that's something that has forgotten in informal letters a lot and then it's really
hard to get a high score alright so the last two guys that are um synonymous with however on
the other hand and on the contrary so definitely guys if you didn't write all those down go back
and listen again write all those phrases down and practice using them out loud so you can remember
them for test day and the point is of today at least you need to remember to you always focus on
these contrast words in Reading because they are keywords exactly right don't ignore them that's
that's a really good point that you if you're looking in the question for keywords that are
just nouns and you're ignoring these negative words the small words the contrast words you're
going to miss the whole meaning of the paragraph those are also keywords this is vital vital to
know awesome what a great episode I'm excited for students to listen to this share this one with a
friend guy share this one with a friend studying for IELTS they need to hear this definitely
um and remember our online course is always available go to allyersenglish.com k-e-y-s
there is um a course for the computer version for the paper version General academic it's all
there it's all online and we guarantee a score increase I mean if there's nothing to lose so
go to allersenglish.com k-u-i-s awesome thanks Jessica I'll see you next time sorry bye [Music]