Hi guys! It's Asiya and today I want to share with you results of my research
in one of the trickiest IELTS reading questions which is matching headings.
I know you share my enthusiasm about this type of question because you voted for
this one on my recent video about True False Not Given questions, which I'm
going to link here. Basically what I've done is I've taken the official IELTS practice
tests for the last three years and I've done all questions of this type.
In this video I'm gonna share with you what I've learned and my tips on how to
solve this type of task more easily. Ready? Let's get started!
first of all let me show you how this type of task looks so that's IELTS
practice tests number 14 and the task reads choose the correct heading for
each section from the list of headings below and you see a list of headings
with Roman numbers the numbers are always Roman and then you have a number
of questions at the bottom you need to find a suitable heading for each section
sometimes a section is a paragraph or it may include several paragraphs and you
always have more headings than sections sometimes seven sections and
eight headings or eight sections and nine headings the next big question is
should you do this type of question first or last well both ways work in the
past I prefered to do it last so I would answer all the questions related to this
passage and then by the time I start matching headings I've already read the
whole passage and then I simply match headings it works but then you need to
remember a bit more about what each section of the text was about in order
to find the relevant heading I would say that it makes it a bit more difficult to
answer this type of task but easier to answer all other questions today I
actually prefer to do this type of question first
so I match all the headings and then I start answering all the questions I've
compared both ways and it seems that all in all I finish answering all the
questions related to the section it bit more quickly if I do this question first
whatever way you choose my next tip works for everyone match all the
headings on the question sheet first and then transfer your answers to the answer
sheet let me tell you how I match headings
step by step and then you see if my method works for you okay
first of all I read all the headings I read them quickly just to know what's
there then I read the first section of the passage again I read it quickly I'm
not trying to memorize information I just want to get the general idea of
what it's about if I don't understand anything I don't
concentrate on it but if I see any names dates names of theories which I may need
to unser fill the questions I highlight them straightaway so what I've read the
first section I go back to my headings read them all and she's the one which
matches the first section once of chosing the heading and cross out the
sunset in the list of headings it really helps later if I'm hesitating
between two answers and rather than both number to a number for question mark if
I think that's the answer but I'm not quite certain again I put a question
mark number five question mark and if I can't
find the heading I don't spend too much time on any single question at this
stage I just move on to the next section and it will come back to this question
later so where they found the answer to the first section or not I move on to
the section number two I quickly read it I try to match the heading I read the
section number three and so on once you've finished the first round you've
read the whole passage come back to the questions you couldn't answer if you
were hesitating between two options it's likely that you've already used one of
them for another section so the answer becomes obvious if you have several
unanswered questions you have fewer options to choose from so again it's
easier to pick the correct answer and remember I told you to put question
marks next to any answers you're not quite certain about that's because in
this type of task if you pick an incorrect heading for one section then
you prevent yourself from picking the car
heading for another section but mistakes happen and you just need to try to
rectify them to find them as quickly as possible and that's why I'm telling you
to put question marks so you know which questions you should check the and
that's exactly why I told you earlier that you should match all the headings
on the question sheet first and then transfer your answers to the answer
sheet now let me share with you a couple of things you should pay your attention
to when answering this type of question and then I'm going to show you some
examples okay the first one is if you find exactly the
same words in your heading and in this section of the text then it's long the
correct answer the correct heading would always be paraphrased and the second one
some people say that it's enough to read the first sentence of each paragraph in
order to match headings all the first and the last sentence I can see why
they're saying it in academic writing the first sentence introduces the
paragraph and always often tells you what it's going to be about and the last
sentence summarizes the paragraph however headings are often worded in
such a way that you really need to know that thing right in the middle of the
paragraph in order to find the answer so you have to read the whole text but you
don't need to memorize details to understand every detail just skim the
text in order to get the general idea that would be enough now let me show you
a few examples from book number fourteen passage number three which is the most
difficult passage so I'm going to give you some time to find your answers and
then I'll show you how I found it okay ready
that's Section C please pause the video now to find your answer and then resume
it already the answer is three and the keys are right in the middle of the
paragraph let me show you you're reading writing in the first half
of the 20th century it means early he designed a number of
principles it means recommendations to improve the
efficiency of the work process means business activities and so the heading
is early recommendations concerning business activities let me show you the
next question section D please pause the video now ready I see two main keys the
basic assumptions means fundamental believes and misguided is incorrect when
you're looking for an answer for this type of question you mainly need to rely
on the general understanding of the passage rather than finding paraphrasing
let me show you one more example section number e please pause the video now
ready the correct answer is nine and here you really need to look at the
general idea in order to find the answer a possible key is this one recent
studies suggest means evidence but it's really small you really need to pick
this because a text the usefulness of the process and the benefits it yields
reduce until the point where any further increase in the order reduces
productivity and that means a certain approach can have more disadvantages
than advantages right so how many questions could you answer correctly
leave me a comment and also say what other types of reading questions you find
difficult and don't forget to watch the video about true false not given and yes
no not given questions I found some exciting tips you should know about good
luck with your preparation good luck with your exam bye