IELTS Reading Test
Introduction and Discussion
Dear students,
In this lesson, I will explain IELTS reading module. IELTS Academic reading and GT Reading both differs in many ways. Their purpose of design, construct, learning outcomes everything is not the same. Academic reading is designed for those students who want to further their education from any institute, or university where English language is being used as a classroom language. Contrary to this, the learning objectives of GT reading is different and this test is designed to access the reading abilities of a person who is interested in getting immigration or work visa in an English speaking country such as Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand or Canada.
Let’s discuss pattern and formation of passages.
In Academic reading test, 40 questions which are divided into three sections are given to the examinee. In the first section the test takers attempt 13 questions, again 13 questions are given in section no 2 and in the last section 14 questions are designed to access the reading skill of the students. Difficulty level increases with the course of test. Means that the difficulty level of second passage is higher than first passage and third passage is the most challenging reading section. Scoring 30 out of 40 means scoring 7 bands and if a candidate scored 35 correct answers it means he scored 8 bands in academic reading.
In General Test, again 40 questions are split into 3 sections but for reading this test is easier than academic test. In GT the participants score 7 bands if they produce 34 correct answers. Time is a factor which makes this assessment more complex and test takers are highly recommended to practice reading test in the given time before appearing in the final examination.
Now let us learn different types of questions
· Fill in the blanks
In comparison to other types of questions, this section is easier. One reason of this ease is the sequence of questions. Questions are often asked in sequence in this part of the test, yet the test takers should have a command on synonyms. Once you find one answer, you can easily get other answers.
· List of heading
It is one of the challenging parts of the reading test. You need to choose the best heading for a passage. One is anticipated to have the ability to dig out the main idea from the given paragraph, attempting one wrong question means losing two questions.
MCQs
Some words are given and you have to find out the best possible answer. Again sound knowledge of vocabulary is required in this part of the reading assessment.
· Yes, No, Not Given or True, False, Not Given
Like list of headings many test takers find these question difficult, and they seem struggling in responding these questions correctly. Methodology of attempting both yes, no, not given; and True, False, not given is the same.
Finding information in the paragraphs
Sometimes you are asked that where the given information is discussed. In this type of questions, you need to elaborate and comprehend the position of the given statement which is not written directly.
One/Two words answer
In some questions, the test participants need to respond correct answers in one word or two words.