
GENERAL TRAINING – READING TIPS
The Entire texts are based on the type of reading Materials that
you would be expected to Encountered on a routine / daily Basis in English
Speaking Countries. They are abstractedfrom Newspapers, Books, Leaflets,
Advertisements,Magazines, Researched Base activities. These reading
Passages are easily Understandable and Comprehensive Approach for every Skilled
or non-Skilled audience.
Section 1 contains reading text base on Linguistic Survivals in English. Task_1
that mainly requires Capability to retrieve& provideCommon and General
factual information in the reading section.
Section 2 Reading passage is mainlyFocused on Training Context. Training
Program or Students’ Welfare needs.
Section 3 Reading Passage is involved a Longer Descriptive Text with more
Complex Structures.
The General Training Reading test is 60 minutes long.
There are 3 sections.
Section 1 contains
two or three short factual texts, one of which may be a composite (consisting
of 6-8 short texts related by topic, eg. hotel advertisements). Topics are
relevant to everyday life in an English-speaking country.
Section 2 contains
two short factual texts focusing on work-related issues (eg. applying for jobs,
company policies, pay and conditions)
Section 3 contains
one longer, more complex text on a topic of general interest
Texts are authentic and are taken from notices, advertisements, company
handbooks, books, magazines and newspapers.
Question types
A variety of questions are used, chosen from the following types; multiple
choice, identifying information, identifying writer’s views/claims, matching
information, matching headings, matching features, matching sentence endings,
sentence completion, summary completion, note completion, table completion,
flow-chart completion, diagram label completion, short-answer questions.
Marking
Each correct answer receives 1 mark. Scores out of 40 are converted to the
IELTS 9-band scale. Scores are reported in whole and half bands.
Focus
Focus on the text first, the questions second! A good understanding of the text
helps you answer the questions more efficiently and effectively.
Categorize
IELTS exam writers select a range of specific types of texts. Learning to
recognize the type of text you are reading can help you predict its structure
and therefore understand it more quickly. There are four types of IELTS texts
a) analytic texts, which discuss the reasons why something happened or make
recommendations or explain a concept b) descriptive texts, which describe a
situation, explain how something is done or categories something c) discursive
texts, in which different opinions are expressed about an issue and d)
narrative texts, which explain a chronological sequence of events.
- To improve your performance in the Reading test you need to practice reading a variety of English texts. This will help you develop the ability to read quickly as is required under test conditions.
- The texts included in the Reading test always contain the information you need to answer the question. You won’t have to use your own knowledge of a topic
Scan
Learn to scan. Scanning is what you do when you look for a price in an
advertising text or a name in a telephone book. When you scan you do not
actually need to read the text but move your eyes quickly over it. You can scan
from left to right or right to left, from top to bottom or bottom to top. Do
this to find the location of answers in the texts looking out for easy to spot
words like numbers, dates and words beginning with capital letters such as
place names.
Don’t Panic
Don’t panic when you encounter an unknown or difficult word. IELTS texts are
packed with highly specialized vocabulary. Skip over difficult words which are
not essential for your understanding of the text. For words you do need to
understand, practice trying to guess their meaning using the overall context of
the text and sentence as well as the form of the word – e.g. is it a noun or
verb.
Manage Your Time
Time manage in the exam. Most IELTS candidates run out of time in the third
reading section. Each text should take you roughly 20 minutes (the examiners
will tell you after 20 minutes have passed). Never spend too long on a single
question – guess the answer or leave it to return to later. Also if you feel
you are running out of time, tackle questions like gap-fills before doing “easy
to guess” tasks like YES NO NOT GIVEN questions. Don’t forget you also have to
have all your answers on your mark sheet by the end of the test. A good tip is
to write them on the mark sheet in pencil as you go, correcting where necessary
at the end.