When you start reading, you should do so with some questions in mind. Otherwise, you’ll read the text, then the questions, then the text again. You’ll end up reading the texts too many times, and you simply don’t have time for that. Read the tasks and questions first, before you read, and think about the information you need to find to answer those questions while you’re reading.

2. Make use of skimming

Skim read the summary to get a general understanding of what it’s about.

3. Exercise the skill of scanning

Read the summary in more detail and try to predict the type of word needed to fill each gap, e.g. verb, noun, adjective, and what that word might be. Don’t spend too long on this but it will save you time later if you do it.

4. Mark the keywords

Pick out a few key words from the summary to scan for. Names, numbers, places or dates are ideal if there are any in the summary as these will be easy to spot.

4. Put paraphrasing to use

Remember that synonyms could be used. When you’ve made your selection, scan the text for them.