Top 15 Reading Tips by an Expert IELTS Mentor
Reading module is a challenging module in IELTS for many. When the Academic reading passages are lengthy and based on scientific topics involving complex vocabulary, General Training reading passages are simple to understand but questions are quite confusing. In order to get high band score in IELTS Reading section and to help you overcoming the hurdles you face while attempting reading passages, below are some of the reading tips given by an expert IELTS mentor. Let us learn the important and useful tips on reading module:
1. Keep on Reading to Improve Grasping Power
If you have the habit of reading a number of books or online materials, it will definitely help you a lot in the reading test. If you don’t, you can develop this habit by reading textbooks, magazines, newspapers and articles online. This will help you in grasping the written content in less time and also, you will improve your concentration. For half an hour or so, try reading text on a daily basis as part of your exam preparation.
2. Prepare a Reading Strategy
For your success in exam, it is extremely important that you prepare a reading strategy and implement the same in the exam effectively. There can be a number of reading strategies from which you can adopt the one which works best for you. For example, if you think solving the 3rd section first helps you gain confidence, instead of doing it at last, use this strategy as per your comfort level.
3. Practice Mock Tests
Solve a number of mock tests from Cambridge IELTS books, IELTS websites or other materials shared by your training institute. Always remember that practice is the key to your success in the exam. It can’t be the case at all that you hardly do practice of 1 or 2 reading passages and you can get high band score.
After solving every practice test, you come to know your weak points and silly mistakes. The more you are aware of your mistakes before exam, the better it is for you since you can then avoid them during the exam.
4. Manage Time Effectively
Plan how you are going to divide your time effectively for completing the 3 sections. Prepare a time based reading strategy and practice accordingly. Let’s say, you have 1 hour for your reading test which you can divide as 20 mins each for every section. Keep in mind that time is crucial for success in reading, so do solve the questions with focused mind so that you can complete them all within the time. Also, keep an eye on timer to stay updated how much time you are left with.
5. Stay Concentrated and Focused While Completing a Passage
Concentration is the most important skill that will lead you towards your target band score. Devote time at home for building up your concentration level by reading texts and practicing strictly keeping the timer with you to get the feel of exam. The more focused you are while you read the passages and solve the questions, the more quickly and accurately you are able to solve your answers.
6. Skim the Passage Properly
Skimming is the first major part of the reading test. It is nothing but reading the passage effectively. At the time you read a passage, just try to understand the main ideas of every paragraph you read. Getting a general idea or an overview of each paragraph is what we call meaningful read. One essential tip to skim a paragraph is to keep in mind the first and last line of that paragraph.
7. Underline Keywords
Practically, what is going to help in the reading test is when you underline important keywords in the passage and the questions as well. It is another way of gaining focus using abstract reading that makes you getting closer to find the answer. Some facts, figures, capitalized words etc. are some of the common words that we underline. Also, underline keywords when you read a question and try to find those keywords in the passage to identify the right paragraph that you will refer for finding your answer.
8. Follow the Scanning Process Carefully
After skimming the passage, scanning is the next major element of reading test and this is area that makes the difference when you find out answers correctly. You follow a particular process for scanning; firstly, use keywords from question to locate the right paragraph, read that paragraph to locate the right statement that refers to that question and then read the located statement to find the rights words (keeping in mind the word instruction) as you answer.
9. Always Find Answers in Order
A very basic thing that most of the students are simply unaware about is that your answers follow the same order in the passage as the order of your questions. So, if you have found answer to 3rd question in 2nd paragraph, you would not get answer to 4th question in 1st paragraph, for sure. In almost all the questions, you will find regularity like this, which can be an advantage for you for finding your answers.
10. Understand Paraphrasing and Vocabulary (Guess the Meaning)
Your questions in the reading test are paraphrased which means that different words or synonyms are used in the question. So, not every time you will find the words match with words in the passage. You may have to understand the question and then try to locate the right paragraph by understanding the synonyms. In this case, if you are not aware of the exact meaning of a particular word, even then you can solve the question, merely by understanding the complete statement and guessing the meaning of that complex word.
11. Pay Attention to the Focus of Question
In the question, there is one or the other word that you can consider as the focus of that question. This word will help you find the right answer. You just need to identify this kind of word in the question.
Let’s take an example for this,
Q. What is the major reason why the author did not revert back to his friend?
a. He did not want to continue friendship
b. He found social networking boring
c. He thought it was worthless to speak to him
d. He did not intend to have any negativity again.
Now, here is your paragraph:
Though I am not very fond of Facebook but last night, I just signed into my account and saw that my friend had sent me message on Facebook whether I would like to be in the party or not. After a very long time, I could hear from him for a get together. Last time, we met with each other; there was a huge argument after which I couldn’t get in touch with him. Though I wanted to meet him as well but as I was out of town and did not want to say no to him, I kept mum for a while and replied him after I came back to my place and then we had a grand party together.
The focus in the above question is “major reason”. Though all the reasons are somehow applicable but the major point is the last option as per the underlined statement in the above paragraph.
12. Guess your Answer Grammatically as Well
By looking at the question itself, you can come to know whether the answer would be a noun, adjective, verb, number or a word etc. This will help you a lot in identifying the right answers as grammar plays a very significant role for the same. Also, you can find out whether your answer is to be a singular word or plural word, which is what many of the times found that students are not transferring the answers correctly missing out writing “s” for a plural word.
13. Keep the Instruction in Mind
Word instruction is as important as finding the answer. Let us suppose that your instruction is ONE WORD ONLY but if you have mistakenly written two words as your answer, it would be marked wrong then. So, be careful about the given instruction. It is better to underline the instructions too like keywords.
14. Transfer Answers Carefully
Your answers, in almost all the cases, are to be the same words that you choose from the passage though sometimes you have to change the answer grammatically (for example, changing form of verb). Do not manipulate the answer in any way or do not even write synonym in its place. When you write the exact answer, then only you get the right mark. Also, prefer transferring answers simultaneously or after you complete one section, rather than doing it at the end.
15. Attempt all the Questions
Since there is no negative marking for a wrong answer, it is highly recommended that you should not leave any answer as blank. If you don’t know the answer, guess it rather than leaving blank completely. Who knows what you are guessing comes out to be the right answer. In case of guessed answer, you can mark that question so that you can review it later also if you get time at the end.
If you get confused on a particular question due to nervousness or since you are running out of time, first try to handle it patiently. If it does not work, do not spend too much time solving that single question only. Just guess it and keep on continuing with the rest of the passage.
Comments:
WRITING TASK 1
Dear Mr Tanvir,
Having worked under your supervision for more than 4 years, I have certainly learnt a great deal about our company and my roles as a product development team member. I am writing to show my appreciation and to seek your permission to work in our head office in Sydney, Australia.
Recently, I have come to know about a 6-month program, which is about to start in a few weeks at our company head office, focusing solely on “niche product development techniques” for new recruits. The program may have been designed for the new talents of our company, but I feel like a seasoned employee like me would also be able to benefit a lot from such initiative that doesn’t really come by every now and then.
I have already arranged for a couple of very talented interns to help our team. I have also requested other team members of my team to take the additional responsibilities in my absence, and they all agreed. Moreover, I will be able to communicate and help my team over the phone and emails whenever required.
Now, only if you are kind enough to take the lead in arranging a transfer to the head office by citing my reasons for it to the upper management, should I be able to join the program in due time.
Thank you for your help in advance.
Yours sincerely,
WRITING TASK 2
Many businesses have discovered that new employees often lack the communication skills. This can be attributed to an excessive focus on professional skills in college and a weak foundation in the language since childhood. These issues can be resolved through extensive reforms in the education system.
The primary focus of most colleges and universities is to train students for technical tasks. There are almost no teachers and courses in communication skills since these are considered irrelevant for engineers, accountants, and doctors. Consequently, many fresh graduates have no idea how to communicate with their colleagues. Moreover, the education system from elementary studies to university focus on science and mathematics as these subject are supposed to build careers. Languages, which for the core of communication skills, are considered mere necessary evils that need to be crammed. The students prefer to just pass the exams in English, French, German and Latin and are expected to excel in sciences. This creates a poor foundation for communication skills and most new employees find it impossible to talk to their teammates.
I think this issue can only be resolved through a radical restructuring of the education system. Boards of education, such as the CBSE in India, along with schools and teachers need to inform students and parents about the utility of communication in building strong careers. Moreover, the courses in literature should be made more interactive so that the students abandon the habit of cramming. This can be done through videos and role-plays. Colleges should allocate subjects dedicated to improving the speaking, writing, listening and reading skills of students. They should be encouraged to write letters, essays on contemporary topics.
In conclusion, the problem of poor communication skills has cropped up due to the extreme focus on technical skills and poor foundation in literature. This can be solved through the active collaboration of educational institutions, teachers, parents, and students.
Finding the perfect balance of technical and interpersonal skills are getting difficult these days. Though it is still easier to get people with excellent analytical or technical expertise but finding talent along with interpersonal skills, is a tough task. This essay will discuss the causes of the lack of interpersonal skills and possible solutions to it.
The problem arises when the employee is not passionate about the job he/she is doing. Firstly, it’s essential for an employee to feel the motivation towards the job he is doing, in today’s world, people treat their job as just the source of income. Even the fresh talent doesn’t have that zeal to pursue the career passionately, for them, the job is all about finishing the daily working hours for which they are being paid. Secondly, it also depends on the employers, what efforts they are putting in to motivate their employees. In most of the cases, employees are just bothered about their own business goals rather than thinking about employee benefits, rewards and recognition. In short, to expect better productivity both in terms of technical and interpersonal skills, both employee and employer need to put in equal efforts.
Value for money is decreasing day by day — the young generation demand for what additional an organisation can offer apart from the handsome pay package. The first solution to the problem is to have a proper team building programmes introduced by the human resources department that may involve team outings and team activities to enhance the interpersonal skills of an individual. Studies show that 80% of employee feel more engaged with their work when they have a robust social network in the workplace. The second solution to motivate an employee is to introduce different rewards and recognitions on a different level of employment that can only be achieved via team activities. By doing this, the employer will be able to force their people to develop strong interpersonal skill.
This essay discussed both the causes and solutions of a lack of interpersonal skills in employees. A delicate balance between both the skills can take any organisation to the zenith.
Dear Sandeep,
I have been working as a Sales Capability Manager with Mars Pvt. Ltd since 5 years and, it has been a great learning experience under your supervision.
Recently, I check on our company portal that there is a 6 months project being launched next month on Route To Market expansion at our Head office in Mclean USA. As you are aware, I am looking for a role change and this project will help build my capabilities for my next move.
I have aligned my Peer team members for their help to get my work done, also I will carry my laptop and work remotely. Trust work will not be impacted. Need your help in getting me enrolled for this project.
Thanks
Now a days employers find plenty of fresh employees lack essential abilities and cooperation to work with the team .I believe this process is led my lack of education and incomplete hiring process .This gap can be tackle by academic course and altering hiring standards.
To begin with countless workers lack of ability to work with each others which is cause by school only focusing on academic oriented environment ,As school deprive their chances to learn team work with their class mates .For example when I was in school teachers advice us concentrate only on achievements and do not waste time any thing else. Moreover another factors employers hiring process is depend on employees their grades marks in university. Therefore the education systems and hiring procedure to bring this issue force pupils to pay massive attention to learning books knowledge.
Furthermore to solve this issue to start extracurricular activities in schools for example painting ,dancing ,sports make students to learn basic skills meaning that require team sprit to taking part in activities .For instance taking part in leadership games and public speeches make them confidence and raise leadership quality skills and also improve relationship with team mates and colleague.
The fact is business use different methods to select candidates enquire work experiments as it makes candidates not only focus on books .Thus altering the minority of part from the school system of business hiring process make huge change in new employees.
To summarize due to inadequate educational structure and unsuitable evaluation of new workers ,they lack essentials skills of cooperation .As it can be tackle by improving extracurricular activities and amending the assessment of new employee.
Dear Sir /Madam
I am writing this letter to express interest to have training period of six month in United States head office.
To begin with let me explain to you I have just finished my Microsoft certification theory exam and would like to have practical experience and to get trained in server administration Hence I did some research on internet and it has come to my attention our main branch has ideal location to get training requirement done .
Therefore , I have kindly request you sir to grant permission to get training complete at our head office .Moreover it would be nice if you can arrange training requirements it will be ease to me to transfer the knowledge between our head office staff .
I have trained Mrs .Sameera to cover up my duties until I come back .In addition I will be in loop ,to have close contacts with my clients even though I am working in head office .
I would appreciate your immediate response to this letter and look forward to hearing from you .
your sincerely
Khalid
https://ieltsonlinetests.com/wot/result/writing-practice-test-1-994244
Can you confirm that these essays are worth not less than 7?
(your honest comments are very appreciated)
You work for an international company, and would like to spend six months working in its head office in another country.
Write a letter to your manager. In your letter:
explain why you want to work in the company’s head office for six months
say how your work could be done while you are away
ask for his/her help in arranging it,
You should write at least 150 words.
Dear Sir,
I am writing you this letter to inform you that I am requesting for a work transfer in one of the Head Offices, particularly, in Singapore as soon as possible. This may seem hard for me to move to another location because I have some hectic schedules and loaded meetings with our clients ,Unfortunately, I really need to depart temporarily for only six months due to personal reason.
My husband has been admitted in one of the Hospitals in City of Singapore and it would be likely that he is going stay there in a couple of months until he gets well. Very timely, our Headquarter is nearby the location and so if I render my work there for a half year, I may be able to take care of my husband and visit him in the hospital during my break time and after work.
Since I am away, I can still contact them through a video call to expedite the meeting in order avoid other work conflicts with our customers.
Would you kindly help me on how to settle my request in a shorter period of time as well as advise me what other things you require in order for my work transfer to be approved immediately.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely Yours,
MJ
Social skills are very important not only with friends or family you know, but it is also equally important to make you become a good leader toward your career. However, most of the young peoples are lacked communication skills and we will discuss the causes in this essay.
First of all, in this digital age of the internet, the technology has changed human’s communication method. Most of the young peoples prefer to communicate via technology and this ultimately caused on reducing the interaction within colleagues and friends.
Besides, neither education system in Malaysia nor parents usually pay less attention on the communication’s development of the children. Subjects such as public speaking, interpersonal skill and cooperative skills seldom teach in the schools, and this has caused the negative impacts on confident level among Childs in connection to social skills.
Technology devices should be used moderately, while over depending on technology to the daily life will seriously affected the relationship and miscommunication within peoples. By having physical meeting and increasing number of frequencies of meeting with all the staffs will help to improve these conditions. Some of the corporate even organise certain activities such team building to the staffs to improve the interaction among staffs and encourage communication within them.
Finally, parents and education system equally playing indispensable roles to help on improving young generations’ interpersonal skills. This can be done by providing related subjects as the compulsory to be learned in the school.
In conclusion, social skills are imperative to succeed in career, but this can be solved with time and practice just like others skill.
WRITING TASK 1
Dear Mr. X,
I have been working in your team for last 4 years as a Senior Software Engineer. Over the last 4 years I have learnt many aspects of developing highly scalable systems and you might know I am the only member in your team who passed problem solving certification exam conducted by company.
Yesterday I got an email regarding "Expert Problem Solver Training" sent from company HQ. This training will be started within few weeks and last for 6 months. Employees who are interested must have previous certifications to get a chance for this training and have to stay at company HQ located at Sydney, Australia for next 6 months. As I am eligible based their requirements I am seeking your help to move to HQ and start the training.
I have already informed my team members to take additional responsibilities while I stay abroad. Moreover my plan is to delegate some responsibilities to other team also. My team members agreed to do so. Besides I will support remotely in critical situations.
So, if you are kind enough to arrange my transfer to HQ for the training, it would provide much benefit for my career in this company. I am expecting you will request to upper management about me citing my previous certifications and my interest.
Regards,
Y
Nowadays many youngsters lack interpersonal skills and this has predominantly impacted few businesses. The reason for this may varu from person to person. Some of the reasons for this may be due to their upbringing, language trouble or a trauma that has affted them greatly.
The first reason may be attributed to their upbringing. Parents these days are opting for one child and are not available during their development stages. With many of them working and for late hours, leave their child to tend to itself. With the number of crimes increasing, most parents are not letting their children out in the open. Most of them are confined to the four walls of their homes. Children these days refuse to interact with others and this resonates to them turning into introverts. The second reason can be due to the language barrier. English is the most preferred langauge for bussiness operations. Most the the employeess may not be fluent in English and may develop some kind of a complex. The third reason may be due to a trauma that has wounded someone so deeply that they find it difficult to interact and have a basic conversation with people.
A possible solution would be for schools to include a couple of interpersonal skills in their syllabus. Teachers should be able to identify a child who is finding difficulty in communicating and provide necessary support. Schools should also give assignments which invloves interacting with people. Regular counselling is another way to help identify if there is any problem with the child. Many offices these day also have counsellors who can provide guidance. Companies have mandatory trainings that the employees should partake. Skill development should be made mandatory. Companies can also invite achievers in various field and have them talk about their experience which might help someone. Motivational speeches are said to be effective and might help improve their overall outlook.
The above solutions can be considered to improve communication skills.
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Various organisations analyse that their neophyte workers are deficient with very basic social values those are fundamental to be a good human. These primary virtues defined as milestone for a successful business and better environment. This essay will first discuss diverse causes and then look at most viable solutions to mitigate with this complication.
To initialise with, materialistic approach is the diminishing factor contributing to selfishness irrespective of others situation even when your desire is somebody’s need. Additionally, less socialising activities because of much absorption in technological gadgets and online virtual friends contribute to shortening of moral codes those must for progressive society. Therefore, an attitude of looking own benefits and getting promotions by pressing other’s shoulders is referred as a new cooperative skill by newcomers.
To eradicate this problem from workplaces, the small but necessary steps should be undertaken from the early age of schooling by involving adolescent in different extra-curriculum activities that keep their basic skills of cooperation and teamwork under vigilance. Furthermore, these must include as an indispensable subject to be completed successfully for further study and motivate them to take part in sports activities where a group has to be succeeded for winning like in cricket and soccer that set examples of these values every year.
Conclusively, there is no doubt different sets of interpersonal skills are disappearing in today’s generation but with implementation of proper guidance among newcomers and arrangement of different programs at regular time in business firms can bring stupendous outcomes within corporate world. Moreover, technological sources can be used as a learning method for imbibing these primary codes and practising in real life for betterment and peace of mind.