Let me explain about IELTS reading with regards to comprehending the passage and how to deal with long passages that are difficult to understand. The advice below is for the academic reading passages and also passage 3 of the GT paper, which is also a long passage.
I don’t have enough time to answer all questions in IELTS Reading
If you struggle with the time limit in IELTS reading, it is possible that you are not using the right strategies and approach. Many people spend too much time reading all the details in the reading passage instead of winning points by getting answers right. You need to have the right aims when you tackle a reading passage.
Do you need to remember and understanding it all?
Remembering:
How do I remember everything I have read?
The answer is – you don’t. IELTS reading is not about remembering what you have read or what each paragraph contains. First reading the question, then locate the area of the passage where the answer is found. Usually it is only a few sentences. You then check the question again to choose your answer. You don’t need to remember all the passage or even a long paragraph.
Comprehension:
How can I understand everything if the passage is long and difficult?
The answer is – you don’t. IELTS reading is not about understanding everything. It is about locating answers and winning points. Usually, as I said above, the answer is located in an area of the passage so all you need to do is understand those few sentences in the passage that relate to the question.
IELTS Reading Tips for Strategy
Skimming and Scanning Skills
Skimming
When you first get your reading passage, you should skim read it. This means you cast your eyes over the passage to get to know the general topic and content as well as to see the general layout of the passage. This should take less than 2 minutes. If you are spending more than 2 mins skim reading, it means you can’t skimming and need to review your understanding of this skill. You are not aiming to understand it, you just want to see what the passage is about before you tackle the questions. It’s like taking a quick peek before you get to the questions.
Scanning
After you skim read the passage, you go straight to the questions. Pay attention to what type of question type it is and remember your techniques and tips for that particular question type. Find a keyword or information in the question to help you locate the answer. You scan the passage by casting your eyes over the words to locate the key information from the question. This should be done with speed to spot a word or piece of information rather than understand each sentence.
Deciding your Answer
Once you locate the place in the passage that contains the answer, you read the sentences before and after to find your answer. This means you only need to understand those few sentences. Then you move to the next question and do the same. You don’t need to understand the whole passage at all.
Time Management & Winning Points
You have only one hour for the whole reading test including putting all the answers into the computer or onto the answer sheet. You manage this time yourself. You can start where you want, jump questions and jump to different passages.
Each answer is worth only one point and your aim is to get as many points as possible. If you spend a lot of time on one answer, think about its value. Each answer is worth the same so choose how long you want to spend on different questions. And remember you can always leave a question unanswered to come back to it later.
Some questions are easier than others. For example, Matching Headings questions are notorious for taking a long time to answer. So, think about how long you want to spend on those questions.
Make sure you know how many points you need for the band score you are aiming at. Click here: IELTS Band Scores
IELTS Reading Steps
- skim the passage (read quickly to get general content and layout)
- read the questions
- identify the type of question
- remember your techniques and tips for that question type
- find a key word or information in the question to help you locate the answer in the passage
- scan the passage by passing your eyes over the paragraphs to find the key word or information from the question
- when you find the location, read the sentences before and after
- always read around the answer to check other information
- try to understand the few sentences around the location of the answer
- when you find the answer, move to the next question
- don’t spend too long trying to find one answer
- remember that each answer is only worth one point
Question Types
Have a clear strategy for each of the different question types. There are about 14 in total (it depends on how you categorise the question names). So, take a look at the list of question types and make sure you know how to deal with them: IELTS Reading Question Types: Tips and Information
