How to prepare for the reading test?
Here are a few tips to improve your band score in the IELTS Reading module.
Make notes
During the IELTS test, you can make notes on the question booklets. And because the examiners will not take a look at them, you don’t have to worry about them being in bad English. Therefore during the examination, you should make notes and circle or underline important words. In other words you can try everything that would help you to understand the text better.
Try to predict what you are going to read
Read the titles and subheadings carefully. They contain important information about the passage. In most cases they will help you predict what you are going to read.
Study the keywords
Take a look at the questions and try to identify the keywords in them. While reading the passage, look for these keywords or synonymous expressions. The answers may be in the text surrounding them.
Skim actively
While reading the text, don’t worry about the words you don’t understand. Remember that you don’t have to understand every word in the text in order to answer the questions. What is important is to get an overall impression of the text. Read the first sentence of every paragraph carefully. They usually provide an overview of the text. Try to figure out the meaning of unknown words using context. This is usually possible.
Keep an eye on the watch
The IELTS reading test takes about 60 minutes. You have to transfer your answers to the answer sheet during those 60 minutes itself. If you can’t answer a question, don’t waste time on it. Skip it and go to the next question. Before you skip a question, mark it with some sort of a symbol. Try to finish the easiest questions first. Do not spend more than 20 minutes on each passage.
