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What can you do to prepare for the IELTS reading exam?

•         First, make sure you understand what the passage is about.  Read each paragraph briefly. Stop reading. Try to summarize in your own words. Do this paragraph by paragraph.
•         Skim for main ideas and answers to the WH questions.  Highlight answers.
•         If the author has an opinion –be clear about what it is.
•         Scan for important dates, names and facts – highlight these.
•         Try to look at any vocabulary you don’t know. Guess from the context what the word might mean.
•         Predict the questions 

The types of questions you might have in the reading section are:

•         Reference questions (what does she/he/it/they refer to)
•         Vocabulary
•         Vocabulary – collocations (choose 2 words that mean the same)
•         True, False, Not Given
•         Complete the summary using the vocabulary given
•         Finish the sentence (multiple-choice)
•         Short Answer questions
•         Matching paragraphs with a sentence that BEST summarizes the paragraph 

TIP:     Learning new vocabulary is the most important thing you can do when preparing for the IELTS exam. Make sure you learn words in CONTEXT, you also learn the forms of the words, as well as synonyms (words that mean the same thing) and antonyms (words that have opposite meanings).  Remember, most IELTS reading passages are based on every day, up-to-date issues. It is a good idea to think of several topics TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION, THE ENVIRONMENT and learn words that would fall into those categories. Do the following equation, a new word every day for a year is 365 new words to add to your repertoire! A great effort, one that will be rewarded when it comes to the IELTS reading exam!

Look for some practice exercises coming soon in our new library.