How to Increase Your Score in IELTS Reading
You will have 60 minutes to complete the three passages which contain 2500-3000 words. This is a manageable job to complete all the 40 questions in the given time limit if you are lacking than this article How to Increase Your Score in IELTS Reading? is for you.
Main thing to do is to manage your time in a proper way. So have a look at some tips to do so.
The key is doing well in this part is practice. Read newspaper, magazines and books. Try and improve your reading skills and speed.
It does not test how well you understand the passage. It tests specific skills called scanning and skimming.
1. Scanning – This technique is used when answering questions such as multiple – choice and matching. This technique is used when you know the specific information you looking for and you go down the page quickly to find it for example when looking for a phone in a directory (list). Same way you scan the passage to quickly find the information mentioned in the question. Once you find it, you get the answer from the passage and write it against the question.
2.Skimming – It refers to reading a paragraph quickly to get an idea of what it is about, without trying to understand it’s details. This technique is part of the initial reading (see below). It can be modified (reading a little slower) to answer “provide headings for the paragraphs”, in which paragraph does this information appear in the text? And author’s views type of questions.
Moreover the sections get progressively more difficult. Aim to spend about 15 to 17 minutes on section 1, 20 minutes on section 2 and 23 to 25 minutes on section 3. If possible keeps some spare time to check your answers
Apart from this, tests are taken from magazines, journals, books and newspapers. At least one text contains detailed logical argument. One text contains non-verbal materials such as diagrams graphs or illustrations.
3. You will not understand every word in the passage
Many of my students have been taught to look up every word in a dictionary they don’t understand in a dictionary. The theory behind this is good, a wide vocabulary is key to getting a good score in the IELTS test, but worrying about all the words you don’t understand in the reading exam is one of the worst things you can do.
You don’t have to understand the meaning of every word. Even native speakers- and many IELTS teachers- would not be able to understand all the words in the reading test.
4. Enhance your reading speed.
This test has strict time limit. Which will really challenge your ability to complete the questions in time? You must develop speed reading skills to be able to find the answers quickly.
5. Don’t try to understand the full passage. Your task is to locate the answer only. Most question test your ability to find the specific information given to you.
6. Enhance vocabulary
This is one of the key reasons why students don’t get the score they need. Learn vocabulary is not just about learning the meaning of a word; it is about learning when you can and can’t use a word. It is also about what collocations can be used with words, for example verbs and match nouns. You should write words lists that include common paraphrases and also any problems you had finding the answer. You can do this by learning vocabulary from practice reading passages.
7. Getting used to difficult passages
If you have time before your test you should be widening your reading skills and familiarity of complicated passages on a range of topics.
8. Grammar
Question types such as summary Completion and sentence completion require that the sentence is grammatically correct when you have put the answers in. This means that grammar can help you to spot the right answer.
9. Schedule time to read
Reading is an easy thing to put off because there is often no exact due date. By scheduling a time each week to do your reading for each class, you are more likely to complete the reading as if it were an assignment. Producing a study guide or set of notes from the reading can help to direct your thinking as you read.
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