IELTS Reading Tips: How to Manage Your Time
Time management is very essential in the reading test because in this test there are 3 long passages and you have to locate and answer 40 questions. Time allowed to complete the task is just 60 minutes so if the candidate mismanage even few seconds it becomes very difficult to complete the task in the given time. If you want to get good scores in IELTS Reading than you must know how to manage your time. Today we will discuss some tips by which you can learn the time management skills. To know more about Reading module click here.
1. Don’t read slowly
What happens to a lot of students is they read word for word. Sometime, they see words which are difficult to pronounce. So they always stuck on that and consume too much time on understanding that. You don’t have to understand everything that is given in the passage if you don’t know a word that’s fine as it is not an issue. If you think that answer is related to that single word than try to understand the word by guessing its meaning by reading the whole sentence.
Otherwise in the whole test its better thing to use skills such as skimming which means you quickly read for the main idea or scanning means you look for keywords or you look for specific detail rather than to read slowly. Lot of students read the questions first then they will read the passage as by this way, they know what they are looking for and there are other students who like to read the passage first and then answer the questions as they find it easier. So, there is no hard and fast rule for this just try to use one of them in which you feel comfortable and you think can save your time.
2. Don’t spend too much time on each question
Some of the questions are difficult and consume more time as you don’t get the answer despite of reading the passage again and again. Well, the problem arises when you spend a lot of time on one question as this will consume your valuable time and the chances of answering all the 40 questions in one hour reduces which means that you will leave some questions at the end.
To solve this, try to read a question and figure out the answer if you don’t find it you should leave it making star beside it so that you can easily identify the left one to come back at the end of the test. If you doesn’t find the answer anyway make a guess but don’t leave any question unanswered as there is no negative marking in IELTS.
3. Transfer your answer quickly when you find it
It is very important to transfer the answers on the answer sheet as soon as you find it as in Reading you will not get any extra time to transfer you answers. A lot of students, work through the booklet and at the end they realize there is no time to transfer the answers. So make sure that you write the answers directly on the answer sheet.
4. Pay attention to the introduction and conclusion
Most of the time the author’s point of view is often expressed in the introduction and conclusion. You can answer most questions correctly when you read these two sections of the reading passage. Skim through the body of the passage after you thoroughly go through the introduction and conclusion.
Hope this piece of writing will help in increasing your scores.
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