Question 4 in Monday's reading lesson caused some problems because many people fell into the trap of 'overthinking' the answer. They were worried about the precise meaning of the word "infants", and whether it meant the same thing as "pre-school age children".
In the reading test, you shouldn't worry about such precise distinctions. It's enough to recognise that both "infants" and "pre-school age children" are very young children. The answer would be 'false' if the question mentioned "teenagers" or "adolescents" - these are definitely not pre-school ages.
Remember that the people who write these questions rely on paraphrasing and synonyms; it wouldn't really test your English if every question contained the exact words from the passage. If the words have basically the same meaning, don't analyse them any further.
Got it , thanks Simon for the insight
Posted by: Abdul | February 09, 2013 at 09:16
In my opinion I would rather say that questions containing the same words from the passage should be obviously eliminated, as they will be there to trick you.
Am I right Simon?
Posted by: Marilyn | February 09, 2013 at 12:30
hi simon,
have seen your website yesterday and found nice tips to score good band in IELTS. I took the test in India and got a score of L- 8, R- 8, S -6.5, W- 6. but i need 7 in all tests. i am planning to buy e-book. could you please suggest me how to score 7 in writing and speaking.
i have one more question... is it difficult to score good band in UK as now I have to take my exam in UK.
Posted by: anu | February 09, 2013 at 18:09
I absoultely agree with your suggestion but my nephew whose age is 7 and goes to an infants primary school .
Posted by: sabrena | February 09, 2013 at 23:24
Dear IELTSTAKERS,
I would say rather that spending your important time on one question,spend your time preparing as much engligh as you can.
There is always indisputable topic in wolrd.Just leave them and move on.Think about your goal and target.
Try to understand what Simon is saying in this lesson and prepare next thing.
Posted by: Tahir | February 10, 2013 at 11:59
Hi Simon,
I am squint-eyed. I am worried that it will influence my speaking test as the examiner may think I'm not willing to look at him. Could you please give some advice on what to do with my problem? Thanks you.
Posted by: Ann | February 12, 2013 at 14:42
Ann, Simon wrote this about eye contact:
http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2011/09/ielts-speaking-part-2-forget-about-eye-contact.html
Posted by: Mike | February 12, 2013 at 16:09
Thank you, Mike.
Posted by: Ann | February 15, 2013 at 14:10
Hi Simon,
Is it good to avoid repeating words in task 2. for example if the topic is about children watching tv......so everytime i have to think of some alternative word for children or is that fine if i use this word so many times.thanx
Posted by: Sonia | March 26, 2013 at 11:51