To get a good IELTS score, you need to use the kind of language that native speakers might use. This doesn't mean 'difficult words', it means good groups of words (phrases and collocations).
When reading, try to look for phrases that English speakers use. Here's an example paragraph from the Economist Magazine with a few useful words and phrases underlined.
It is always a little disconcerting to realise a generation has grown up never knowing what it was like to manage without something that is taken for granted today. A case in point: the World Wide Web (WWW), which celebrated the 20th anniversary of its introduction last Saturday. It is no exaggeration to say that not since the invention of the printing press has a new media technology altered the way people think, work and play quite so extensively. With the web having been so thoroughly embraced socially, politically and economically, the world has become an entirely different place from what it was just two decades ago.
Also it is important not to forget pronunciation when you use/ learn phrases and collocation for the speaking element of the test. You could learn a hundred such phrases but if the pron is wrong, they may end up doing you more harm than good!
Posted by: WJ | February 24, 2013 at 10:08
From my experience, one should focus on those phrases that find them very frequently in IELTS essays, applying them very often to master them. Some phrases could be used in most essays while the rest are useful in a certain topic.
Posted by: Salamat | February 24, 2013 at 14:28
Hi,Simon
I got 7 in IELTS essays,thanks !Your suggestions are very pragmatic.
best wishes for every one here.
Posted by: natasha | February 25, 2013 at 14:03
Hi, Simon
I cannot understand this sentence below.
"It is no exaggeration to say that not since the invention of the printing press has a new media technology altered the way people think, work and play quite so extensively."
what does "not since" mean?
Posted by: Sam | March 04, 2013 at 06:58
About "not since," it is called "inversion" in English grammar. I suggest you to search the word "inversion" on the web.
Posted by: hajimeville | March 10, 2013 at 17:45
'thoroughly embraced' is adj???
What does it mean, Sir?
thank you so much
Posted by: Thao | June 18, 2016 at 10:29
Hi Simon, I sat my ielts exam recently and for some reason I suffered a thought block during the second task of the wiring section and was unable to develop my main point with supporting points. However, I put a vivid example to support my main point. My introduction was well writeen and so was my conclusion. Do you think I have a good chance of hitting band 7? Sometimes I feel that task 1 hardly helps to boost the score.. I'm so worried..
Posted by: Patricia | February 01, 2020 at 16:27
Hi Simon, I sat my ielts exam recently and for some reason I suffered a thought block during the second task of the wiring section and was unable to develop my main point with supporting points in my second body paragraph. However, I put a vivid example to support my main point. My introduction was well writeen and so was my conclusion. Do you think I have a good chance of hitting band 7? Sometimes I feel that task 1 hardly helps to boost the score.. I'm so worried..
Posted by: Patricia | February 01, 2020 at 16:29
Hi Patricia,
Yes, a 7 is still possible. A good example is just as good as any other type of supporting point.
Posted by: Simon | February 05, 2020 at 13:38