IELTS Simon

IELTS Reading: paraphrasing practice

Let's look at some examples of paraphrasing, using the text below.

What is an 'elevator pitch'?

An “elevator pitch” is an overview of a product, service, person, group, organisation or project, and is often part of a fund-raising, marketing, brand or public relations program. The name "elevator pitch" reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver a short but effective presentation in the time span of an elevator ride from the ground floor to the directors’ boardroom on the top floor of a building.

An elevator pitch is often used by an entrepreneur pitching an idea to an investor to receive funding. Venture capitalists often ask entrepreneurs to give an elevator pitch in order to quickly weed out bad ideas and weak teams. Other uses include job interviewing, dating and professional services. Proposals for books, screenplays, blogs and other forms of publishing are often delivered via an elevator pitch, which may be presented in oral, written or video formats.

Which words or phrases in the passage are similar to those below?

1. a summary
2. succinct
3. gain financial backing
4. eliminate
5. spoken

IELTS Reading: vocabulary review

Let's review some vocabulary from the last few reading exercises that I've published here on the blog.

Would you have been able to match the keywords below?

IELTS Reading: instead of skimming and scanning

Many teachers and books talk about skimming and scanning as key techniques for IELTS reading.

I have stopped using the words 'skimming' and 'scanning' in my lessons because I find that they confuse students. In fact, many students get the wrong answers because they 'skim' too quickly and miss the words that they are looking for.

So, forget 'skimming' and 'scanning' and focus on 'finding' and 'understanding'.

1. Finding: read the text to find words from the question.
2. Understanding: when you have found some key words from the question, read that part of the text carefully in order to understand it and get the right answer.

IELTS Reading and Listening scores

Students often ask how many correct answers they need (out of 40) to get a band score of 7 in the reading and listening tests.

According to official IELTS guidelines for academic* reading and listening:

• Band 6 is about 23 out of 40
• Band 7 is about 30
• Band 8 is about 35

Note:
The score needed for each band can change depending on the difficulty of each test. If you have a really difficult test, the score needed for band 7 might be 28 or 29. If the test is easier, you might need to score 31 or 32 to get a 7. Click here to see the banding guide on the official IELTS website.

*General reading is scored differently.

IELTS Reading: gap-fill

A student asked me for help with this exercise from Cambridge IELTS 14.

Here's the relevant part of the passage:

There are even more insects that are masters of exploiting filthy habitats, such as faeces and carcasses, where they are regularly challenged by thousands of microorganisms. These insects have many antimicrobial compounds for dealing with pathogenic bacteria and fungi, suggesting that there is certainly potential to find many compounds that can serve as or inspire new antibiotics.

Choose ONE WORD from the passage to fill each gap below.

They are also interested in compounds which insects use to protect themselves from pathogenic bacteria and fungi found in their _____. Piper hopes that these substances will be useful in the development of drugs such as _____.

IELTS Reading: read better, not faster

Many students worry that they read too slowly, and they ask me for advice about reading faster. These students are surprised when I tell them that it might be better to slow down and read "better" rather than faster.

If you read too quickly, or if you try to find the answers by skimming and scanning, you probably won't fully understand what you're reading, and you might miss the answers that you're searching for. On the other hand, if you read at normal speed, you're more likely to understand what you're reading, and you'll have plenty of time to find the answers.

If you struggle to finish all 40 questions in one hour, it's probably because you didn't understand the passage well enough, not because you didn't read it fast enough. So, you need to analyse your mistakes and look up the words and phrases that you didn't understand. In other words, work on becoming a better reader, not a faster reader.

IELTS Reading: finding enjoyment in reading

Last Monday I tried to persuade you that your reading will improve more quickly if you read things in English that you enjoy.

If you see reading as a boring chore, you're going to have a hard time improving. You need to find real enjoyment in reading; then it becomes easy.

So, let me ask you a question: Are you currently reading something enjoyable or fascinating in English? Let me know in the 'comments' area below.

IELTS Reading: examples of true, false, not given

Here are some good examples of true, false, not given. Can you explain the three answers below?
(from test 4, passage 2 in Cambridge IELTS 14)

1. TRUE

Question: An animal is likely to live longer in a zoo than in the wild.
Passage: The average captive animal will have a greater life expectancy compared with its wild counterpart.

2. FALSE

Question: Zoos have always excelled at transmitting information about animals to the public.
Passage: ...communicate information to visitors about the animals... This was an area where zoos used to be lacking.

3. NOT GIVEN

Question: Improvements in the quality of TV wildlife documentaries have resulted in increased numbers of zoo visitors.
Passage: It is true that television documentaries are becoming ever more detailed and impressive.

IELTS Reading: keywords again!

Here's a table showing the key vocabulary from the four most recent IELTS reading exercises on this blog.

Note: Did you know the word 'introspective'? The noun 'introspection' is a word that I like.

IELTS Reading: prove why the answers are correct

In this lesson I suggested a different way to practise: get the correct answers from the back of the book, and try to prove why they are correct.

Here's an example reading passage:

Behaviourism is a systematic approach to understanding the behaviour of humans and other animals. During the first half of the twentieth century, John B. Watson devised methodological behaviourism, which rejected introspective methods and sought to understand behaviour by only measuring observable behaviours and events.

It was not until the 1930s that B. F. Skinner suggested that private events—including thoughts and feelings—should be subjected to the same controlling variables as observable behaviour. This approach became the basis for his philosophy called "radical behaviourism”. While Watson and Ivan Pavlov investigated the stimulus-response procedures of classical conditioning, Skinner assessed the controlling nature of consequences and also their potential effect on the antecedents of behaviour; the technique became known as operant conditioning.

Now look at the 'true, false, not given' statements and correct answers below. Can you explain why each answer is correct?

1. Watson measured both visible behaviour and hidden emotions. (FALSE)
2. Skinner’s approach differed from that of Watson and Pavlov in that he went beyond the strictly observable. (TRUE)

IELTS Reading: keep a record of key vocabulary

Whenever you do a practice reading test, keep a record of the key vocabulary i.e. the words and phrases that gave you the answers.

Here's a 'keyword' table with vocabulary from the three most recent reading exercises here on the blog.

If you have a vocabulary notebook (which is a good idea), add the phrases above.

IELTS Reading: problems with Cambridge 14 answers

A few people have asked me about the answers given at the back of Cambridge 14. It seems that some alternative answers have not been listed.

For example, a student called Haley asked me about the following questions, from test 1 in Cambridge IELTS 14 (General Training):

Q19. What do visitors need to show when parking?
I answered 'prearranged permits' but the answer key says 'permits'

Q20. Where can the nursery pick-up point be found?
I answered 'outside Concorde Building' but the answer key says 'Concorde Building'

Q27. What are Sure Smart Maternity Payments?
I answered 'individual grants' but the answer key says 'grants'

Would Haley's answers be correct? The answer is yes - all three answers are perfectly fine. The words 'prearranged', 'outside' and 'individual' are not necessary, but they certainly don't make the answers wrong.

IELTS Reading: why isn't my score improving?

A student emailed me the other day, asking me to explain why his reading score was stuck at 5.5.

I had never met the student, so I could only offer general advice. Here's what I wrote in my response to his email:

The first step towards making an improvement is to understand what you're doing wrong. So, you need to analyse what's happening when you do reading tests. Here are some questions that you could ask yourself:

• Do you finish all 40 questions?
• Do you find one type of question very difficult?
• Are you reading too slowly, or maybe too quickly?
• Are you following all of the advice that I gave in this lesson?
• Are you doing realistic practice tests using the Cambridge books?
• What scores do you get when you do practice tests?
• What problems do you notice when you do practice tests?

Try to work out what is going wrong, and then I'll be able to give you better advice.

IELTS Reading: read phrase by phrase

People who read too quickly in the IELTS test often miss the answers. If you go too fast, you won't really understand what you're reading, and you'll start to panic when you don't find what you're looking for.

On the other hand, some people read too slowly; they read each word as if it were a separate item on the page. These people tend not to finish the test.

Instead of skimming too quickly or reading each word slowly, I recommend that you read phrase by phrase. For example, read the first sentence of this lesson as three phrases:

People who read too quickly .....  in the IELTS test ..... often miss the answers.

Try to get into the habit of reading phrase by phrase. You should find that you can go at a reasonable speed and that you'll understand (almost) everything.

IELTS Reading: a review of this blog

For today's reading practice, I thought you might like to read a review of this website. It appeared in the latest issue of the English Australia Journal.

To go straight to the review, click here. I particularly like the reviewer's comments about my IELTS writing lessons in the fourth paragraph!

The review is full of useful English phrases. Note them down if you have time.

IELTS Reading: more keywords

Here's another vocabulary table showing keywords from recent reading exercises here on the blog.

Quick question: What does 'sound' mean, in the context of the penultimate (second from bottom) row of the table?

IELTS Reading: useful question about keywords

A student asked me about the following question from Cambridge IELTS 9. The student was confused about whether 'amount' was a good synonym for 'rate'. How do you think I resolved this confusion? And what is the correct answer to the question?

Question (true, false or not given?)
The amount of information that can be sent in a given time period is determined with reference to the signal strength and noise level.

Relevant part of the passage:
In particular, Shannon showed that noise set a limit on the rate at which information can pass along communication channels while remaining error-free. This rate depends on the relative strength of signal and noise traveling down the communication channel and on its capacity (its "bandwidth").

IELTS Reading: when are the answers in order?

For the following question types, the answers are usually (almost always) in order in the passage:

1. All types of gap-fill (sentences, summaries, diagrams etc.)
2. True, false, not given
3. Yes, no, not given
4. Multiple choice
5. Matching sentence endings
6. 'Short answer' questions

However, answers to the following question types are never in order:

1. Matching paragraph headings
2. Which paragraph contains the information?
3. Matching names with statements or information

IELTS Reading: a tricky question

Here's a tricky question from Cambridge IELTS 11 (General test 3). What answer would you choose, and why?

Question statement (true, false or not given?):
Bus drivers do not give change so you must have the correct money for a ticket.

What the passage says:
Buy your bus ticket from the bus driver, with the correct money if possible.

IELTS Reading Advice: reading aims and habits

Yesterday I gave some advice about having the right aims. When you have an aim, the next step is to think about how to achieve it. You'll need to create work habits that take you in the right direction.

Assuming that your general aim is to get a higher score in the IELTS reading test, here are some questions regarding specific aims and habits:

• How can we break the general aim (improve my reading) into more specific, focused aims?
• What do you do each day to work on your reading?
• How could you improve these daily reading habits?

IELTS Reading: another keyword review

Here are some of the keywords from recent exercises here on the blog:

IELTS Reading: 9 ways to use practice tests

Here are 9 different ways to use practice reading tests.

1. Do a full one-hour test to see what score you get.
2. Do a full test with no time limit (or a longer time limit, like 2 hours).
3. Do just one reading passage in 20 minutes.
4. Do one reading passage with no time limit (or longer than 20 minutes).
5. Work on a particular type of question only e.g. true, false, not given.
6. Do tests with the help of a dictionary, and see if that helps you score.
7. Simply read a full passage and see what you understand. Don't do the questions.
8. Get the answers from the back of the book, and try to prove why they are correct.
9. Make vocabulary lists and 'keyword' tables.

Instead of just testing yourself, try to use practice tests in a variety of ways. This will make your study time less boring, and you'll probably learn more. Maybe you can think of other creative ways to use practice tests.

IELTS Reading: keyword review

The table below shows keywords from the last five reading exercises here on the blog.

Are you familiar with the following words / phrases?

- to undermine
- cutting-edge (adjective)
- to herald
- to lengthen / stretch out / draw out
- to emphasise / over-articulate / exaggerate

IELTS Reading: examples from Cambridge 13

Here's an excerpt from reading test 1, passage 1 in Cambridge IELTS 13:

Tourism New Zealand website

On the website, visitors can search for activities not solely by geographical location, but also by the particular nature of the activity. This is important as research shows that activities are the key driver of visitor satisfaction, contributing 74% to visitor satisfaction, while transport and accommodation account for the remaining 26%. The more activities that visitors undertake, the more satisfied they will be. It has also been found that visitors enjoy cultural activities most when they are interactive, such as visiting a marae (meeting ground) to learn about traditional Maori life.

Are the following statements true, false or not given?

1. It was found that most visitors started searching on the website by geographical location.
2. According to research, 26% of visitor satisfaction is related to their accommodation.
3. Visitors to New Zealand like to become involved in the local culture.

IELTS Reading: more keywords

Here's a table showing the key vocabulary from the last few reading lessons here on the blog.

IELTS Reading: I can't read fast enough!

If you believe that you can't read fast enough, you've got the wrong idea about how to improve your reading score.

The key to IELTS reading is to learn to read better, not faster.

Reading better means that you understand what you are reading, and that you notice straight away when you reach the part of the passage that contains the answer. If you read too quickly, you'll probably miss the answer and waste time going back to look for it.

Note: If you really are a very slow reader (when reading English), this is probably because your overall level of English is low. In other words, you're at beginner to intermediate level at the moment, and you have to think about every word as you read. This is a normal stage in language learning, and you shouldn't rush to read more quickly.

IELTS Reading: 3 study tips

Here are 3 study tips to help you improve your reading:

1. The best way to get better at the reading test is by doing more reading. Do as many practice tests as you can, and read other things e.g. books, newspapers and online articles.
2. Try doing a reading test without a time limit, and with a dictionary. If you still can't get the score you need, you'll need to look carefully at what you are doing wrong.
3. Spend time analysing your mistakes and the correct answers. If you don't understand why an answer was right or wrong, ask a teacher to help you. You'll improve more quickly if you learn from your mistakes.

IELTS Reading: it's all about the paraphrasing!

There were some great examples of paraphrasing in the 'which paragraph?' exercise that I shared in last Monday's lesson.

Here's a table showing the key phrases:

AI = artificial intelligence

IELTS Reading: which books to use

If you want to do some realistic IELTS reading practice, the only books that I recommend are Cambridge IELTS books and the two 'Official Practice Materials' books.

Here are some problems that I've seen in other 'unofficial' books:

• Tests can be too easy or too difficult.
• Topics may be covered that would never appear in a real test. For example, a passage about the politics of a particular country would not be used in a real test.
• The answers in the passage might not be in order. In real tests, answers to most question types are almost always in order.
• Questions are badly written and confusing.

You can still use unofficial books for reading practice. Just don't expect the tests in them to be realistic.

IELTS Reading: another keyword table

Here's a table of key vocabulary from the last five or six reading exercises here on the blog.

Remember: The aim of these tables is to highlight paraphrasing. The more you practise recognising paraphrasing, the better you'll get at the IELTS reading test.

IELTS Reading: 'keyword technique' steps

I often talk about the "keyword technique" in my reading lessons. But the "keyword technique" isn't special; it's just a convenient name that I use. Here's what I mean when I use this name:

1. Read the first question and underline "keywords". These are the words that you think you will need to search for in the passage. They are the words that communicate the meaning of the question: normally nouns, verbs and adjectives.
2. Read the passage at normal speed from the beginning. Look out for the keywords from the question, or any words which have a similar meaning (look for synonyms and paraphrasing).
3. Underline the keywords that you find in the passage.
4. Read the sentences around those keywords carefully. You may need to read them several times.
5. Check back to the question, and compare it with the relevant part of the passage.
6. Decide on the answer.

Note: The main point of the "keyword technique" is that you have some specific words to look for in the passage. But remember: Locating the answer is just the first step. The second step is reading carefully, making sure you understand what you are reading, and comparing with the question.

To see me use the "keyword technique" in a quick video lesson, click here.