Most of students deal with difficulty in finishing the reading section on time. They feel that they have not enough time to complete the test. It happened because they have no sufficient skill to have effective and efficient reading activity. In IELTS reading section, there are four main skills that you need to master for smoothing your flow to complete this section.
The first skill is previewing. You can do some actions which are initiated by studying the passage from its title, heading, illustration, diagram, and any print in bold type or italics. Then, you can study key parts of the passage by skimming. You can start by read the first paragraph as usually it focuses on the main idea. Generally, the first sentence for each paragraph expresses the key points of the paragraph, while the concluding paragraph provides a summary of the passage. To make it easier for you, you could use a pen to highlight these ideas.
The second skill you need to master is interpreting the instructions and questions. It is important for you to read the instruction carefully to make sure that you are fully understand on what is required and in what form. It might seem ‘small’ but very determining to your score. Have a look at the following instruction.
Using no more than three words for each, identify TWO types of women that regularly experience discrimination when seeking private rental accommodation. Write the names of one group in boxes 6 and 7 on your answer sheet.
From the above example, you need to understand that using four or more words will not be acceptable. In some cases, many students know the right answer for the question. However, they make a mistake in picking the right for to express his or her answer. That makes them lose chance to add the score. So, it is true that understanding what is required is as important as finding right answer from the passage.
Source: IELTS to Success Preparation Tips and Practice Test by Eric van Bemmel and Janina Tucker (Melbourne: 1997)
