IELTS Academic Reading

1T/F/NG is facts; Y/N/NG is the writer's view

True / False / Not Given asks whether statements agree with information in the text — facts, dates, quantities, reported events. Yes / No / Not Given asks whether statements agree with the writer's views or claims. The three-way choice looks identical; the stem's wording tells you which frame you are in.

Mixing the frames is a common miss: treating a writer's opinion item as a fact hunt, or looking for a 'True' on a Yes/No set. Read the instruction line before the first statement every time.

Figure. True/False/Not Given tests information in the text. Yes/No/Not Given tests the writer's views or claims. Read the instruction line before the first statement every time.

2False contradicts; Not Given is silent

False (or No) means the statement contradicts what the passage says — the text and the statement cannot both be true. Not Given means the passage neither confirms nor contradicts the statement. Silence is Not Given, even when the claim sounds plausible from general knowledge.

A frequent trap swaps a related but different claim for the one on the page: the text says 'most visited' and the statement says 'oldest'. Related words do not rescue a claim the passage never addresses.

Figure. False/No means the statement and the passage cannot both be true. Not Given means the passage is silent — even when the claim sounds plausible from general knowledge.

Decide T/F/NG (or Y/N/NG)

1. LocateFind the sentence or two that could speak to the statement — scan for synonyms, not identical wording.
2. CompareAsk: does the text support the statement, contradict it, or leave it untouched?
3. Refuse outside knowledgeIf the text is silent, answer Not Given — do not fill the gap with what you know about the topic.

3Match headings to the paragraph's main idea

Matching headings gives more headings than paragraphs; unused headings are deliberate distractors. Each used heading must summarise the paragraph's central point — often signalled by the topic sentence — not a supporting detail, example, or brief aside.

A heading that echoes one sentence about tourism while the paragraph mainly explains bleaching causes is wrong even when every word appears in the text. Prefer the heading that covers what the paragraph is doing as a whole.

Figure. A heading that echoes one tourism sentence while the paragraph mainly explains bleaching is wrong. Prefer the heading that covers what the paragraph is doing as a whole.

Pick a heading

1. Find the jobAsk what the paragraph mainly does — explain a cause, describe a process, contrast two views — in one short phrase of your own.
2. Reject detail matchesCross out headings that fit only an example, a side mention, or a single sentence.
3. Match the wholeChoose the heading whose scope matches your phrase; leave unused headings unused.

4Skim for map, scan for paraphrase

You rarely have time to read every word closely. Skim each passage first for gist and paragraph topics — what each chunk is about — then return to questions and scan for the region that can answer them.

Questions almost never reuse the passage's exact wording. Train the scan on synonyms and paraphrase: if the question says 'decline', the text may say 'fell', 'dropped', or 'decreased'. Exact-string hunting is how candidates run out of time on the wrong paragraph.

Figure. Skim for gist and paragraph topics first, then scan for the region that can answer — questions almost never reuse the passage's exact wording.

Locate an answer

1. Skim the mapNote each paragraph's topic in a word or two before diving into detail questions.
2. Read the questionUnderline the claim or detail you must find — and invent one or two synonyms you might meet in the text.
3. Scan, then read closelyJump to the matching region; read that stretch carefully enough to decide the answer.

5Know the type; use order when it helps

Academic Reading mixes types: multiple choice, T/F/NG and Y/N/NG, matching information/headings/features/sentence endings, sentence and summary/note/table/flow-chart completion, diagram labels, and short answers. Each type has its own instruction line — read it for word limits and whether options may repeat.

For several types — including multiple choice, sentence completion, matching sentence endings, and short answers — questions follow the order of information in the text. When that is true, the next answer lies further on, which shrinks the search window after each find.

Figure. The strip is the passage from start to finish. In a set that follows text order, each answer pins a position: everything left of the question-5 answer is already searched, so the hunt for question 6 starts at that pin and runs right. Every find shrinks the window — that is the whole time saving, and why restarting from the top wastes it.

6Word limits and no extra transfer time

Completion and short-answer items state a word limit such as 'NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER'. Exceeding the limit loses the mark even when the content is right. Hyphenated forms like 'check-in' count as one word; answers must come from the text where the instructions require it.

The Reading hour includes transferring answers to the answer sheet. Unlike Listening, there is no extra transfer time at the end — write on the sheet as you go. Spelling and grammar errors on written answers cost marks.

Figure. Exceeding NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS… loses the mark even when the content is right. The Reading hour already includes transfer — there is no extra ten minutes afterwards.

Protect completion marks

1. Read the limitBefore filling gaps, note the exact word/number ceiling on that set.
2. Take words from the textCopy the allowed form; do not expand into a longer paraphrase that breaks the limit.
3. Transfer as you goWrite answers on the sheet during the 60 minutes — there is no bonus transfer window.