IELTS 5.5 Reading
Relationships
_
Leisure time
Fame and the media
Food and drink
Education and employment
Consumerism
Natural world
short-answer questions
identify key words in a question
scan a text to find specific information
Don't worry if you don't know a word in the text. You can often guess the meaning by reading the other words in the sentence. And you may not need to know the meaning to answer the questions.
vocabulary
value
(have an) influence
stressed
handled
selfish
gain
proverb (châm ngôn)
appreciate (biết ơn)
believe something is important
(have an) effect (on)
worried; not able to relax
dealt with, had experience of
caring only about yourself and not other people
get (something positive)
a well-known phrase giving advice
be grateful for
Finding information
The instructions tell you how many words you can use
test if you can find the right part of the text quickly and understand the information.
To find information quickly, don't read every word. Don't try to say the words. Move your eyes quickly across and down the text.Use your finger if you find it useful.
have to answer questions using up to three words, or up to two words and/or a number
Before you look for the answer to a question, it helps if you find the key words - the most important words -in the question. This will help you find the information you need.
Example: What do young people often think about older family members?
When you are answering a question
• Decide on the key words in the question and think of words with a similar meaning.
• Move your eyes quickly across and down the text, looking for the key words, or words that mean the same. Don't read every word. This is callled 'scanning'.
• If the text has headings,use them to help you decide which part of the text to look at first.
• When you find a keyword, read the text around it to make sure you have found the right information.
Some grammar words
(e.g. a, the, some) can be omitted in order to get the right number of words
grammar focus
tenses
adverbs of frequency
the present simple tells us about regular events
adverbs of frequency are common with this tense
Places and buildings
Skimming and Scanning a text
recognise paraphrase
practise using the present simple and past simple
vocabulary
igloo (nhà tuyết) 
treehouse 
houseboat 
shipping container homes 
response to sentence completion questions
skimming
scanning
reading the passage quickly, looking for particular information in the text, for example, the answer to a question
reading the passage quickly to get an idea of what it is about (nó nói về cái gì)
steps
Before you look at the questions, read through the passage quickly. Don't spend more than a minute on this.
Skim over (don't spend time on) words like the, they, our, through
Notice the 'content' words, such as nouns and verbs, to get an idea of what the passage is about
read the questions
Scan the passage for the answers. Let your eyes move quickly over text until you see one of the keywords from the question, or words that have a similar meaning.
Read that part of the passage carefully until you find the answer
houseboat
privacy
surrounded by the natural world
permanently
uncomfortable
Sweden, Norway and Finland
homes on the water
not being watched by others
forever, always
having nature all around
not feeling pleasant (hài lòng, dễ chịu)
Nordic countries
have to complete a sentence with up to three words (or two words and/or a number) taken from the passage.
the instructions will tell you how many words you are allowed to use
how to do
- Underline key words from sentences
- Scan the text for the key words or words that mean something similar
- Read the sentences near the key words carefully
- Find the words that seem to fit the sentence
- Check that the meaning of the sentence matches the meaning of the text
- Check the grammar of the completed sentence
- Check if the word(s) should be singular or plural
- Check that you have used the correct number of words
housing shortage (thiếu nhà ở) = the lack of houses
reindeer skins (da tuần lộc)
As part of your first quick look at the passage, identify whether it is written mainly in the past, present or future, and if the tense changes. This may help you understand the passage
identify the main ideas of a passage
deal with multiple-choice questions
vocabulary
work
studies
office
employers
job
business
academic
blended (hybrid) learning
lifelong learning
degree
retirement
seminars
primary education
qualification
rəˈtī(ə)rmənt
sự nghỉ hưu
jäb
công việc
ˈôfis
văn phòng
əmˈploiər
người sử dụng lao động
ˈbiznəs
việc kinh doanh
ˌkwäləfəˈkāSH(ə)n
bằng cấp, năng lực
ˈprīˌmerē
dəˈɡrē
bằng cấp
giáo dục tiểu học
ˈhīˌbrid
học tập hỗn hợp
ˈlīfˌlôNG
học tập suốt đời
ˈseməˌnär
hội thảo, chuyên đề, thuyết trình
ˌakəˈdemik
học thuật, hàn lâm
have to choose the correct answer from four options: A, B, C, D.
will not have time to read the whole passage in detail
need to quickly find the part of the text that contains the answer
how to handle
First, skim the text (read it very quickly) so you know what it is about
Next, look at the main part of the questions (NOT the options A, B, C, D) and decide which words will help you find the answer. There are the 'key' words.
Then, read the text again quickly. This time you are only looking for the key words or words which mean the same. That is the part of text where the answer is.
looking for words with similar meanings
vocabulary
benefits
abroad
Sometimes the words in the text are the same as the key words in the question, for example the technical term 'blended learning'
Sometimes the words in the text are different to the key words, but they mean something similar.
When you are looking for the key words in the text, it is important to look for words, or groups of words, that mean the same. We call these paraphrase
disturbing
going to
make better
useful
workplaces
advantages (thuận lợi, ưu điểm)
overseas (hải ngoại, nước ngoài)
enrich (làm giàu, phong phú)
attending (tham dự)
valuable (có giá trị)
offices (văn phòng)
disrupting (phá rối)
Questions often relate to the main ideas of the passage. It is therefore important that you are able to identify them.
Read the first paragraph and the first sentence of every other paragraph, as this is where the main ideas can usually be found.
another way to do
Identify the key words (the most important words) in the question
Find the part of the passage that gives the answer
Try to answer the question yourself
Look at the options and find the one that matches your answer
how to do exam skils
Read ( skim) the text very quickly so you understand what it is about.
Read the main part of the questions and fin the key words ( the words that will help you find the answer in the passage)
Find the options, A, B, C or D, that matches your answer
Find the key words or words that mean the same in the passage
Try to answer the questions without looking at the options A-D
Check that the other options are incorrect
vocabulary
countable
uncountable
burger - ˈbərɡər
cereal - ˈsirēəl
chips
noodle - ˈno͞odl
vegetable - ˈvejtəb(ə)l
chicken - ˈCHikən
curry - ˈkərē
fish - fiSH
mashed potato - maSHt pəˈtādō
rice - rīs
salad - ˈsaləd
toast - tōst
rau
khoai tây chiên
bánh mì kẹp thịt
bún
nướng
xà lách, món rau trộn
cà ri
ngũ cốc
gà
cá
khoai tây nghiền
cơm
locating information in a text
Some questions require you to find very specific information quickly.
sentence completion
to answer some questions, you need to recognise paraphrase
Being able to locate information quickly will help you in questions where you need to find a suitable word to complete a sentence
matching headings
paraphrase
grammar --> future forms
overview
tests your ability to summarise and understand the main idea of a paragraph
you are given a list of headings (more than the number of paragraphs) and you must choose a suitable heading for each paragraph
to match headings
need to able to find the main idea of a paragraph
can usually find one sentence that sums up the main idea
this is the topic sentences
the topic sentence is often, but not always, the first sentence in a paragraph, so that is the first place to look
the headings you have to match will be a paraphrase of the main idea of the paragraph
Don't expect the same words to be used in the headings and the passage
the headings may contain
synonyms
antonyms
paraphrase
words which mean the opposite
as you prepare for your exam
make a list of synonyms in your notebook
knowing different ways to say things is one of the key skills in IELTS
will + infinitive
going to + infinitive
is used when there is a link to present
for example if something is already planned or a change has started
is used for prediction
something the writer believes about the feature. It does not have to be based on the present evidence
Mall owners are going to need to think of new ideas to remain in business
--> We see from the text that many malls have already started thinking of new ideas.
The mall will go from strength to strength (ngày càng tốt hơn) --> this is the writer's prediction or belief (bəˈlēf - niềm tin) about the feature
vocabulary
activites
buy clothes - mua áo quần
go climbing (ˈklīmiNG) - đi leo núi
have a snack - ăn một bữa ăn nhẹ
see a film - xem một bộ phim
buy or rent an apartment - mua hoặc thuê một căn hộ
go in a hot air balloon (bəˈlo͞on) - đi khinh khí cầu
have a beauty treatment - có một liệu pháp làm đẹp
ski - trượt tuyết
see an art exhibition (ˌeksəˈbiSH(ə)n) - xem một cuộc triển lãm nghệ thuật
check your health - kiểm tra sức khoẻ
have an expensive meal - ăn một bữa ăn đắt tiền
see plants and trees - xem cây cối
phrases
innovate (ˈinəˌvāt - đổi mới)
stay alive
expanding
improving
natural world
city center
downtown
environment
becoming better
becoming bigger
remain in business
think of new ideas
true / false / not given
answers
not given - there is nothing in the passage to indicate if it is true or false
true - it agrees with the information in the passage
overview
false - it does not agree with the information in the passage - it says the opposite, or something different
- you must give your answer only according to what is in the passage
- you must not use your own knowledge about the topic
the questions are in the same order as the information in the text
tips
must scan the text to find the information as quickly as possible, as you also need time to read a few sentences in detail
don't waste time going through the whole passage to find the information. Not Given answers will relate to one part of the text. Once you have read the relevant part in detail, if you can't find the information, choose Not Given
summary completion
overview
have to choose words to complete a summary of the text, or part of the text.
sometimes the instructions tell you to choose words from the passage to fill the gaps
sometimes you are given words in a box and you have to choose the correct ones
example: I you have had enough of the ordinary sports people play, you can try a number of 1... new sports.
- Notice that gap1 is followed by an adj (new) and a noun (sports).
- This tells you that the word you need could be an adverb or an adjective.
- There are adjectives in the box, but no adverbs.
- The adjective are boring and strange
- A writer is unlikely to suggest boring sports.
- The answer is strange. This matches what the text says
vocabulary
- hockey - ˈhäkē - khúc côn cầu
- volleyball - ˈvälēˌbôl - bóng chuyền
- baseball - ˈbāsˌbôl - bóng chày
- rugby - ˈrəɡbē - bóng bầu dục
- basketball - ˈbaskətˌbôl - bóng rổ
- martial arts - ˈˌmärSHəl ˈärts - võ thuật
exam skills
Be careful of words like some, often, occasionally that change the meaning of a sentence.
-> For example, some sports does not mean the same as many sports
- Read the whole summary first
- Decide what type of word is needed for each gap.
- Make a prediction before looking at the words given
- Remember that there are more words than gaps
- Read the sentence, checking for grammar and meaning
Matching features
overview
- you get a list of people, places or things and a list of sentences
- you need to match each sentence with a person/places/thing
the questions will not be in the same order as the passage but the options e.g. people/ place will be in text order. You will need to jump around the passage a bit rather than (thay vì) reading it from beginning to end.
tips
only use information from the passage to answer the question, even if you think some information in the passage is correct.
- Scan the text for the list of things. If possible, underline them.
- Find the key words in sentences and underline them.
- Find every time the thing (e.g. Youtube) is mentioned in the passage. Read all the information about it.
Identifying the writer's views
overview
tests your ability to decide if statements represent the writer's views. The views will be not be stated directly.
tips
When you have found the part of the text which contains the answer, read every word carefully. Sometimes a small word can change the meaning completely. For example, if the writer says people are too friendly, the positive adjective 'friendly' become negative.
You should be able to tell from the statement which part of the text to read in order to find the answer. If you can't answer Yes or No for that part of the text, the answer is Not Given. You do not need to continue searching in the rest of the text.
- Read each statement carefully. The statements come in the order of the text.
- Sometimes you will need to read the whole passage quickly to decide; for other statements you only need to read a sentence or two.
- Remember the statement might not use exactly the same words as in the passage.
Grammar: first conditional
If you want to become known on Twitter, you will need to post lots of entertaining content.
--> two clauses
the if clause is in the present tense.
the result clause has will / won't + infinitive
Notes completion
overview
tips
- The notes usually only relate to one part of the passage.
- Find the correct part and read it in detail.
- The information in the notes may not be in the same order as in the passage
Matching sentence endings
overview
- There are more sentence endings than you need.
- In this question type you are given in the first part of some sentences.
- You have to choose the correct ending from a list
tips
- Read the sentence beginning carefully.
- Find the key words and think of some similar words for them.
- Find the part of the text where the answer is.
- Read the sentences carefully, looking out for the key words or similar words.
- Remember the information may be presented in a different order from the question.
- Try to complete the sentence in your own words.
- Check the list and find an ending that similar to yours.
- Check that the completed sentence is grammatical and that the meaning matches the text.
- If the answer is a noun, check that you have used the correct form: singular or plural.
Don't be tricked by endings that have words and phrases from the text in them. It doesn't mean the ending is correct.
grammar: modals of possibility and ability
- the modals can and could are used to talk about ability in the present and past.
- Dolphins can tell when a woman is pregnant.
- Yang fun found she couldn't move her legs due to the freezing temperatures.
- Modal verbs may, might and could are used when something is possible but not certain:
- Expert think dolphins may understand that humans are similar to them.
- Read the instructions carefully. Check how many words you can use. Do the words need to come from the passage or from a box of words that you are given?
- Read the notes carefully
- Think of similar words to the key words in the notes
- Decide what kind of word is needed in the gap. Use clues like prepositions (in, from) and articles (a, an , the)
- Find the relevant part of the passage. Look out for the similar words you noted earlier.
- Find a word or words that seem to fit.
- Read the notes carefully with your words added.
- Make sure that the completed notes match the meaning of the passage and that your words match the grammar of the sentences.
vocabulary
similar meaning
opposite (ˈäpəzət ) meaning
- conservation (ˌkänsərˈvāSH(ə)n - sự bảo tồn) - protection
- group of dolphins (ˈdälfəns - cá heo ) - pod (đàn cá heo)
- automatic - instinctive (inˈstiNG(k)tiv - thuộc về bản năng)
- against the killing of (chống lại sự giết hại của) - for the protection of (để bảo vệ)
- came to his rescue (ˈreskyo͞o - đến để giải cứu anh ấy) - saved the life of (đã cứu sống)
- predator (ˈpredədər - động vật ăn thịt) - prey (prā - con mồi)
- survive ( sərˈvīv - sống sót)- die