Name the IELTS Reading question type before you read the passage
Every question type announces itself in its instructions. A wording to type to first move table, so you never apply the wrong method under time pressure.
Question typesReadingUpdated 8 min read
One of the easiest ways to lose marks in Academic Reading is to apply the right method to the wrong task. Candidates who have drilled every question type separately still skim a task that demanded scanning, scan a task that demanded slow reading of three sentences, and then re-read the whole passage per question because nothing is working. That is not a time problem, though it always gets reported as one. It is a recognition problem, and recognition is a separate skill from technique — a much cheaper one. The paper never prints the type's name anywhere; it prints an instruction line above each block of questions, and that line, in roughly a dozen words, tells you which task you are in, whether the answers run in passage order, and whether the answer words come out of the passage or off a supplied list. Read those three things first and the method chooses itself.
The three things to take from the instruction line
- The task verb. "Choose", "complete", "match", "label", "which paragraph contains", "do the following statements agree with". This names the type, and the wording is close to fixed from paper to paper — the official sample questions use the same phrasings you will see on test day.
- Whether answers follow passage order. The completion and True/False/Not Given families run in order, so a located neighbour fences in the search zone for the next question. The matching families do not, and expecting order there makes you under-search the early paragraphs. Two types sit on the wrong side of that split: matching sentence endings does run in passage order, and diagram label completion does not, though its answers all come from one section rather than the whole passage. Take the ordering from the table below rather than from the family name.
- Where the answer words come from. A word limit in capitals ("NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER") means you lift words from the passage, so spelling and word count can destroy a correct answer. A list of letters or roman numerals means the only risk is choosing wrong — spelling is irrelevant and a blank is pure waste.
The recognition table
| Type | Instruction wording that gives it away | Passage order? | Answer words from | First move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple choice | "Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D" | Yes | A letter | Read the stem with the options covered; locate the place first, then let the options compete |
| Identifying information | "Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN" | Yes | Fixed words | Underline exactly what the statement asserts, and judge that one proposition only |
| Identifying views or claims | "Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer? YES / NO / NOT GIVEN" | Yes | Fixed words | Same, but you are judging a stance, so hunt the writer's evaluative language |
| Matching information | "Which paragraph contains the following information?" | No | A paragraph letter | Read all the statements before you start, then sweep paragraph by paragraph |
| Matching headings | "Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below" | No | A roman numeral from the list | Cover the list, summarise the paragraph in your own words, then match |
| Matching features | "Match each statement with the correct name or category, A-E" — the noun varies by paper: researcher, person, theory, period, country | No | A letter from the list | Mark every occurrence of each name in the margin before answering anything |
| Matching sentence endings | "Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G" | Yes | A letter from the list | Read stem plus candidate ending aloud as one sentence; grammar eliminates half the list |
| Sentence completion | "Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage" | Yes | Words lifted from the passage | Predict the gap's part of speech and number before you scan |
| Summary, note, table or flow-chart completion | "Complete the summary / notes / table below", then either a word limit or "using the list of words below" | Yes, within the section summarised | Passage words, or list letters | Check which variant you have, then read the whole summary through for sense |
| Diagram label completion | "Label the diagram below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage" | No | Passage words | Find the single paragraph describing the object and answer every label from it |
| Short-answer questions | "Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage" | Yes | Passage words | Convert the question word into the answer's shape: who into a person, how long into a duration |
Two pairs in that table are easy to confuse, and both are worth a second look. The first is "information given in the passage" against "claims of the writer" — one word of difference in the instruction, and a genuinely different judgement to make, which is why TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN and YES/NO/NOT GIVEN deserve separating in your head. The second is "from the passage" against "from the list below" in summary completion: the list variant contains distractor words that are grammatically perfect and semantically wrong, and candidates who assume the passage variant go hunting for a word that was printed under their nose.
A drill for recognition alone
Nothing here involves answering a question. That is the point: you are training identification as its own reflex, so it costs no thought later.
- Instruction lines only. Take any three Academic Reading papers. For each block of questions, cover everything but the instruction line with a sheet of paper. Say out loud: type, ordered or not ordered, passage words or list. Uncover and check. Twenty blocks takes about ten minutes.
- First move, in three seconds. Same instruction lines, shuffled, one per index card. Draw a card and state the first move from the table above — nothing more, one action. If it takes longer than three seconds, put the card back in the pile and draw again later. Stop when the pile is empty.
- Label a live paper. At the start of a timed 60-minute practice, before reading anything, spend about 30 seconds per passage annotating each task block in the margin: type name, O or X for ordered or not, P or L for passage words or list. Then sit the paper normally. Those 90 seconds change the order you tackle blocks in and make the wrong-method errors far less likely — see how the 60 minutes should be spent for where that sequencing pays.