How to Answer ANY IELTS Reading Question

This paragraph introduces the complexity of IELTS reading questions and the presenter's approach to simplifying them. The speaker plans to demonstrate 12 main types of IELTS reading questions, discuss common student issues, and offer step-by-step strategies that have been successful for many students, including the presenter themselves, who achieved a band nine in just 20 minutes. The focus is on understanding the types of questions and developing efficient strategies for tackling them.

The speaker discusses sentence completion and summary completion questions, highlighting the importance of reading instructions carefully, predicting answers, and being mindful of spelling and grammar. For sentence completion, the advice includes reading incomplete sentences first, predicting, considering synonyms, and scanning for the correct location in the text. For summary completion, the focus is on understanding grammar and predicting the type of words needed, as well as being aware of the text's structure.

This section covers strategies for multiple-choice and short answer questions. The key to multiple-choice is understanding the subtle differences between options, while short answer questions require careful reading and comprehension. The advice includes reading questions and options carefully, skimming the text for general meaning, focusing on the difference between options, and using time efficiently to avoid confusion and ensure understanding of the text.

The paragraph addresses diagram labeling and true/false/not given questions. For diagrams, the challenge is coping with unfamiliar topics and following instructions. The strategy involves reading instructions, understanding the diagram, and predicting answers. True/false/not given questions often involve misinformation and misunderstanding 'not given.' The advice is to read statements fully, consider synonyms, locate the text section, and match the statement with the text's meaning.

This part delves deeper into the true/false/not given and yes/no/not given questions, emphasizing the difference between fact-based and opinion-based questions. The key problems include confusion between the two types, misunderstanding the writer's opinion, and spending too much time looking for information not present in the text. The strategy is to read the whole statement, consider synonyms, locate the text, and match the statement with the text's meaning, focusing on the writer's opinion for yes/no/not given.

The speaker provides strategies for matching sentences, names, and information questions. For matching sentences, the advice is to avoid relying on logic or grammar and to match based on the text. For matching names, the focus should be on underlining names in the text and focusing on those mentioned once. For matching information to paragraphs, the strategy involves reading the questions first, skimming the text, and then finding the location in the text for each piece of information.

This paragraph discusses table completion, flowchart completion, and matching headings. For table and flowchart completion, the key is to read instructions carefully, locate the correct paragraph, read it carefully, and transfer words exactly. For matching headings, the strategy is to read each paragraph to understand its meaning and then create a heading, which is then matched with the provided headings. This approach helps in understanding the general meaning of paragraphs and makes other questions easier.

The final paragraph wraps up the video by emphasizing the importance of understanding personal weaknesses in IELTS reading and focusing on improving them. The speaker suggests that this is the most powerful method for improving reading skills and achieving high band scores. They invite viewers to watch another video for guidance on identifying and improving their weaknesses.