Lesson 3 of 8 · 12 min read

Reading

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You have 60 minutes for three sections and 40 questions, with no extra time to transfer answers. That's about 20 minutes per section, and the last one is usually the hardest, so don't get stuck early.

Two reading skills you must master

Skimming: reading quickly for the main idea of each paragraph. Read the first and last sentence, then glance over the middle.
Scanning: searching for a specific word, name, number or date without reading everything.

True / False / Not Given (and Yes / No / Not Given)

These are the questions that cost people the most marks. True/False/Not Given asks about facts in the text; Yes/No/Not Given asks about the writer's opinions or claims. The logic is the same.

Answer	Choose it when…
TRUE / YES	The text says the same thing, usually in different words.
FALSE / NO	The text says the opposite, or something that clearly contradicts the statement.
NOT GIVEN	The text doesn't say whether it's true or false. There isn't enough information.

Example

Text: "The bridge, completed in 1998, carries more than 40,000 vehicles a day." 1. The bridge opened in the late 1990s. → TRUE (1998 is the late 1990s) 2. The bridge carries fewer than 30,000 vehicles daily. → FALSE (it carries more than 40,000) 3. The bridge was expensive to build. → NOT GIVEN (cost isn't mentioned)

Never use your own knowledge. If the text doesn't say it, it's Not Given, even if you know it's true.

Matching headings

Read the list of headings first and note how they differ.
Skim each paragraph for its main idea, not a detail. A heading sums up the whole paragraph.
Do the paragraphs you're surest of first, then use elimination.
Be wary of headings that repeat an exact word from the paragraph. They're often traps.

Gap-fill and short answers

Answers come from the text, spelled exactly as they appear.
Respect the word limit. "ONE WORD ONLY" means one word.
Check grammar: does your word fit the sentence (singular or plural, noun or verb)?

Questions of the same type usually follow the order of the text (matching headings is the main exception). Use the previous answer's position to narrow your search for the next one.

Build your reading speed

Read one longer article a day from quality sources: science magazines, newspapers, university blogs.
Time yourself: aim to finish a section in 17–18 minutes, leaving time to check.
Learn academic vocabulary families: analyse / analysis / analytical.

Try the reading practice test