How To Ace The Reading
Before talking about how to ace the IELTS Reading test, let’s get into what the IELTS Reading test consists of.
IELTS reading in Singapore should be taken serious with all the necessary exam preparations just like all the other tasks that are meant to be done in the exam.
These exams comprise of reading of texts totaling 2000 words, and answer the questions that follow in about 60 minutes. There will be 40 questions that you will have to answer after reading the tests.
The contents of the questions are about common things happening around us, hence they are taken from already published stories in magazines, books, and newspapers.
Basically, the reading texts can be in ;
Analytical form, where you discuss, or analyze a particular issue given in the question,.
Description form; where give details of how a particular thing is done or processed.
Discursion form; where you show your own opinion about the issue at hand.
Narration form; where you explain from step to step, about how something happened, in chronological order.
Tips for Passing the IELTS Reading Task
Do allow time to be against you in this section, especially when you are reading to understand a passage so that you can answer the questions that follows. Try and skim through the passage first to get a general idea of what it is talking about, and underlying the keywords, then go and read the questions before you now go over the passage again looking for the answers to the questions.
If you adopt this method you will not waste time looking for the answer to questions. When you are reading for the second time, you will pay attention to details, and you will discover that you are able to pick out the answer easily.
Since the questions are in sections, take them section by section, finishing one quickly before moving to another. All of these should be part of what you have practiced with when you are preparing for the test so that you can gain time when you are in the exam hall. Reading of the whole passage over and over when you are looking for the answer to a question will waste a lot of time.
You must practice ahead before coming to the IELTS exam hall (IELTS Singapore gives you other tips), this is very important, work with IELTS reading in Singapore and answering comprehension passages from past questions or from books and magazines. The more you do the more you familiarize yourself with the questions that will come out in the exam.
The formal English ways of writing which you will find in the questions are also what you find in the New Scientist, or The Economist, or The National Geographic. These are popular magazines that you can get easily, or better still, you can make use of their online versions to practice IELTS reading and comprehend what you have read.
You can make this a daily affair, until you have been able to master the style of writing.
You can also get sample questions online, or past question, for practice, this is very important as you must familiarize yourself very well with the type of questions you will meet in the exam before you can work on them very fast, I cannot overemphasize this well enough.
Once you know the categories of questions that IELTS Reading in Singapore comprises of, go for each category (because they will not change), and practice questions on each of them, do not limit or restrict yourself to a particular category to the point that you become an expert in it while you are grossly lacking or inadequate in the other.
You must work all rounds the questions as all of them are important, and necessary for you to be answered in the test, hence prepare yourself for all of them.
There are times that you find out that a particular section is especially difficult for you to understand quickly and to work upon, concentrate more on any section like this, get more passages to read about it, or an IELTS Reading in Singapore book that can guide you in answering questions under it.
Just make sure that you do not neglect any section like this without mastering it before the exam date, as it is compulsory that you answer all the sections given to you in the exam hall, plan ahead for this, and do not limit yourself in any way.
The more you practice IELTS Reading in Singapore the more you perfect the art of scanning when you are reading samples fast, this will enable you to get a general view of the passage fast. Talking about time, you will have to practice with the regulated time meant for each section in the exam, make sure that you practice beating the time, and keeping working on that until you are sure that you have mastered it.
Do not concentrate too much on a particular question, to the point of depriving yourself the time that you need for others.
Always aim for general understanding of IELTS Reading first, it will help you to get the details, and the information you need to answer the questions, you must always read the opening and the closing sentences for this purpose, and without waiting to understand the meaning of every word that you find.