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IELTS EXAM GUIDE Reading

OVERVIEW
What’s it all about?
● Reading Passage 1 features a TEXT, USUALLY FACTUAL OR DESCRIPTIVE, OF UP TO 900 WORDS. Typically, you can expect to see BETWEEN TWO
AND THREE TASKS, with A TOTAL OF 13 QUESTIONS. Passage 1 will usually be slightly easier than Passages 2 and 3.
● Reading Passage 2 will also feature A TEXT OF UP TO 900 WORDS. There will be TWO TO THREE TASKS AND EITHER 13 OR 14 QUESTIONS in
total. Passage 2 will typically be more challenging than Passage 1.

● Reading Passage 3 will feature A TEXT OF UP TO 950 WORDS. There will again be TWO OR THREE TASKS WITH A TOTAL OF 13 OR 14 QUESTIONS.
Passage 3 will normally be more challenging than Passages 1 and 2.

What’s it testing?
Your understanding of texts which could be included in an academic course is being tested, as well as your ability to follow an argu-
ment and opinions. You will be required to employ a range of reading skills including reading for main ideas (gist-read) and reading for
detail, in addition to understanding the structure of a text at both sentence and paragraph level.

What types of tasks can I be asked to complete?
The Reading Paper has a variety of different task types. We will look at each one of these in detail later, but, for now, here is a list of
all the tasks which can appear:
(i) True/False/Not given (viii) Matching headings
(ii) Flow-chart completion (ix) Matching sentence endings
(iii) Multiple choice (x) Matching information/names
(iv) Summary completion (type 1) (xi) Table/Note/Sentence completion
(v) Summary completion (type 2) (xii) Locating information
(vi) Short-answer questions (xiii) Diagram labelling
(vii) Yes/No/Not given

TASK INFORMATION: TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN
This task requires you to compare the information presented in a series of statements with the information given in the text and decide if
the two correspond.
You must:
(i) read the statements (which follow the order of the information presented in the text).
(ii) scan the text to locate the information you require to compare with the sentences.
(iii)decide whether the information in each statement agrees with the text (True), contradicts the text (False), or is not covered
in the text (Not given).
Sample Reading Passage 1.1
In order to examine the different task types individually, this text has been broken up into sections. Read the first section now and then
answer the questions which follow.
A brief history of Punk
Punk removed the cloak of pretension and offered raw, uncen-
sored beats; a sort of street-smart, working-class genre that had
The punk subculture evolved simultaneously in the mid-70s in the
U.S. and Britain. Its inspiration came in many forms; from litera- not been seen before.
ture and film, art, music and from earlier subcultures. It drew on Stylistically, the punks were influenced by the hippie counter-
the work of Charles Dickens and his unromantic depictions of dis- culture of the 60s; bright colours, loose clothes, unkempt appear-
enfranchised youths being exploited by the upper-middle class. ances and carefree attitudes. The difference being though that
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four was another unlikely source they weren’t preaching peace and happiness, but a much more
of inspiration. Films like A Clockwork Orange had a part to play in aggressive message - a challenge to all authority figures, who the
the development of the unique punk style, too. Andy Warhol’s pop punks viewed with utter contempt. ‘All you need is love’, the hip-
art was viewed in many ways as iconic early punk, and, in fact, pies may have proclaimed, but, to the punks, this was soppy non-
his Factory studio was hugely influential in the development of the sense. Their message had more violent undertones and the
New York punk scene. Musically, punk was a reactionary move- movement became associated with anarchic politics, protest and
ment, rebelling against what it saw as the utter superficiality of civil disobedience and extreme forms of socialism. Biker-gang
‘disco’ music and the style-over-substance approach of heavy dress became increasingly popular, too, amongst followers, and
metal and progressive rock bands whose performances punk mu- jeans, T-shirts, chains, leather jackets and army-style boots inter-
sicians hardly rated. Punk, then, embraced a simpler, more down- mingled with the hippie flowers and bright colours.
to-earth do-it-yourself attitude; punk artists were not trying to Attitude wise, the punks arguably had a lot more in common
achieve musical perfection or trick the audience into mistaking with the bikers than they had with the hippie movement, so per-
their stage effects and bombastic tones for something special. haps this subtle style transformation was quite apt.
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