101Helpful Hints for IELTS

101 Helpful Hints for IELTS
1. The example tells you how to give the answer to questions.
You should usually answer questions in the same form as the given example.
• Look at the Example for Questions 1 - 3 in Reading Test One:
order of popularity
(Ex:)
Your answers to Questions 1-3 can therefore be given in number form where applicable.
Answers can also be given as words and/or letters. The instructions will often tell you in
what form the answers are to be given. The example illustrates what the instructions state.
2. The example gives you information about the listening or reading passage.
You will understand more about what you listen to and read if you can predict what is to come.
The example gives information that is easily understood and helps you predict information
about the ideas behind the main topic of the passage.
• Look at the Example for Questions 10 - 15 in Reading Test One:
Example: There are presently more than 1,000,000 foreign students of English abroad.
In this case, the example tells you that the statement is true, and that studying English abroad
is very popular. Note that it can be a good idea to read the example statements (and the
questions) before reading the reading passage in full.
3. The example tells you when to start listening, or where to start reading to find the answers.
• Look at the Example for Questions 22 - 25 in Reading Test One:
The logical place to commence looking for the answers would not be at the top of the reading
passage, but after the position of the example word in the passage. Of course, in the Listening
Test, the answers will come after the example that you hear.
USE QUESTION KEYWORDS TO FIND THE ANSWERS
The keywords or keyphrases in the questions help you in your search for the answers. This is true
for both the Listening and Reading Sub-tests. First, you must choose which word or phrase to listen
for on the tape, or search for in the reading passages. There may be more than one keyword or
keyword phrase in a question, and they can be placed before or after the answer.
• Look at Question 19 in Listening Test One:
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