IELTS Listening Task (Form/Note/Table/Flowchart/Summary Completion)

Predicting Situations
Students need to ask themselves some questions before each listening task.
Who are the speakers?
Where are they?
Why are they speaking?
In order to understand what people are saying, it helps to know what their relationship is to each other
and why they are speaking. The language they use may depend on this relationship and the situation.
Knowing these helps us to anticipate what the speakers are going to talk about.

****** All questions like form/notes/summary/diagram/flowchart and sentence completion must be
answered using three words or less. The instructions tell you the MAXIMUM NUMBER OF WORDS to
use******

Tasks in section 1 of the IELTS listening test are often GAPFILL (e.g. note, table or form
completion). Section 1 always has an example question first to give you plenty of time to
get started.

IELTS listening test practice Note Completion
You often have to complete some notes in the IELTS Listening test. You should read the notes carefully
BEFORE you listen, to work out what types of words are missing. The vocabulary in the notes can also
HELP you predict the situation.

****** Notes are not complete sentences and may not always contain articles or full verb forms******


Predicting What Type of Word You Need
Sometimes when we listen, we are only interested in finding out very specific information such as a date,
a time, a name or other details. We can try to work out what type of word we are listening for. This will
help us find the answer and prepare before we listen.

****** You need to be able to recognize paraphrases, i.e. words which have a similar meaning to those
used in the question ******

IELTS listening test practice Table Completion
Before You Listen:
Look at the words used in the task to help you guess the topic
Decide who the speakers are
Study the table carefully to work out what type of words are missing
Note whether the columns or rows have a heading
Note the order of questions, i.e. do the numbers move across the rows or down the columns?

****** Words included in the table are there to guide you, so TAKE ADVANTAGE of them ******


****** You must use CORRECT SPELLING in the listening test ******


Use the time given between the two parts of a recording to read the next set of questions
carefully. The will always involve a different type of question.


IELTS Reading Task (Multiple-Choice & Reading For General
Understanding)
Understanding paragraph structure
Most paragraphs in well-written, discursive or argumentative texts contain at least one main idea and
very often these ideas are supported by examples or further explanations.
Being able to separate main ideas from supporting points is a key reading skill. It helps you understand
a text more quickly. It also helps you find the important information, which IELTS questions often test.
In every paragraph, there are some parts that are more important than others. These are the main ideas
and are usually supported by other points of information and examples. We are not necessarily required
to know the meaning of each and every word in the paragraph in order to understand the main idea(s).
Generally speaking, different parts of a paragraph in terms of structure can be categorized as follow:
1. Introduction to the topic, which can be entitled as Topic Sentence, 2. Examples, facts and other
information that illustrate the main idea, they are also called Supporting Sentences, 3. A possible new
idea which may be developed in next paragraph.

IELTS reading test practice Multiple Choice
Multiple choice questions often require detailed reading of paragraphs because the questions may be
written to test your understanding of the main idea or supporting points. Also, the wrong options (called
distracters) will come from the same part of the passage as the answer, and you need to eliminate
these.
****** Its very important to recognize that there are 2 types of question here those that: ******
1. ask you for the writers opinion 2. ask you to find factual information

How to approach multiple choice questions
Before going through the passage get underway with skimming the questions and their options and then
underline the key words in the question and try to predict the type of required answer, later on use these
to quickly find the part of the passage that you need to read in more details.
Afterwards, skim the text and mark any possible answers for each question, keep going to reach the end
of the text. At the end, come back and read the possibilities to each question in details and decide what
the answer is.
In brief:
1. Look at the questions first to see what topics you need to look for be aware you may need to look
for synonyms
2. Skim the text to identify the correct paragraphs to read: the questions will go in order so question 5
will come between 4 and 6
3. Read the paragraph carefully and then re-read the question
4. Ask yourself if you are looking for fact or opinion
5. Delete the answers you know to be incorrect
6. Underline the words in the text that give you the answer

****** As you read the text, you should get into the habit of highlighting words that you think may be
important and will help you find answers later. These are often nouns like names, dates, numbers or
any other key words that stand out as a key topic of that paragraph. Looking at the IELTS reading
multiple choice questions quickly first may help with this ******

****** Always refocus on the exact wording of the question before giving the answer. Be suspicious of
answers that contain almost the same language as the text ******

****** In some multiple choice questions, the options complete a sentence (see example 1 below) and in
others, they answer a question (see example 2 below) ******



Example1. Research completed in 1982 found that in the United States soil erosion
A reduced the productivity of farmland by 20 per cent.
B was almost as severe as in India and China.
C was causing significant damage to 20 per cent of farmland.
D could be reduced by converting cultivated land to meadow or forest.
Example2. Which one of the following increased in New Zealand after 1984?
A Farm income
B Use of fertilizer
C Over-stocking
D Farm diversification

Reading For General Understanding
You need to improve your global reading skills in order to for a global idea for each passage; a mental
summary of the content and overall structure. Global multiple choice questions test how well you
understand the purpose/theme of the whole passage. Paragraph headings test your understanding of
the main themes of each paragraph.
IELTS reading test practice Global Reading
Often a set of multiple choice questions ends with a global question. Global questions test how well you
understand the main theme of the whole passage by asking about the writers purpose / a suitable title /
the main idea. Sometimes the passage does not have a title or subheading, if there is a global multiple-
choice question.
The helpful skill in this type of question is to be able to distinguish the main idea and details/supports.
Then by understanding and paraphrasing the main theme and idea of each paragraph through skimming
and also following other procedures of multiple choice questions you may find the answers with a great
ease.

IELTS reading test practice Choosing Heading For Paragraphs
Some texts have a clear theme in each paragraph. IELTS tests your understanding by asking you to
match each paragraph with a heading chosen from a list. The list of headings is given before the
passage so that you can read through the headings before you read the passage. Use global reading
skills to do this task.
How to approach choosing headings task
1. Look through the list of headings to familiarize yourself with them
2. Take at most ten minutes to skim the passage, underlining what you think are the main ideas and key
words in each paragraph
3. Re-read paragraph A and the example heading
4. Re-read paragraph B and select the heading that best fits this paragraph. If you think there is more
than one, mark them both and come back to this later
5. Repeat this procedure with the rest of the paragraphs

****** There are always some extra headings that you do not need to use ******
****** There is sometimes an example answer ******
IELTS Speaking Task (Individual Long Turn Giving Longer Answers)
Expanding your answers
It is important to give a full answer that flows naturally. So you need to learn strategies to help you keep
going. Also bear in mind that if you give very short answers, you will lose marks.
EXAMPLE. Think about what you did last weekend and make a list of at least five activities
like the one in the example below.
- Checked e-mail
- Played football
- Got take-away noodles
- Ate at a friends house
- Hired a DVD



You dont need to repeat the words in question, but its a
good idea to make a link, e.g. last weekend on Saturday.


Fluency and using vocabulary to link and expand ideas
Fluency in speech is ability to maintain a flow of language without unnatural hesitation, by linking your
ideas. If you can present a number of well-connected ideas and avoid using a lot of hesitation and
repetition, the examiner will find your answers interested and will be able to follow them more easily.
One way to keep going is to answer questions by providing some extra information and linking this
information to your first response.
EXAMPLE. Join the sets of ideas below. Use the linking word provided.
I need to learn English. English is very important to me. English will help me to
get an interesting job. I want to work in the tourist industry.
I work in a bank. Working in a bank can be quite interesting. The nature of the
job is changing. Many people do their banking on the internet.
Fast food is very popular in many countries these days. Fast food is bad for our
health. Fast food is expensive. I think cooking at home is more sensible.
I love movies. I like watching TV. I dont like live theater. I dont like opera.
s
I live in an apartment. The apartment is very small. I hope to live in a
larger apartment.

There is a lot more that you can say about activities like these. Use the
question words in the box below to expand on (i.e. give additional
details for) each of your activities. Here is an example of how you
could expand on a topic.

How
What? Who? When? Why? How? Where?
I went to and internet caf on Saturday
to check my emails. Its near where I
live and only costs $1.80 an hour. I had
lots of messages from
What did you do last weekend?
even though, and, so

which, although, as

because, and, if

and, but, or, either
at the moment, but, one
Using vocabulary to link and expand your ideas
In part 1 and part 2 of the IELTS test you will have to respond by giving full and rounded answers. This
means you need to know how to use a range of vocabulary. Some vocabulary to be used in order to link
our ideas might be as follow.
1. Coordinating Conjunctions: and, or, nor, but, yet, for, so
2. Correlative Conjunctions: either or, neither nor, not only but also, both and
3. Conjunctive Adverbs: on the other hand, however, nevertheless, still, on the contrary,
moreover, furthermore, also, besides, in fact, hence, therefore,
consequently, thus, as a result, otherwise, then,
afterwards, later (on)
4. Adverb Clauses
5. Adjective Clauses
6. Noun Clauses

**** Your answer will be better if you dont simply repeat the words that examiner uses or those you see
on the card. Try to vary your vocabulary by using words with a similar meaning to key words in the
question ****

How to approach the task in IELTS speaking part 2
1. Read all the instruction carefully to make sure you fully understand the topic and three points
2. Make a note of keywords
3. Decide whether you will need to talk about the past, the present or the future
4. Try to think of something to say that your listener might find interesting or want to know
5. Make a note of at least two key ideas for each of three points in each task
6. Make a note of any key vocabulary or expression that you could use
****** Make sure you write something during your minute. Use the time to make notes on key ideas to
prompt you while you are speaking. Only make notes, not full sentences ******

****** Dont waste your time by repeating just the words in the task. The examiner will notice this and not
give you credit for it ******

****** Practice giving your talk with a clock or watch in front of you. As you must talk for between one
and two minutes in the exam, you need practice at judging this time. If you dont keep talking for at least
a minute, you will be wasting a valuable opportunity to show off your skills. You may, of course, look at
your watch during the test ******

*** You should always be prepared to use your imagination if you havent had much experience of the
topic ***

IELTS Writing Task (Interpreting provided Information)
Being able to understand and describe graphic information as an important academic skill. You need to
show that you can interpret this type of factual information clearly and accurately. You need to develop a
good understanding of different types of visual data. Collect some examples of graphs, charts and
diagrams to help you do this.
Bar chars
In bar charts, the values are given along one axis and each bar represents what is being measured
along the other axis. The bars can then be compared.
Charts, tables and graphs present facts, which are objective and often involve measurement. For
example, the bar chart below shows what a group of students think about a film they have just seen. We
can interpret the information by saying that half the students did not like the film or by saying that fifty
per cent of the students did not like the film. We can be even more specific and state that fifteen out of
thirty students did not like the film.





***** You need to be able to describe the information accurately, using a range of different structures
*****

Some vocabularies related to describing numbers of people in bars can be as follow:
The most The second most The third most The least The majority of A large
number of
Most Very few Hardly any
Using appropriate vocabulary to describe trends






Nouns
A rise
An
increase
A surge
A growth
A fall
A drop
A decline
A dip
A peak

A fluctuation
A variation
A period of
stability
A plateau
Verbs
To rise
To
increase
To surge
To grow
To fall
To drop
To
decline
To dip
To peak
To fluctuate
To vary
To stabilize To plateau
Phrase
To show an
upward tend
To show a
downward
To reach a
peak
To show some
fluctuation/variation
To remain
stable/constant
To reach a
plateau / to level
s
trend off / to flatten out