IELTS Reading

Format: 3 passages · 40 questions · 60 minutes, NO extra transfer time → write answers straight onto the answer sheet. Budget ~20 min per passage.

1. The 3 core skills

1. Skimming — read fast for the general idea: title, first/last sentence of each paragraph. ~2 min per passage.
2. Scanning — sweep the text to find a specific word/number without reading everything. Use this to locate answers via your keywords.
3. Locating with keywords + paraphrase — same skill as Listening. The passage paraphrases the question; find the meaning, not the exact word. (Anchor words = names/numbers/dates; meaning words = likely paraphrased.)

2. Strategy

• Read the questions first for most types, underline keywords (anchors vs. meaning-words).
• Many question types follow the passage in order (sentence completion, summary, T/F/NG) — use this to locate fast.
• Don't get stuck. If a question takes too long, guess and move on.
• No penalty for wrong answers — never leave a blank.

3. Question types & how to attack them

4. Common traps

• Word limit — "ONE WORD ONLY" / "NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS" — breaking it = wrong, even if the meaning is right.
• Spelling must be correct.
• "Not Given" ≠ "False." Not Given = the passage simply doesn't say. This is the #1 confusion — drill it specifically until the logic is automatic.
• Don't over-think with outside knowledge — only what the text states counts.

5. How to practice a passage

The practice is short; the review is where the score is made. Quick recipe (full version = 06-exercise-schedule.md, drill RPP):

1. One passage timed (~20 min). Skim → then question by question, locating with keywords.
2. Mark it against the key — but the number right is the starting point, not the goal.
3. Review deeply (§6). Budget at least as long as the passage took.
4. As September nears, do all 3 passages in 60 min to train pacing + stamina.

6. How to review — the core loop (where the score actually comes from)

Never just check the number and move on. For every answer you got wrong — and every one you guessed right — run this loop:

1. Locate the evidence. Find the exact sentence(s) in the passage that decide the answer. If you can't find it, that itself is the lesson (a locating failure — see §7).

2. Answer three questions:

   • Where is the evidence in the text?
   • Why is the right answer right?
   • Why was mine wrong — not just "the key says so"?
3. Classify the error (§7) and tally it in your error log (§10).
4. Extract the paraphrase — the exact mapping between the question wording and the text wording (e.g. question "reduce costs" ↔ text "cut spending"). Write the pair down (shared list with Listening). This is the single most valuable thing to harvest.
5. Extract vocabulary — the key unknown words, especially the one that hid the answer.
6. Re-do it later — a few days on, redo the questions you missed (spaced review, 05-study-plan.md §8). Getting them right then proves it stuck.

The examiner isn't testing whether you know things — the answer is always in the text. They're testing whether you can find it and read the language precisely. So every review reduces to one question: did I fail to find it, or fail to understand it? Those two failures have different fixes.

7. Error types — diagnose every mistake, then fix the right thing

Two people can miss the same question for completely different reasons. Label each wrong answer with one type, so patterns emerge:

Tally these weekly. If half your losses are type 3 on Not Given, you now know exactly what to drill — that's deliberate practice instead of just "do more tests."

8. 精读 / Intensive reading — the deep-review drill (reading's version of 精听)

On the hardest passage (or the paragraphs that held answers you missed), read it to the bottom:

1. Sentence by sentence, understand every sentence. No skimming now — this is the slow lane.
2. Break down long sentences: find the main subject + verb, then peel off the clauses. IELTS hides answers inside complex sentences on purpose.
3. Resolve every referent: when you see it / they / this / such / the former, stop and name exactly what it points to — answers often depend on it.
4. Track discourse markers: however, although, whereas, moreover, in contrast — these flip or extend meaning and are frequently the hinge of a T/F/NG answer.
5. See the paragraph's shape: which sentence is the topic sentence, how does the rest support it? (Exactly what Matching Headings tests.)
6. Harvest paraphrase pairs + vocabulary as you go.

How much: like 精听, this is slow and tiring — don't do a whole test this way. Do one passage (or a few dense paragraphs) every couple of days, properly. Over weeks this is what raises your reading speed — comprehension that used to be effortful becomes automatic.

9. Two diagnostics that tell you what to fix

A. Timed → untimed re-do. After checking, redo your wrong questions with no clock:

• Right untimed → your problem is speed/pacing, not understanding. Fix by training pace (all-3-in-60-min runs), not by studying harder.
• Still wrong untimed → it's comprehension (vocab or logic). Fix with §8 intensive reading.

This one check tells you which of two totally different training paths you actually need.

B. Reverse-engineer from the key. For a question you truly can't crack, read the answer, then go find where and why it's right in the text. Training yourself to see the examiner's logic — the tiny word that makes it True not Not Given — is a skill in itself.

10. Your reading error log (keep it running all 3 months)

A simple table in your notebook — one row per missed question:

• Read it before each new test — so you stop repeating the same trap (deliberate practice).
• Weekly, look for the pattern (05-study-plan.md §8): the most-repeated question type and most-repeated error type → give it one extra session next week.

11. Checklist

• [ ] Skim for gist, then scan with keywords
• [ ] ~20 min per passage; never leave a blank (no penalty)
• [ ] Master True/False/Not Given logic (passage only, no outside knowledge)
• [ ] Respect the word limit and spelling on completion tasks
• [ ] Review every wrong (and guessed-right) answer — locate the evidence, ask the 3 questions (§6)
• [ ] Label each mistake by error type (§7) and log it (§10)
• [ ] 精读 one hard passage every couple of days (§8)
• [ ] Run the timed → untimed check to know if it's speed or comprehension (§9A)
• [ ] Read the error log before the next test