1. Predicting the Article

Look at the article and predict what the content is about by seeing the title and sub-title. When you're trying to guess the information, it will help you focus on the task effectively. You will be able to stay calm and will help you to do well. Also, understand if the topic is positive or negative or neutral.

For Example:

IMPORTANT NOTICE: PRODUCT RETURN 

Fancy Foods wishes to inform the public those pieces of metal have been found in some jars of Fancy Foods Chicken Curry (Spicy). The batches of the jars involved have numbers from J6617 to J6624. The batch number is printed on the bottom of each jar. 

In the above example, the title is about product return that is negative. You can think about words like a refund, replacement, etc.

This process should not take more than a minute and you will understand the article.

2. Skimming:

Another skill you have to develop in the IELTS Reading is skimming. This technique is to identify the overall meaning or the general idea of the article. Skimming is nothing but reading quickly, jumping over unimportant or unknown words to get a quick understanding of the overall text. It is not for reading in detail. You are using this method to find the information in the passage. It is good to read 100 to 200 words in 20 to 30 seconds. It will save you time in the IELTS exam.

3. Scanning:

Scanning is useful when you are looking for something specific. You can scan to find the location of answers in the texts by looking out for words, numbers, dates, and words beginning with capital letters such as place names. The keywords in each question take you to the exact location in the passage, and then you choose the right answer. So, underlining the keywords in the question is necessary. Keywords could be nouns, numbers, verbs, etc.

4. Guessing the meaning of words:

One of the skills in the reading exam to develop is guessing the meaning of the words. Why is it important? There are more than 2000 words in the reading exam, it is quite impossible to understand all of them. Even though you don't know the exact meaning of those words, but still possible of scoring high. In reading, understand the function of the words in the sentence, whether the vocabulary is a noun, adjective, or a verb, etc. If you read the sentence carefully and understand the context, then you must be able to guess the meaning.

5. Referencing:

This means referring the words to previous phrases in an article.  A good understanding of referencing will help you to become better at reading comprehension.

For Example: 

In plants generally involve the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a by-product. The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize nutrients from carbon dioxide and water. This is known as photosynthesis.

The word “this” refers to the previous statement.

In IELTS reading you may find pronouns like “This”, “That”, “It”, etc. referring to the previous phrases or statements. This will help you to find most of the answers in the IELTS reading exam.

Always, you need to practice using these tips to find the right answers for each question type in the IELTS Reading Exam.  Another way to get familiar with the IELTS reading test is to practice Cambridge question papers. 

At Einstro Academy, We have qualified experts delivering examiner approved tips and strategies. Our structured syllabus was designed to get Band 8 in the IELTS reading exam.  Our trainers have 10 to 15 years of experience, and they are certified by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge.