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Section 1 reading skills

Introduction to reading skills

Before you do the IELTS exam, it is important that you develop good reading skills to assist you in reading fast and accurately. Remember: IELTS has a time limit!
Reading skills include your ability to:
  1. skim and scan a text to find specific information
  2. identify the main idea of a section or complete text
  3. distinguish details from main ideas in a text
  4. understand vocabulary from context
  5. distinguish factual information from opinions and assumptions in a text
  6. understand a writer's point of view in a text.

Which of these reading skills are you already familiar with? Which of them do you use?

Reading skills 1: Skimming

What is the first thing you should do when you start to read a new text? Skim the text.

What is skimming?

To skim means to 'read quickly' or to 'glance through' a text. When we skim a text we read only the parts that we consider to be important, and do not read other parts. We look at the total organisation of the text. We check headings and subheadings, and we see how the text is organised into sections or paragraphs to guess what information the text may hold. When we skim we do not read all of the text.

Why do we skim?

Skimming helps us very quickly to decide:
  • what the text is mainly about (the topic and the main message)
  • the purpose of the writer
  • the information the sections or paragraphs might hold.

Think about when you sit down to read your favourite magazine in your own language.

  • Do you first glance through (skim) the magazine to decide which article you would like to read first?
  • Before you read the article you have chosen, do you skim parts of it first to see whether you really want to read it?

If you do, this is 'to skim'.
It is important to skim before you read in English.Skim in the IELTS exam as well.

How should I skim in the IELTS exam?

In the IELTS reading exam you have limited time. You should skim-read to save time and to maximise your understanding of the text and the questions.
  1. Skim every text before you read to get an idea of the text.
  2. Skim the questions so you have an idea of what you will need to answer.

Skimming practice activity

Choose an article from the newspaper or a magazine. Allow yourself two minutes to skim the article. At the end of the two minutes:
  1. What is the topic?
  2. How is the text organised?
  3. What is the author's purpose or main message?
  4. What information do you think you will find in each part of the text?

You are now ready to read the text in more detail and will be able to more easily answer the questions.
Try skimming with more texts from magazines and newspapers. The more skimming practice you do, the faster you will become.

Reading skills 2: Scanning

What is scanning?

To 'scan' means to 'look over a text to find a particular piece of information'; for example, a particular date, time, place or name. We do not read the whole text because we are only interested in particular information, even if that is just one word or number.

Why do we scan?

Part 1 General Training Reading: Unit 2 Section l: Answering Questions to Short Texts 9 Scanning is what we do in all languages when we are reading a bus timetable, a long restaurant menu, a movie-guide page online or in the newspaper, and many other everyday texts. We are not at all interested in the whole timetable, movie page or menu, just the information we need.

Can you think of other everyday texts we scan - where we need only particular information and do not read the whole text?
Look at this list. Most of these texts we scan. Which text do we usually not scan? Tick the odd one out.

  • telephone directory
  • online exam results
  • grocery advertisement page
  • a letter to say whether you got the job
  • a weather forecast report for the weather tomorrow
  • an email from your sister overseas
  • a museum brochure - you want to know opening hours and entry fee.

When should I scan in the IELTS exam?

  • Section 1 of the IELTS General Training Reading Test frequently contains texts that require you only to scan. These may be advertisements, lists, notices, leaflets or others.
  • Section 1 question types frequently require you to find a specific number, word or phrase in the text. As you do not need to read the whole text, you should scan.
  • As you have limited time to complete the answers, decide as you go through the test which texts or questions require no more than scanning.
  • Sections 2 and 3 of the IELTS general training reading may also on occasion require no more than scanning of texts and questions. Use your scanning skill when it is appropriate.

Scanning practice activity

Choose any advertisement from a magazine. Practise fast scanning for specific information, such as:
  • full name of product
  • name of producer or brand
  • price
  • availability.
- Section 1 question types - Section 1: Getting ready to read

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