Mindset for IELTS - Level 3 (Unit 01: Urban And Rural Life)

Reading - Matching Headings - (03-14)

This type of task requires you to choose a heading which correctly summarises the whole paragraph. Often, it is possible to find one sentence in a paragraph which conveys the main idea - this is known as the topic sentence. The topic sentence can frequently be found at the start of the paragraph, but can appear in the middle, or even at the end. Sometimes a paragraph may not have one single, clear topic sentence at all, and the main idea can only be understood by reading the paragraph in full.

03. Look at this title and discuss with a partner what you might expect to read in the passage.

The World's

Most Unusual

Town and Cities

04. Read the first sentence of a paragraph about the city of Auroville, India. It is the topic sentence. Which of the three options seems to be the most likely heading? Why?

A. The reason why attempts to create the perfect city always fail
B. An urban ideal designed for an imperfect world
C. A conflict between reality and imitation

Heading:

Reason:

The heading you want will probably not use the same words as those which appear in the paragraph, but will paraphrase the ideas

05. Read the full paragraph and check your answer.

In today's world of conflict, greed and constant struggles for power, Auroville - aka 'the City of Dawn' - claims on its website that it was planned and built to create the ultimate model of unity, peace and harmony that can be projected across all humanity. It has no government, no one owns any property, and money rarely, if ever, changes hands. There is no leader and rules do not exist. While most experiments at creating the perfect city do not meet with success, the majority of Auroville's residents believe their city to be an exception. Although its critics point to the fact that levels of crime have been creeping up for some years now, its citizens choose to remain there, still believing in its utopian dream, still following its path towards a better world.

Be careful: sometimes the first sentence of a paragraph seems to fit entirely with one particular heading. However, don't be caught out - you still need to check by reading the whole paragraph.

06. Read this opening sentence about Longyearbyen. Which heading seems to fit this sentence best?

Longyearbyen, Norway, holds the record for being the furthest north city in the world, boasting the world's most northerly school, airport and university.

A. An unwelcoming place to die
B. A city at the top of the world
C. An unusual approach to regulation

07. Now read the full paragraph and think about the overall message of the paragraph. Which heading (in exercise 6) now best fits the paragraph?

Heading:

Reason:

Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, in the Svalbard Archipelago of Norway, holds the record for being the furthest north city in the world, boasting the world's most northerly school, airport and university. But what really sets it apart is that it can also lay claim to some of the world's strangest rules. In Longyearbyen, for example, it has been forbidden to die since 1950, the year in which scientists discovered that bodies simply cannot decompose there - the cold is too extreme. To this day, anyone found ill or dying is not given the chance to pass away, and is instead immediately taken by airplane or ship to another part of Norway so that they can die and be buried safely. But it doesn't end there. Aside from prohibiting death, there are more peculiar rules and freedoms in Longyearbyen. Residents are permitted to openly walk the streets with high-powered guns (there are 3,000 polar bears living locally). At the same time, no one is allowed to own any cats, which are forbidden because they are a danger to the bird population.

08. Write the main topic sentence in the paragraph.

09. Read the first sentence of the next paragraph about Marloth Park in South Africa. Find words or phrases that correspond to the underlined words in the headings A-C below.

Despite the fact the town of Marloth Park is close to the Kruger National Park, one of the largest game reserves in Africa, and despite the constant threat of visits from wild animals such as lions and hippopotamuses, its anxious residents are not allowed to build fences around their houses to keep out their neighbours.

A. An unusual approach to regulation
B. Dealing with the occasional dangers of the wild
C. Where humans and animals cautiously co-exist

A. regulation =

B. dangers of the wild =

humans and animals =

co-exist =

Pay particular attention to adjectives and adverbs in headings and texts, as they may help you to eliminate an incorrect heading immediately

10. Now focus on the adverbs and adjectives in the headings. Which heading is no longer a possible answer?

Reason

A. An unusual approach to regulation
B. Dealing with the occasional dangers of the wild
C. Where humans and animals cautiously co-exist

11. Read the rest of the paragraph and decide on your answer.

In fact the only fence permitted in the town was built by the local authority, interestingly, with the aim of keeping humans out of the park, rather than containing the animals inside. Consequently, it is not unusual to see giraffes or elephants causing traffic jams, for example, and even predator attacks on humans are unnervingly common - a lion was recently said to have mauled and eaten an escaping burglar. Yet even after this, while some residents then called for all lions to be rounded up and shot, others suggested that they be allowed to walk the thoroughfares as a type of crime control, after an increase in the number of burglaries. Everywhere in Marloth Park, a wary understanding exists between man and beast.

12. Identify the main topic sentence in the paragraph.

13. Some paragraphs have no clear topic sentence. Read this paragraph and make notes about its main idea.

The real Hallstat is in Austria and is proud to be a traditional UNESCO* World Heritage Site. The Chinese Hallstat is a carbon copy, built in Guangdong province, China, by a millionaire who sponsored the construction of the imitation town. It cost approximately $940 million to build, and looks exactly like the real Hallstat, all the way down to its wooden houses, its narrow streets, and its funicular railway. When the residents of Austria's Hallstat (including the mayor) were invited to visit it, they expressed pride that their town was considered so improbably beautiful that it had been reproduced in its entirety, but they still had cause for complaint. Originally, the Chinese company had promised to meet with the Austrian residents to confirm that they were happy for their homes to be copied; instead, they simply sent their employees to Austria to fake photos, and they returned home to China without speaking to a single resident of the original Hallstat.

* United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

14. Use your notes to help you choose the correct heading.

A. A conflict between reality and imitation
B. The importance of official recognition
C. The result of encouraging wider investment