Tips for IELTS Exam Part 3: Reading Exam • Before you start, check all 3 sections of the test – you don’t need to start with section 1. In fact, it’s better to start with a section that suits you best. This means if you see a topic you like you could choose this section first. If you hate paragraph matching questions and always do badly at them, then do this section last. • Spend no more than 20 minutes on each section – you have 3 sections to complete in 60 minutes. • Always start by reading through the text quickly (about 5 minutes) and underline the main idea in each paragraph. If you can’t decide what to underline write a note at the side which tells you the topic of this paragraph. • Circle the instructions regarding the number of words in the answer– as they change throughout the exam. • Underline or circle the key words in questions, and look for similar meaning words and phrases in the text. Think about what kind of answer you are looking for, and/or what the grammar of the answer might be. • As you answer the reading questions, make sure you write the answers directly onto the answer sheet – there is no time to transfer answers at the end. • If your answer requires you to copy a word from the text, make sure you copy the spelling correctly. • For challenging questions such as matching paragraph headings, summarizing and Yes/No/True/False/Not Given, it might help to read the questions and identify key words before you read the text. As you read you may find a paragraph or sentence relates well to one of the questions. You could put a * next to it to help you find the actual answer later. • For multiple choices and paragraph heading questions, if you find an answer that you think is wrong then mark an X by it – it helps to identify wrong answers so you don’t waste more time on them. • For matching paragraph headings, if you can’t decide between 2 possible answers then write both. When you’ve finished all the questions you can go back and delete the inappropriate one.