IELTS Reading Section: Effective Skimming Strategies

The Reading module of the IELTS consists of a total of 40 questions . It includes three passages , with a total word count ranging from 2,000 to 2,750 words . Skimming the Passage Your first task when you begin reading is to answer the question: “What is the topic of the passage?” This can best be answered by quickly skimming the passage to get the general idea, stopping only to read the first sentence of each paragraph. The first sentence in most paragraphs is usually the main topic sentence, summarizing the paragraph’s content. After skimming, you will have a general sense of the passage’s content and the topics covered in each paragraph. Understanding this will help you to know where to focus when answering questions. Searching Scientifically for Answers Each question provides clues as to where the answer can be found in the passage. Avoid randomly searching through the passage. Instead, search scientifically . Identify the keywords or ideas in the question that will be repeated or referenc…