IELTS Reading Lesson
Reading Lesson 1 - Matching Paragraph
Headings
Objective: to practice matching paragraph headings to paragraphs.
A common type of IELTS Reading question will ask you to select headings of
paragraphs and match them to the paragraphs from a text.
On this page there is a full reading text and some practice questions. At the end
of the page, there is a discussion of the answers and how you should have
identified the correct match.

Strategies to answer the questions
1. Quickly read through the paragraph headings so you can see what they say.
2. Then look at the first paragraph.
3. Often only the topic sentence needs to be read carefully because the main
idea and answer are there - you may be able to just skim the rest.
4. Sometimes, however, the answer is not in the topic sentence and the whole
paragraph needs to be read more carefully.
5. If a match is not immediately obvious, move on to the next one.
6. If you are unsure between two answers at first, put them both in. You may be
able to eliminate one answer later if it fits another paragraph better.
7. If at the end you are still stuck between two answers for a question, pick
which fits best.

Things to beware of
1. There are always more choices of paragraph headings on the list than
paragraphs, so be careful when matching them.
2. Watch out for synonyms - often words in the paragraphs and paragraph
headings will not be the same; they will be synonyms.


3. Having a noun from a heading that is in the paragraph does not guarantee

they match - you still need to read it carefully to check.

One Paragraph Practice Exercise
Before you do a full reading, we'll have a practice with one paragraph.
This is the first paragraph from the full reading you will do. There are only five
choices of paragraph headings for this first one (less than on the full reading).
Follow the procedure shown above, and click on what you think is the correct
answer. The topic sentence is in red to remind you to focus on that.

Yoruba Towns
A. The Yoruba people of Nigeria classify their towns in
two ways. Permanent towns with their own governments are
called “ilu”, whereas temporary settlements, set up to
support work in the country are “aba”. Although ilu tend
to be larger than aba, the distinction is not one of size,
some aba are large, while declining ilu can be small, but
of purpose. There is no “typical” Yoruba town, but some
features are common to most towns.
1. Match the correct heading to the paragraph.
Town facilities
Oyo’s palace
Urban divisions
Architectural features
Types of settlements

Now you know some strategies and have practiced with one paragraph, you can
now practice matching paragraph headings with a full text.

Matching Paragraph Headings - Practice
Read and focus on the topic sentences in the text below and then match the

paragraph headings to their paragraphs. One has been done for you.


The reading passage has seven paragraphs: A – G.
Choose the most suitable paragraph headings B – G from the list of headings on
the right.
Write the appropriate numbers (i –ix) in the text boxes below the headings. NB
There are more paragraph headings than paragraphs so you will not use them
all.

Yoruba Towns
A. The Yoruba people of Nigeria classify their towns in two ways.
Permanent towns with their own governments are called “ilu”,
whereas temporary settlements, set up to support work in the country
are “aba”. Although ilu tend to be larger than aba, the distinction is not
one of size, some aba are large, while declining ilu can be small, but of
purpose. There is no “typical” Yoruba town, but some features are
common to most towns.
B. In the 19th century most towns were heavily fortified and the
foundations of these walls are sometimes visible. Collecting tolls to
enter and exit through the walls was a major source of revenue for the
old town rulers, as were market fees. The markets were generally
located centrally and in small towns, while in large towns there were
permanent stands made of corrugated iron or concrete. The market
was usually next to the local ruler’s palace.
C. The palaces were often very large. In the 1930’s, the area of Oyo’s
palace covered 17 acres, and consisted of a series of courtyards
surrounded by private and public rooms. After colonization, many of
the palaces were completely or partially demolished. Often the rulers
built two storey houses for themselves using some of the palace

grounds for government buildings.
D. The town is divided into different sections. In some towns these are
regular, extending out from the center of the town like spokes on a
wheel, while in others, where space is limited, they are more random.
The different areas are further divided into compounds called “ile”.
These vary in size considerably from single dwellings to up to thirty
houses. They tend to be larger in the North. Large areas are devoted
to government administrative buildings. Newer developments such as
industrial or commercial areas or apartment housing for civil servants
tends to be build on the edge of the town.


E. Houses are rectangular and either have a courtyard in the center or
the rooms come off a central corridor. Most social life occurs in the
courtyard. They are usually built of hardened mud and have roofs of
corrugated iron or, in the countryside, thatch. Buildings of this
material are easy to alter, either by knocking down rooms or adding
new ones. And can be improved by coating the walls with cement.
Richer people often build their houses of concrete blocks and, if they
can afford to, build two storey houses. Within compounds there can be
quite a mixture of building types. Younger well-educated people may
have well furnished houses while their older relatives live in mud
walled buildings and sleep on mats on the floor.
F. The builder or the most senior man gets a room either near the
entrance or, in a two storied house, next to the balcony. He usually
has more than one room. Junior men get a room each and there are
separate rooms for teenage boys and girls to sleep in. Younger
children sleep with their mothers. Any empty room are used as
storage, let out or, if they face the street, used as shops.
G. Amenities vary. In some towns most of the population uses

communal water taps and only the rich have piped water, in others
piped water is more normal. Some areas have toilets, but bucket
toilets are common with waste being collected by a “night soil man”.
Access to water and electricity are key political issues.
569 words

Paragraph Headings Answer Discussion
Paragraph B
(vi) - Historical foundations
B. In the 19th century most towns were heavily fortified and the foundations of
these walls are sometimes visible. Collecting tolls to enter and exit through the
walls was a major source of revenue for the old town rulers, as were market fees.
The markets were generally located centrally and in small towns, while in large
towns there were permanent stands made of corrugated iron or concrete. The
market was usually next to the local ruler’s palace.
In this first question, the word 'foundation' is in the topic sentence. This does
not automatically make 'vi' the correct answer. However, it is a good reason to


flag this up as a possibility. The heading also refers to 'history', so the reference
to '19th century' in the topic sentence tells us the paragraph is about the history.
A quick skim of the paragraph confirms this.
Paragraph C
(ix) - Various changes
C. The palaces were often very large. In the 1930’s, the area of Oyo’s palace
covered 17 acres, and consisted of a series of courtyards surrounded by private
and public rooms. After colonization, many of the palaces were completely or
partially demolished. Often the rulers built two storey houses for themselves
using some of the palace grounds for government buildings.
The second part of the paragraph goes on to discuss changes that took place.

Paragraph D
(iii) - Urban divisions
D. The town is divided into different sections. In some towns these are regular,
extending out from the center of the town like spokes on a wheel, while in others,
where space is limited, they are more random. The different areas are further
divided into compounds called “ile”. These vary in size considerably from single
dwellings to up to thirty houses. They tend to be larger in the North. Large areas
are devoted to government administrative buildings. Newer developments such
as industrial or commercial areas or apartment housing for civil servants tends
to be build on the edge of the town.
The answer is first seen in the topic sentence. The word 'divided' should have
flagged this up to you as a possibility. Notice the use of the synonym 'urban' to
replace 'town'. It is common to see synonyms in paragraph headings questions
and other IELTS reading questions.
Paragraph E
(iv) - Architectural features
E. Houses are rectangular and either have a courtyard in the center or the
rooms come off a central corridor. Most social life occurs in the courtyard. They
are usually built of hardened mud and have roofs of corrugated iron or, in the
countryside, thatch. Buildings of this material are easy to alter, either by
knocking down rooms or adding new ones. And can be improved by coating the
walls with cement. Richer people often build their houses of concrete blocks and,
if they can afford to, build two storey houses. Within compounds there can be


quite a mixture of building types. Younger well-educated people may have well
furnished houses while their older relatives live in mud walled buildings and
sleep on mats on the floor.
The topic sentence starts to give you a clue that 'iv' is the correct choice of the
paragraph headings as it discusses architectural styles, which are then

discussed further in the supporting sentences that follow.
Paragraph F
(vii) - Domestic arrangements
F. The builder or the most senior man gets a room either near the entrance or,
in a two storied house, next to the balcony. He usually has more than one room.
Junior men get a room each and there are separate rooms for teenage boys and
girls to sleep in. Younger children sleep with their mothers. Any empty room are
used as storage, let out or, if they face the street, used as shops.
In this context, 'domestic' means of or relating to the home, so the heading is
referring to the arrangements within the home. Again, just by reading the topic
sentence you can see that this paragraph is discussing home arrangements and
skimming through the rest of the paragraph confirms this.
Paragraph G
(i) - Town facilities
G. Amenities vary. In some towns most of the population uses communal water
taps and only the rich have piped water, in others piped water is more normal.
Some areas have toilets, but bucket toilets are common with waste being
collected by a “night soil man”. Access to water and electricity are key political
issues.
'Facilities' is a synonym of 'amenities' so this is the first clue that this could fit
this paragraph, but you need to read on to confirm that the paragraph is
discussing the facilities of the town, which it is.

Lesson 2: IELTS Multiple Choice Practice
Objectives:
 To practice IELTS multiple choice questions


To practice scanning techniques




To look at the use of synonyms in IELTS reading questions


Strategies to answer the questions
1. Look through the questions first
2. Underline key words from the question
3. Then scan the text for those key words that you have underlined
4. The answer should be found close to that word
5. The answers will be found in the text in the same order as the questions

Things to beware of
1. There will be synonyms used in the reading - the words in the IELTS multiple
choice questions may not be the same as in the text

One Paragraph Practice Exercise
Before looking at a longer reading, we'll have a practice with two paragraphs. It
is the first part of the full reading you will do.
Identify the key word in the question first of all. Then scan the text to find it.
When you have done this, read the sentences around this key word and see
what information best matches the three choices you have.
1. What is dry farming?
Preserving nitrates and moisture.
Ploughing the land again and again.
Cultivating fallow land.

Australian Agricultural Innovations:
1850 – 1900
During this period, there was a wide spread expansion of

agriculture in Australia. The selection system was begun,
whereby small sections of land were parceled out by lot.
Particularly in New South Wales, this led to conflicts between
small holders and the emerging squatter class, whose abuse of


the system often allowed them to take vast tracts of fertile land.
There were also many positive advances in farming technology as
the farmers adapted agricultural methods to the harsh Australian
conditions. One of the most important was “dry farming”. This
was the discovery that repeated ploughing of fallow,
unproductive land could preserve nitrates and moisture, allowing
the land to eventually be cultivated. This, along with the
extension of the railways allowed the development of what are
now great inland wheat lands.
To answer this question you should have highlighted the word dry farming.
You should then have been able to scan the two paragraphs to quickly find this
word.
Reading the information around it more carefully would the give you the
answer:
Cultivating means to improve and prepare (land) by ploughing or fertilizing,
for raising crops.
So the answer was "the ploughing of fallow land...to eventually be
cultivated."
___________________________________________________________

Full Practice - IELTS Multiple Choice
1. What is dry farming?
Preserving nitrates and moisture.
Ploughing the land again and again.

Cultivating fallow land.
2. What did H. V. McKay do?


Export the stripper.
Improve the stripper.
Cut, collect and sort wheat.
3. What was the stump jump plough’s innovation?

It could cut through tree stumps.
To put the plough shear on wheels.
It allowed farmers to cultivate land that hadn’t been fully cleared.
4. What did John Custance recommend?

Improving wheat yields.
Revitalising the industry.
Fertilizing the soil.
5. Why was William Farrer’s wheat better?

It was drought resistant.
It wasn’t from England or South Africa.
It was drier for Australian conditions.

Australian Agricultural Innovations:
1850 – 1900
During this period, there was a wide spread expansion of
agriculture in Australia. The selection system was begun,
whereby small sections of land were parceled out by lot.
Particularly in New South Wales, this led to conflicts
between small holders and the emerging squatter class,

whose abuse of the system often allowed them to take vast


tracts of fertile land.
There were also many positive advances in farming
technology as the farmers adapted agricultural methods to
the harsh Australian conditions. One of the most important
was “dry farming”. This was the discovery that repeated
ploughing of fallow, unproductive land could preserve
nitrates and moisture, allowing the land to eventually be
cultivated. This, along with the extension of the railways
allowed the development of what are now great inland wheat
lands.
The inland areas of Australia are less fertile than most
other wheat producing countries and yields per acre are
lower. This slowed their development, but also led to the
development of several labour saving devices. In 1843 John
Ridley, a South Australian farmer, invented “the
stripper”, a basic harvesting machine. By the 1860s its
use was widespread. H. V. McKay, then only nineteen,
modified the machine so that it was a complete harvester:
cutting, collecting and sorting. McKay developed this
early innovation into a large harvester manufacturing
industry centred near Melbourne and exporting worldwide.
Robert Bowyer Smith invented the “stump jump plough”,
which let a farmer plough land which still had tree stumps
on it. It did this by replacing the traditional plough
shear with a set of wheels that could go over stumps, if
necessary.
The developments in farm machinery were supported by

scientific research. During the late 19th century, South
Australian wheat yields were going down. An agricultural
scientist at the colony’s agricultural college, John
Custance, found that this was due to a lack of phosphates
and advised the use of soluble superphosphate fertilizer.
The implementation of this scheme revitalised the
industry.
From early days it had been obvious that English and
European sheep breeds had to be adapted to Australian
conditions, but only near the end of the century was the
same applied to crops. Prior to this, English and South
African strains had been use, with varying degrees of
success. William Farrer, from Cambridge University, was


the first to develop new wheat varieties that were better
able to withstand dry Australian conditions. By 1914,
Australia was no longer thought of as a land suitable only
for sheep, but as a wheat growing nation.

422wds

Lesson 3:
IELTS True False Not Given
Objectives: to practice answering IELTS True False Not Givenquestions.
This lesson explains how to answer True and False questions for IELTS.
You also have a Not Given option with this type of task.
Firsly, you will be presented with a list of facts.
You then have to look at the text in order to decide if the facts are true, false, or
not given.

Below are some tips and strategies to help you answer this type of question.

Tips


If the fact you are given is clearly in the reading it is True



If the reading says the opposite of the fact you've been given it is False



If it is not true or false, it is Not Given

Strategies to answer the questions


The questions follow the order of the text.



Read the question carefully to make sure you fully understand what it is
saying.




Scan the text to find where the answer is using key wordsfrom the
question




When you find where the answer is, read the text carefullyto identify if you
think it is T, F or NG.



The questions will probably use synonyms rather than the words in the text.



Look out for controlling words such as “only”, “all’, “never” etc. For
example, if the fact in the question says 'some' and the fact in the text says
'all', then it is F.



Do not spend a long time looking for the answer to one question; it is
probably NG, if you cannot find it.



Make sure you use the correct code; 'Yes', 'No', 'No Information' is sometimes
used (these question are slightly different and you look for opinions rather
than facts).

Example
Look at this statment, taken from the first sentence in the reading below:
Chiles originate in South America and have been eaten for at least 9,500 years.

Here are some example IELTS True False Not Given statements with answers:
1. Chiles come from South America - T
2. People began eating Chiles in the last few centuries - F
3. South Americans were the first people to start eating Chiles -NG
Number one is clearly true. Notice the use of the synonym 'come from' used
instead of 'originates'. It is common to use different words.
Two is clearly false as it was 9,500 years ago, not a few 100 years ago.
Three is not in the text. Be careful about making assumptions then thinking it
is true. It is quite probable the South Americans began eating Chiles first as they
originated there; however, you can't be sure of that and the text does not tell
you that.
___________________________________________________


IELTS True False Not Given - Practice
Now, read the following text and answer the questions to the right of the reading
using the drop down menu to choose either True, False, or Not Given.
An explanation of the answers is provided below.
Do the following statements agree with the information in the text? Mark them:
T if the statement agrees with the text
F if the statement does not agree with the text
NG if there is no information about this in the text

Chilies
Chiles originate in South America and have been eaten for at
least 9,500 years. Organised cultivation began around
5,400BC. Christopher Columbus was the first European to
encounter chilies, when he landed on the island of Hispaniola
in 1492. He thought it was a type of pepper and called it the
“red pepper”, a name still used today. After their

introduction to Europe they were an immediate sensation and
were quickly incorporated into the diet. From there they
spread to Africa, India and East Asia.
The reason for the chili’s “hotness” lies in a chemical
called Capsaisin. Capsaisin causes temporary irritation to
the trigeminal cells, which are the pain receptors in the
mouth, nose and throat. After the pain messages are
transmitted to the brain, endorphins, natural pain killers,
are released and these not only kill the pain but give the chili
eater a short lived natural high. Other side effects include:
an increased heart rate, a running nose and increased
salivation and sweating, which can have a cooling effect in
hot climates.
The reason for the presence of Capsaisin is thought to be to
deter animals from eating the fruit. Only mammals feel the
burning effects; birds feel nothing. As birds are a better
method of distributing the seeds, which pass intact through
their guts, Capsaisin would seem to be a result of natural
selection.


The smaller chilies tend to be the hottest. This may reflect
the fact that they tend to grow closer to the ground and are
therefore more vulnerable to animals. The heat of a chili is
measured on the Scoville scale. The hottest types such as the
Habenero and the Scotch Bonnet rate between 100,000 and
300,000, the world famous Tabasco sauceÒ rates at 15,000 to
30,000, about the same as the Thai prik khee nu, while the
popular Jalapeno is between 5,000 and 15,000. Powdered chili
is 500 to 1,000 and the mild capsicins and paprikas can range

between 100 and 0.

325 wds
___________________________________________________

IELTS True False Not Given - Answers Discussion
Question 1
Chilies became popular as soon as they were brought into Europe - T
After their introduction to Europe they were an immediate sensation and were
quickly incorporated into the diet.
There two statements are clearly saying the same thing. Notice the use of
synomyms:
Became popular = sensation
As soon as = immediately
Brought into = introduced
___________________________________________________
Question 2
Capsaisin damages the mouth - F
Capsaisin causes temporary irritation the trigeminal cells.
This is false as the statement says 'damage'. This is not the same as a 'temprary
irritation'.
___________________________________________________


Question 3
Chilies can be part of a birds diet - T
Only mammals feel the burning effects; birds feel nothing. As birds are a better
method of distributing the seeds, which pass intact through their guts
This is true as this section in the reading clearly tells us birds feel nothing (when
they eat them) and they distribute them around when it leaves their body. So

clearly chiles are eaten by birds. In other words, they can be a part of a birds
diet.
___________________________________________________
Question 4
All large chilies grow high off the ground - NG
The smaller chilies tend to be the hottest. This may reflect the fact that they
tend to grow closer to the ground and are therefore more vulnerable to animals.
We are told here that small chiles grow closer to the ground. It can be assumed
then that many of the large ones are higher off the ground.
However, it says 'all large chiles'. We are not given any information to say all
of them grow high off the ground. It's possible some don't, so we don't know
which means it is Not Given.
___________________________________________________
Question 5
People breed chilies for their heat - NG
The heat of a chili is measured on the Scoville scale.
Again, this is Not Given. We are given some information about heat in this
sentence and those that follow.
But these are just descriptions about how they are hot. We are not told
specifically that this is the reason they are breeing them.


Lesson 4:
IELTS Paragraph Headings
This lesson provides you with further practice on IELTS paragraph
headings matching type questions.
Imagine you are doing a reading task which involves choosing the correct
headings for paragraphs from a list of possible headings.
It may be very tempting to cross off the headings that you have used as you go.
For example, here is an example of a task that someone is halfway through after

choosing four IELTS paragraph headings.

1. A climate of fear
2. Fan violence returns
3. FIFA's response
4. Cancelling the cup
5. Legal action is taken
6. Not just the fans
7. Italy has a serious problem
8. Not to blame
9. Violence back in the news
10. A widespread problem

What is the possible problem with this way of doing things?
The problem with crossing off choices is that it means you no longer consider
those options for any of the remaining paragraphs.
Let's suppose that you have incorrectly chosen heading i for paragraph 1,
when heading i should in fact be used for paragraph 5. If you cross out the
options as you go, it means that when you come to do paragraph 5 you
will choose a different incorrect option.


In this way, making one mistake can lead to another. Making two mistakes
early on can easily lead to five or six wrong answers!
A much better idea is just to write down a paragraph number at the end of
each option as you go. For each paragraph consider all the possible headings,
and at this stage don't worry if you have more than 1 paragraph number after
each heading.
So you may, for example, have something like this as you go through the
exercise:

Paragraph 2 - viii / iv
When you get to the end of the passage you will probably have a single
paragraph number after most of the IELTS paragraph headings. You can now
cross off those options. For one or two perhaps you will have more than one. For
each of these go back to the passage and decide which of your choices is
the best; the paragraph you are left over with must need one of the other
headings that you didn't choose.
Paragraph 2 - viii / iv
We are now going to try this method. You will be reading a short article about
the problem of soccer violence from the Guardian newspaper.
Use the boxes at the side to input your answers. You can put in more than one
choice as you go along if you are not sure, but remember to delete one of them
at the end before you submit your answers.
Don't look below the reading until you have finished as there is a discussion of
the answers.

Soccer Violence
1. Fiorentina's exclusion from the UEFA Cup after a match
official was injured by a firecracker thrown during their
second-round match with Grasshopper Zurich in Salerno brought
hooliganism back in the media.
2. The Florence club are appealing against the decision,
arguing that the object was thrown by rival Salernitana fans and
the ban would set a dangerous precedent. But UEFA will have borne
in mind that Fiorentina were playing so far away from home only


because they had been banned from their own ground for crowd
trouble in Europe last season.
3. Whether Fiorentina have been hard done by or not, fan violence

is a problem in the Italian game. Fighting before Sunday's 1-1
draw between Bologna and Roma left eight people in hospital, two
with stab wounds. After the game a Roma supporters' bus was stoned
and set on fire.
4. But Italy is not the only country suffering from what used
to be called "the English disease". At the weekend police in
Bucharest fired tear-gas and made 20 arrests after a pitch
invasion at the Steaua-Dinamo derby, reflecting a marked growth
in hooliganism in Romania. The Greek first division match between
PAOK Thessaloniki and Olympiakos Piraeus last week was abandoned
after one of the linesmen was left concussed by home fans furious
at a disallowed goal, a decision which brought 10,000 people on
to the streets of Salonika in protest. In neighbouring Albania,
Skenderbeu Korce were fined and docked three points last month
after a brawl involving players, fans and the referee.
5. Hooliganism is taking its toll on the South American game
too. An Argentinian judge suspended all second division matches
this month in an effort to combat rising violence. The same judge
halted the first division for two weeks in May for the same
reason.
6. Football violence has claimed 37 lives in Argentina in the
Nineties and leading clubs routinely have to dole out free
tickets and cash to their gangsterish fans, known as barras
bravas, whose activities include extortion. This is leading to
a frightening atmosphere. A recent survey in Brazil found that
61 per cent of fans said they stayed away from matches because
they were too scared to attend..
7. FIFA is considering the postponement of the Confederations
Cup, scheduled for January, which may persuade the world
champions France to take part, a FIFA spokesman said yesterday.


IELTS Paragraph Headings - Answers Discussion


1. You might have chosen heading ii but this is wrong because we don't know
that violence ever disappeared (it may have been there all the time but just
nobody was talking about it). It has to be heading ix because it's back in the
public eye - i.e. in 'the news' / 'the media' again
2. This should be viii because Fiorentina are claiming that it was not their fault
i.e. they are not to blame.
3. The paragraph describes the situation in Italy which is serious, so you should
choose heading vii.
4. This paragraph describes the situation in a number of European countries, so
the answer must be heading x.
5. You might have wanted to choose heading x here, as it does introduce the
problems in another part of the world. But, you need this heading for the
previous paragraph, and this paragraph talks about the actions of a judge.
The answer should be heading v.
6. This paragraph discusses how people are frightened and scared. so you
should choose i.
7. Paragraph 7 discusses what action FIFA is considering, in other words, its
response. So iii is the correct answer. You should not choose iv. The
paragraph does talk aboutpostponing the cup, but not cancelling it.

Lesson 5:
IELTS Sentence Completion
Objectives: to practice how to answer IELTS sentence completiontasks and
to examine paraphrase and synonyms.
Often in the reading the test requires the candidate to complete a sentence.
In this type of task, you are given a sentences from the reading with a gap in it.

You have to fill it with words taken directly from the reading.
Check if the question tells you to use the exact words from the reading - some
do not.
When doing this, various factors are important to keep in mind:




make sure the answer does not exceed the stated word limit. Articles and
unneeded adjectives can sometimes be left out to achieve this.



make sure the answer fits into the statement grammatically.



be aware that the statement will not use the same words as the text.
As the statement you are given in IELTS sentence completion tasks will not be
taken exactly from the reading, you need to be aware
ofparaphrasing and synomyms.
These will both be used in the questions. This is what they mean:
Paraphrase: to repeat something written or spoken using different words
Synonym: a word or phrase which has the same or nearly the same meaning
as another word or phrase in the same language
So when you look at the question, you will need to find a paraphrase of that
sentence and probably some synomyms in the reading in order to find the right
one, and then work out the answer.
_________________________________________________


Practice
Let's have a short IELTS sentence completion practice before completing the
task.
Firstly, see if you can find the sentence below in the reading. You will need to
find paraphrases / synomyms of the words in bold in order to identify it:
Britain decided to send people to live and govern Australia due to
_________________ factors.
You should have identified it as this first sentence in paragraph 2:
A number of reasons contributed to Britain's decision tocolonise Australia.
And these were the paraphrases / synomyms:
reasons = factors


Colonise = send people to live and govern
So you should then be able to work out that the correct answer to put in the gap
is "a number of".
Now, using this technique and the tips at the top, read the full passage and do
the IELTS sentence completion exercise below (the reading is shorter than a
real IELTS reading).

IELTS Sentence Completion Practice Exercise
European Settlement of Australia
European settlement of Australia began in 1788 when a British penal
colony was established on the east coast. From this starting point
Australia grew rapidly and continually, expanding across the entire
continent.
A number of reasons contributed to Britain's decision to colonise
Australia. The most important factor was Britain's need to relieve
its overcrowded prisons. Several violent incidents at overcrowded
prisons convinced the British government of the need to separate

unruly elements from the rest of the prison populace.
Additionally, Australia was of strategic importance to Britain, and
it provided a base for the Royal Navy in the eastern sea. Also,
Australia could be used as an entry point to the economic
opportunities of the surrounding region. All these points figured
in the decision by Lord Sydney, secretary of state of home affairs,
to authorise the colonisation.
To this affect, on May 13, 1787, Captain Arthur Phillip, commanding
eleven ships full of convicts, left Britain for Australia. He
successfully landed a full fleet at Botany Bay on January 18, 1788.
However, they left the bay eight days later because of its openness
and poor soil, and settled instead at Port Jackson, a few kilometres
north. The ships landed 1,373 people, including 732 convicts, and
the settlement became Sydney. Australia Day is now celebrated on
26 January each year, to commemorate this first fleet landing.


224 words
Complete the following statements using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.
(put your choice into the gaps - use small letters and don't put any spaces after
your last word)

1. Australia was originally founded as

.

2. The major consideration in colonizing Australia was Britain’s
.

3. It was thought that Australia could be utilised as


to the

neigbouring region.
4. Lord Sydney took every factor into account when he gave official permission
for

of Australia.

5. Botany Bay was abandoned by the settlers due to the lack of cover
and

.

Clear

Score =
IELTS Sentence Completion - Correct answers:

These are the paraphrases and synomyms that you would have needed to
identify in order to successfully find the answers:

Question 1

Original word from the
reading

Synomym / paraphrase from
the question


began

founded


Question 2
Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

most important factor

major consideration

used

utilized

surrounding

neighbouring

all these points figured

took every factor into account

authorise


official permission

left

abandoned

openess

lack of cover

Lesson 6:
IELTS Reading Multiple Choice
Objective: IELTS reading multiple choice and skimming and scanning practice.
You won't have time in the reading test to carefully read the whole passage all
of the way through, so you need to find the answers in the text quickly.
This lesson shows you how skimming and scanning can help with this.

Identifying the question type
Before you start any reading pasage, you should firstly take a look at the
question stems to get an idea of what you may need to look out for.
So now look at the IELTS reading multiple choice questions below this reading.
If you look at the question stems, you will see that names are often mentioned
e.g.James Alan Fox, John J. DiIulio, Michael Tonry. So this immediately tells you
it is a good idea to underline 'names' as you read the text.
You will then be able to quickly scan the text later to find where the answers are.
Looking at the question stems first also gives you an idea of what the reading is
about.

Underline / highlight key words
As you read the text, you should get into the habit of highlighting words that

you think may be important and will help you find answers later.


These are often nouns like names, dates, numbers or any other key
words that stand out as a key topic of that paragraph.
Looking at the IELTS reading multiple choice questions quickly first may help
with this.

IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions
This type of question follows the order of the text. So when you have found one
answer, you know that the next one will be below, and probably not too far
away.
When you start looking at the questions, you should underline key words in the
question stem to help you find the answers in the text.
Look at the IELTS reading multiple choice questions again - as you will see, key
words have been highlighted. You can use these to help you scan the text to find
the answers more quickly.

Reading in detail
When you read the text for the first time, you should focus on the topic
sentences, and skim the rest of the paragraph.
But once you start answering the IELTS reading multiple choice questions and
you have found where the answer is, you will need toread the text carefully in
order to identify the correct choice.
Tip: Do not think that just because you have found some words in the multiple
choices (a, b or c) that match the words in the text that this must be the right
answer.
It's usually not that simple so you must read the section where you think the
answer is carefully.


IELTS Reading Multiple Choice - Practice