Question types - IELTS Academic Reading

1. MULTIPLE CHOICE

e.g. Why did Heyerdahl go to Easter Island?
A    to build a stone statue
B    to sail a reed boat
C    to learn the local language

2. SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

e.g. What kind of change can we experience in our bodies due to stress?

3. SENTENCE COMPLETION

e.g. In Greece, tourism is the most important.....

4. SUMMARY COMPLETION

e.g. Psychologists have traditionally believed that a personality.......................was impossible and that by a..................., a person's character tends to be fixed. This is not true according to positive psychologists, who say that our personal qualities can be seen as habitual behaviour. One of the easiest qualities to acquire is.............

5. TABLE COMPLETION

6. FLOW-CHART COMPLETION

7. DIAGRAM LABEL COMPLETION

8. NOTE COMPLETION

9. IDENTIFYING INFORMATION

e.g. TRUE               if the statement agrees with the information
       FALSE             if the statement contradicts the information
       NOT GIVEN   if there is no information on this

Most comedians use personal situations as a source of humour
Chimpanzees make particular noises when they are playing

10. IDENTIFYING WRITER'S VIEWS/CLAIMS

e.g. YES                if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
       NO                  if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
       NOT GIVEN  if it is impossible to say what the writer things about this

Power companies have given Diels enough money to develop his laser.
Weather forecasters are intensely interested in Diel's system.

11. MATCHING INFORMATION

e.g. People must accept that they do not know much when first trying something new
       It is important for people to actively notice when good things happen

               List of people
               A   Christopher Peterson
               B   David Fajgenbaum
               C   Suzanne Segerstrom

12. MATCHING HEADINGS

e.g. List of Headings
       i The search for the reasons for an increase in population
       ii Industrialisation and the fear of unemployment
       iii The development of cities in Japan
       iv The time and place of the Industrial Revolution
       v The cases of Holland, France and China
   
       1 Paragraph A
       2 Paragraph B
       3 Paragraph C
       4 Paragraph D

13. MATCHING FEATURES

e.g. Which paragraph contains the following information?
.
       1  a description of an early timekeeping invention affected by cold temperatures
       2  a description of the origins of the pendulum clock
       3  an explanation of the importance of geography in the development of the calendar in farming              communities

14. MATCHING SENTENCE ENDINGS

e.g. Scientists know a moment of insight is coming
       Metal connections are much harder to make
       Some companies require their employees to stop working

       A when people are not too familiar with one another.
       B because there is greater activity in the right side of the brain.
       C if people are concentrating on the specifics of a problem.
       D so they can increase the possibility of finding answers.
       E when the brain shows strong signs of distraction

Academic IELTS Writing - Task 1 (Vocabulary)

Taken from IELTS Preparation

Academic Writing Task 1 (Vocabulary)

Introducing an overall trend
One of the most important things to note is that
One thing that stands out is that
It is interesting to note that

Introducing supporting detail
More specifically,
For example,
For instance,

Approximating
About
Approximately
Roughly
Just under
Just over
A little less than
A little more than

Time referencing
From the beginning of the period,
Thereafter,
Following that,
Throughout the period

Making forecasts
It seems likely that
The trend looks set to continue
It is estimated that
It is predicted to

Linking paragraphs
In contrast,
Similarly,
As regards

Describing two parts of a chart
Twice as many/three times as many/not as many........as.....
Far more/much more/many more/a lot more/substantially more/considerably more/significantly more/slightly more.....than.....

Very big changes
dramatic
sharp
huge
enormous
steep

Big changes
substantial
considerable
significant
marked

Small changes
moderate
slight
small
minimal

IELTS Academic Writing - Task 2

Many people choose to learn a foreign language through self-study. Others believe it's impossible to become a fluent speaker in this way. Discuss both these views and give your opinion.

In a global world learning a foreign language has become extremely important for work and travel. Some people opt to learn a second language on their own using the Internet and other resources while others argue that this is not an effective method.

People who have full-time jobs, family responsibilities, limited time or money or choose to learn another language for pleasure might go about learning a foreign language on their own. The Internet has a wealth of information for language learners. There are free courses, videos, movies in foreign languages, blogs, apps, supportive groups on Facebook and quizzes available which makes it easy for someone to learn grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. It is also possible to find printed material, CDs and DVDs at local libraries and bookstores. All these resources can be accessed easily and can help a learner achieve a certain standard via self-study.

In order to reach a higher level though, other methods might be required. It may be a good idea for a learner to attend regular classes to improve their accuracy in the language. During a lesson they have the opportunity to ask a teacher questions and interact with other students. Another way is to immerse themselves in the culture of a country by trying to live there or working locally. If someone lives or works where a language is spoken they are able to learn it faster and better. 

In my opinion, self-study is useful for beginners who want to understand the basic structure and vocabulary of a language. In terms of fluency, however, I think classes are needed in order for a person to reach a higher level of accuracy.  

Relative clauses - Grammar

Relative clauses give more information / comment on the main idea.
e.g. If you own a company, you are able to make decisions yourself, which means you are in control of your work.

Common relative clauses:

which means, allows people to, enables people to, makes it possible/easy difficult to, gives people a chance to, encourages people to, prevents/stops people from

Discussion Clock for Essays

Signposting for IELTS listening

Lectures

• I'm going to look at the....
• There are going to be three sections to my lecture today...
• In the first I am going to discuss briefly...
• Then I will go on to look at...
• Finally, I'm going to think about...
• So,...
• ...comes next
• Okay. Let's now think about...

Flowcharts

• In addition to...
• Besides this...
• Then,...
• Once this is...
• The next step is...
• Finally...