IELTS Reading Question Types

There are several types of reading questions in the IELTS exam, including:

1.    Multiple Choice Questions:

These questions require you to choose the correct answer from a list of options.

Sample Reading Passage:

One of the most famous works of art in the world is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Nearly everyone who goes to see the original will already be familiar with it from reproductions, but they accept that fine art is more rewardingly viewed in its original form. However, if Mona Lisa was a famous novel, few people would bother to go to a museum to read the writer’s actual manuscript rather than a printed reproduction. This might be explained by the fact that the novel has evolved precisely because of technological developments that made it possible to print out huge numbers of texts, whereas oil paintings have always been produced as unique objects. In addition, it could be argued that the practice of interpreting or ‘reading’ each medium follows different conventions. With novels, the reader attends mainly to the meaning of words rather than the way they are printed on the page, whereas the ‘reader’ of a painting must attend just as closely to the material form of marks and shapes in the picture as to any ideas they may signify.

Questions:

·        According to the passage, Monalisa is

A.    Da Vinci’s masterpiece

B.     One of the famous works of art

C.     Just another painting

D.    The only work on art 

·        Why do people want to view art in its original form?

A.    They can appreciate art better in its original form.

B.     They are tired of viewing duplicates.

C.     both A & B

D.    None of the above

Answers: For the first question, the answer is in the first line which says ”One of the most famous works of art in the world is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa”. So the answer is “B. One of the famous works of art”.

For the second question, the answer is in the second line which says “fine art is more rewardingly viewed in its original form” which means that they can appreciate art better in its original form. “Rewardingly viewed” can also mean “appreciate better”. So the answer is A.

2.     Matching Headings:

These questions require you to match headings to paragraphs or sections of the reading passage.

Example: Read the passage and choose a heading from the list.

Answer(V)

The role of governments in environmental management is difficult but inescapable.  Sometimes, the state tries to manage the resources it owns, and does so badly.  Often, however, governments act in an even more harmful way.  They actually subsidise the exploitation and consumption of natural resources.  A whole range of policies, from farm-price support to protection for coal-mining, do environmental damage and (often) make no economic sense.  Scrapping them offers a two-fold bonus: a cleaner environment and a more efficient economy.  Growth and environmentalism can actually go hand in hand, if politicians have the courage to confront the vested interest that subsidies create.

3.     True/False/Not Given:

These questions require you to determine whether statements made about the passage are true, false, or not given.

Example question:

While skin bleaching is a long-standing cosmetic staple across Sudan, a newer craze is sweeping the nation. Many young women are turning to prescription pills in order to gain weight, and hopefully gain the curvaceous figures they see as the standard of beauty. Away from the regulation of trained pharmacists, fattening pills are illegally dispensed by the same small shops which sell topical bleaching creams and other popular beauty fixes. Sold individually, in small bags and emptied sweet containers, they are completely devoid of any information about medical risks.

Read the following statement and mark it true, false or not given

‘’People do not get any information about the dangers to their health when they purchase unregulated weight gain pills’’

4.     Sentence Completion:

These questions require you to complete sentences using information from the passage.

Example: Read the passage and answer fill in the blank in the statement given

European Settlement of Australia

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.

Statement: Britain decided to send people to live and govern Australia due to a _________________ factors.

 

5.     Matching Sentence Endings:

These questions require you to match sentence endings to the beginning of sentences in the passage.

Example: Read the passage and match sentence ending (from the list below) to the beginning of sentences in passage

Beginning of sentence: Researchers with differing attitudes towards telepathy agree on…….

Since the 1970s, parapsychologists at leading universities and research institutes around the world have risked the derision of sceptical colleagues by putting the various claims for telepathy to the test in dozens of rigorous scientific studies. The results and their implications are dividing even the researchers who uncovered them. Some researchers say the results constitute compelling evidence that telepathy is genuine. Other parapsychologists believe the field is on the brink of collapse, having tried to produce definitive scientific proof and failed. Sceptics and advocates alike do concur on one issue, however, that the most impressive evidence so far has come from the so-called ‘ganzfeld’ experiments, a German term that means ‘whole field’. Reports of telepathic experiences had by people during meditation led parapsychologists to suspect that telepathy might involve ‘signals’ passing between people that were so faint that they were usually swamped by normal brain activity. In this case, such signals might be more easily detected by those experiencing meditation-like tranquillity in a relaxing ‘whole field’ of light, sound and warmth. Answer(E)

Options are:

A.     A. the discovery of a mechanism for telepathy.

B.      B. the need to create a suitable environment for telepathy.

C.      C. their claims of a high success rate.

D.     D. a solution to the problem posed by random guessing.

E.      E.  the significance of the ganzfeld experiments.

6.    Short Answer Questions:

These questions require you to provide a brief answer using information from the passage.

Example: Read the question and give short answer.

What does the government want to bring in?  

A recent newspaper investigation into the growing number of foreign fee-paying students raises some issues for timely reflection. To be blunt, we need to prepare ourselves for a sudden and major increase in population. This new population will not be permanent but it will continue to increase in numbers and make itself at home in New Zealand for the main purpose of intellectual advancement. It will, in effect, be a rotating population but one that produces an increase in the total population at any one time.

I am also not surprised to hear calls for the Government to introduce an industry levy - frankly, just another tax - to "protect" standards. We should keep in mind that foreign students are happy to come here because of our stable Government, virtually non-existent corruption, and education standards. For the Government to come to our support with an extra levy imposition reminds me of an old saying: When a sufficient number of management layers are superimposed on top of each other, it can be assured that disaster is not left to chance. Answer (An industry levy/tax)

 

7.    Diagram Labeling:

These questions require you to label a diagram or illustration using information from the passage. Answer(4.albumin, 5.yolk, 6.air cell)

Example: Read the passage and label the diagram

The chicken egg

Chicken egg consists of six main parts: albumin, yolk, shell, germinal disc, chalaza and air cell. In further paragraphs we will learn all the important information you need to know about these parts.

One of the main parts of the egg is yolk - the yellow, inner part of the egg where the embryo will form. The yolk contains the food that will nourish the embryo as it grows. Yolk is a major source of vitamins, minerals, almost half of the protein, and all of the fat and cholesterol. The yolk contains less water and more protein than the white part of the egg, some fat, and most of the vitamins and minerals of the egg. The yolk is also a source of lecithin, an effective emulsifier. Yolk color ranges from just a hint of yellow to a magnificent deep orange, according to the feed and breed of the hen. Yolk is anchored by chalaza - a spiral, rope-like strand that anchors the yolk in the thick egg white. There are two chalazae anchoring each yolk; one on the top and one on the bottom.

Another very important part of the egg is the albumin, which is the inner thick white part of the egg. This part of the egg is an excellent source of riboflavin and protein. In high-quality eggs, the inner thick albumen stands higher and spreads less than thin white. In low-quality eggs, it appears thin white.

 

 

It's important to familiarize yourself with these question types and practice answering them in order to feel confident and prepared for the reading section of the IELTS exam.