Reference · question types and traps
Question patterns
Each question type has a method. Most marks are lost to not knowing which one applies.
This is technique, not content. No copyrighted past papers are reproduced here — these are the patterns the question types follow, which is what lets you practise with any legitimate material.
Reading — the five that matter
True / False / Not Given
The most-missed type in the test. The trap is the boundary between False and Not Given.
- True — the passage says essentially the same thing.
- False — the passage says the opposite. A contradiction must exist.
- Not Given — the passage is silent. It neither confirms nor contradicts.
The only question you need to ask
"Does the text state this?" — not "is this plausible?" If you cannot point to a sentence that contradicts the statement, the answer is Not Given, however obviously wrong the statement feels to you.
Your real-world knowledge of the topic is irrelevant. IELTS penalises using it.
Yes / No / Not Given is the same method applied to the writer's opinion rather than to facts. Read for the writer's stance, not the topic — and check the opinion belongs to the writer, not to someone the writer is quoting.
Other rules: statements follow passage order, so question 6 is never behind question 5. The question's words are almost never the passage's words — you are matching meaning, so practise recognising paraphrase.
Matching headings
Match a heading to each paragraph's main idea. Do this set first in a passage: it forces a map of the whole passage that the later disordered question types need. Read the first and last sentence of each paragraph, choose the heading that covers the whole paragraph rather than one eye-catching detail, and cross off used headings.
Matching information
Find which paragraph contains a specific detail. This is the most time-expensive type on the paper: answers are disordered, some paragraphs hold no answer and others hold two.
Do it last, after you have the passage map. Underline the function word in each prompt — "a reason for", "an example of", "a comparison between" — because you are matching the function, not the topic. If a prompt resists two scans, choose the most likely paragraph and move on. You will often stumble on another answer while looking.
Completion — sentence, summary, note, table, flow-chart
The mechanical family, and spelling-sensitive. Predict before you read: what word class fills the gap (noun, verb, number, date, name)? Then obey the word limit exactly. A summary usually covers only part of the passage — find that part first.
Listening — the four audio traps
One habit defeats three of the four
Do not commit to an answer until the speaker finishes the relevant point. The right answer is almost always the last confirmed piece of information, not the first one spoken.
| Trap | What you hear | The answer |
|---|---|---|
| Correction | "originally Tuesday — actually, we moved it to Thursday" | Thursday. Signals: actually, I mean, no sorry, we've changed it to, let me correct that |
| Qualification | "usually $15 — but free for students with ID" | Free, if the question is about students. Signals: but, however, except, unless, only if |
| Mention then reject | "we could take the bus, but… the train would be faster" | Train. Signals: I think, let's go with, the better option is |
| Word limit | Any three words where two were allowed | Wrong regardless of content. Numbers count as one word; hyphenated words count as one. |
Also expect a map flip in Section 2: directions are given from the speaker's point of view, not yours. Orient the plan before the talk starts.
Listening — the cheapest marks on the paper
Not comprehension. Clerical.
Ask experienced teachers where Listening marks leak and it is almost never vocabulary. It is spelling, plurals and number form — you hear the answer perfectly and score nothing. These are the cheapest marks in the test to protect.
- Write answers in BLOCK CAPITALS. IELTS accepts it. It removes capital-letter errors on names and makes your handwriting legible for the examiner.
- thirTEEN vs THIRty — the entire difference is stress. Same for fourTEEN / FORty. Drill stress, not sound.
- Write numbers as figures. "25" cannot be misspelled and costs no word-limit budget, unlike "twenty-five" which spends a word.
- Predict plurals grammatically, not by ear. "two ______" almost always wants a plural — but information, equipment, advice, luggage, research never take an s.
- Both British and American spellings are accepted, as long as the word is complete. An invented spelling is always wrong.
Names and unusual words are almost always spelled out letter by letter — that is the test handing you the spelling. Write the letters as they come. Watch M/N, B/P, D/T, and "double L" meaning a doubled letter.
Sequencing: how to spend the 60 minutes of Reading
Within each passage, work the question sets in a deliberate order rather than in the order printed:
- Matching headings — build the map of the whole passage.
- Completion and TFNG — these follow passage order, so position your search from the last answer you found.
- Matching information — last, disordered, and needs the map you already have.
Never hop between passages. The map you build is the asset, and passage-hopping throws it away. Budget 20 minutes each.
Two rules that cut across everything
Never leave a blank
There is no penalty for a wrong answer in Reading or Listening. A blank scores zero; a guess on a three-way question has a one-in-three chance. Filling every gap is free.
Read the instructions first
Most easy marks are lost to instructions, not to hard English. Word limits change between sets. "You may use any letter more than once" changes your whole approach to matching. Assume nothing.