IELTS Reading lesson 4: Matching Paragraphs

In this lesson we'll learn how to answer Matching Paragraphs questions on IELTS

Reading. In this type of questions you're given a text that contains from 5 to 8 paragraphs
and a list of headings. Your goal is to match the paragraphs with the appropriate
headings. Usually there can be up to 2 extra headings.

Useful information:

 Headings do NOT follow the order of the text and are listed randomly.
 You need to get the general idea of each paragraph, not the specific details.
 Sometimes the first few lines of the paragraph can give you its main idea.

Answering strategy:

1. Look through the list of headings.

2. Read the first paragraph. Don't pay much attention to details, just get the general
idea of it. You can ask yourself: "What does author want to tell me in this
paragraph?" or "How would most likely this text be called if I saw it in the
newspaper?". These questions will help you to think in the right direction.
3. Read the headings list attentively and choose the best match.
4. If you don't see a match, move on to the next paragraph.
5. If you are unsure about the right match (you think that paragraphs A and D are
OK), write down all possible answers. Don't guess yet! Maybe some of your
choices will be crossed out later.
6. Move on to next paragraph and repeat this strategy.

Tips:

 Don't waste too much time on one paragraph. You can skip it and come back later.
 Try all the headings for each paragraph. Even if you already used some headings,
it's always better to double-check!
 If you see some unfamiliar words in the text, don't worry! In this section you
should just get the main idea of each paragraph. And you can do it without
knowing all the words.

Now take a look at the following example:

The lost giants of Australian fauna

(A) Australia's wildlife is unique. The vast majority of the animals that live there are not
found anywhere else – and things were no different 1 million years ago during the
Pleistocene: the age of the super-sized mammal. Before humanity became Earth's
undisputed superpower, giant beasts of all shapes and sizes dominated every continent,
but the Pleistocene mammals of Australia were different. Some of them could grow to the
size of small cars, or possessed teeth longer than knife blades.

(B) None of these animals survive today – although exactly why that's the case is a
mystery. Humans, with their advanced hunting techniques and use of fire to modify the
landscape, may have played a central role in the megafauna's disappearance, but this idea
is still a matter of heated debate.

(C) Even if we cannot be sure that the arrival of Australian Aboriginals on the continent
had catastrophic effects on its native animals, it seems that the animals had a rather
spiritual effect on the humans. The Aboriginal mythological "Dreamtime" includes a cast
of monstrous creatures, many of which bear a close resemblance to some of the real-life
monsters that once stalked Australia's plains. Are the myths based in fact? Perhaps: after
all, these creatures are far stranger than anything dreamed up by humans.

(D) For instance, the two-tonnes weighting Diprotodon comfortably holds the title of
largest marsupial ever. In size and appearance it looked superficially like a modern
rhinoceros, but the Diprotodon seems to have had a social lifestyle more like that of an
elephant, another mammal with which it shares anatomical similarities. What the
Diprotodon most resembles, however, is exactly what it is: an enormous wombat.

(E) Another record breaker, this time a world champion; Varanus priscus, commonly
known by its antiquated genus name Megalania – was the largest terrestrial lizard the
world has ever known. Megalania was a goanna lizard, a relative of today's infamous
Komodo dragon, and conservative estimates have predicted that it was at least 5.5m long.

(F) These monster marsupials were not the only giants. Their numbers were swelled by
half-tonne birds and dinosaur-like tortoises. Although this biological assemblage was
truly nightmarish for humans, it greatly enriched the Australia’s fauna and contributed to
the world’s biological diversity. Unfortunately, all of these species are extinct nowadays.
This fact shows us that even strong, monstrous creatures can easily die out. So we need to
care about animals that surround us today and don’t let them disappear as it happened to
their distant ancestors.

Matching paragraphs questions:

Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-F, in
boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet:

1. Extinction of monstrous creatures 

2. The largest mammal 
3. Myths and reality 
4. Incredible creatures of Pleistocene Australia 
5. Importance of animal protection 
6. Giant lizards 
7. Arrival of Australian Aboriginals 
8. Mystery the giants' disappearance 
Explanations

Paragraph A

After reading this paragraph we can clearly see that its main idea is to describe the
wildlife in Australia during Pleistocene. This idea is briefly written in the first sentence:

Australia's wildlife is unique.

So we can immediately cross out the irrelevant headings:

1. Extinction of monstrous creatures (there is nothing written about animals'

extinction in the first paragraph)
2. The largest mammal
3. Myths and reality (the text just gives information about the animals, it says
nothing about whether it is real)
4. Incredible creatures of Pleistocene Australia
5. Importance of animal protection (animal protection is not mentioned)
6. Giant lizards (nothing about lizards)
7. Arrival of Australian Aboriginals (nothing about Aboriginals)
8. Mystery the giants' disappearance (we're not given any information about animals'
disappearance)

So we're left with two headings. But despite that super-sized mammal is mentioned in the
text, the main focus of this paragraph is Australia's wildlife during Pleistocene. So the
correct answer is Incredible creatures of Pleistocene Australia.

Paragraph B

This paragraph says that we don't know why these creatures disappeared. And again, the
first sentence of this paragraph summarises its main idea:

None of these animals survive today – although exactly why that's the case is a mystery.

Now we can cross out the irrelevant headings:

1. Extinction of monstrous creatures

2. The largest mammal
3. Myths and reality

5. Importance of animal protection

6. Giant lizards
7. Arrival of Australian Aboriginals
8. Mystery the giants' disappearance

Both headings that are left look good. But the first one doesn't give enough information,
as it is highlighted in the paragraph that the case is a mystery. So the correct answer
is Mystery the giants' disappearance.
Paragraph C

These sentences contain the paragraphs main idea:

The Aboriginal mythological "Dreamtime" includes a cast of monstrous creatures, many

of which bear a close resemblance to some of the real-life monsters that once stalked
Australia's plains. Are the myths based in fact? Perhaps: after all, these creatures are far
stranger than anything dreamed up by humans.

So the text tells us about myths and reality, which is the correct heading.

Note that arrival of Australian Aboriginals is also mentioned in this paragraph, but it

doesn't play a key role.

Paragraph D

This paragraph is clearly about Diprotodon:

the two-tonnes weighting Diprotodon comfortably holds the title of largest marsupial
ever. In size and appearance it looked superficially like a modern rhinoceros, but the
Diprotodon seems to have had a social lifestyle more like that of an elephant, another
mammal with which it shares anatomical similarities.

So the main idea of paragraph D is The largest mammal.

Paragraph E

The whole paragraph is dedicated to the giant lizard Megalania:

... Megalania – was the largest terrestrial lizard ...

So, Giant lizards is a correct choice of heading.

Paragraph F

Paragraph F tells a bit more about other extinct species and ends with a conclusion:

Unfortunately, all of these species are extinct nowadays. This fact shows us that even
strong, monstrous creatures can easily die out. So we need to care about animals that
surround us today and don't let them disappear as it happened to their distant ancestors.

This conclusion is the main idea of this paragraph - we need to protect animals. That's
why the correct heading is Importance of animal protection.

You can also see that two paragraphs (1 and 7) were not used at all. This sometimes
happens in IELTS Matching Paragraphs questions.
 Exercise 1
Read the text and answer the questions below.

Simplicity reigns at London's biggest design festival.

(A) With upwards of 300 product launches, installations and exhibitions, London's

annual nine-day design festival is a showcase of head-spinning choice. In many ways
that's the beauty of the extravaganza, everyone has a different experience and takes
something unique away from it. There were however some intriguing themes and
trends in this year's edition that spoke to larger social or cultural preoccupations.

(B) One was the launch of two consumer electronics products designed to simplify and
beautify our technology-addled lives. Both chose the new London Design Festival
venue of Somerset House to show their wares. The first was a mobile phone launched
by Swiss company Punkt and designed by Jasper Morrison that allows users to make
calls and texts only (well, it has an alarm clock and an address book too). Punkt
founder Petter Neby doesn't believe it will replace your smart phone but suggests users
fit it with the same SIM card as your main phone and use it in the evenings, weekends
and on holiday.

(C) The other electronics launch came from the unlikely French sibling duo of the
Bouroullec brothers. Though tech companies like Samsung are usually prescriptive
about their products the Bouroullecs (who admitted they found most TVs sad and ugly)
seem to have been given free rein. Their new television for the mega Korean brand
looks more like an item of furniture than an ultra-large and ultra-slim piece of tech.
More importantly, it comes with simplified on-screen interaction and a 'curtain mode'
that turns your screen into a shimmering pattern during ads or half-time. Again, their
focus was on dialing down digital insanity.

(D) Customizable online furniture was also very much in vogue at this year's festival.
But rest assured, weird and unreliable software or off-the-wall designs sent to a 3D
printer somewhere and arriving months later, seem to be a thing of the past.
Customization may finally have come of age. Two examples were Scandi-brand Hem
that combinded good design by the likes of Luca Nichetto, Form Us With Love and
Sylvain Willenz with affordable price points. The fact that the brand opened a pop-up
store in Covent Garden during the festival is a recognition of the importance of both
physical and online spaces that work seamlessly together.

(E) Another online configurable brand to make its debut after years in development
was Warsaw-based Tylko. Like Hem, Tylko has spent time and money on very
powerful and easy-to-use software, but with only three designs - a table, a shelf and salt
and pepper mills - it has a way to go. Its augmented reality app is simple to use
however and its table has been developed with a nano-coating option that really does
 appear to keep pesky stains at bay. Craft and 'making' in all its forms was once again a
big hit and nowhere more so than at TENT, the East London design event that gets
better every year.

(F) A definite highlight was the massive space taken over by the Design & Crafts
Council of Ireland and filled with weavers and potters doing their thing and showing
their wares. Irish Design had another delectable stand over at the Rochelle School in
East London too. The Souvenir Project was a series of nine non-cliché 'souvenirs' made
in Ireland and included a rainbow plate by Nicholas Mosse Pottery that featured rows
of animals, flowers and watering cans and commemorated the legalization of same-sex
marriage in Ireland in May 2015.

(G) If there was one material that could be said to define the festival it might just be
Jesmonite, the wonder man-made building composite. Lighter and more sustainable
than concrete, its dramatic capabilities were brought to life by London-based design
studio PINCH and their tour-de-force limited edition Nim table and Swedish artist
Hilda Hellström's giant colorful volcano made for the restaurant in London's Ace
Hotel. A show called Matter of Stuff near Covent Garden was in on the jesmonite act
too, but even more intriguingly was presenting vases made out of Propolis, a resinous
material collected by bees and used to seal gaps in hives that, according to their
designer Marlene Huissoud, behaves like glass.

(H) Finally, this was the year that Chinese Design finally displayed a well-edited and
inspired showcase of products. Despite the mouthful of a title, Icon Presents: Hi Design
Shanghai stand at 100% Design was a meaningful selection of designers exploring
materials and ideas. Young design duo Yuue's offerings were the most representative
of a new conceptual approach to design that seems to be emerging. Their lamps were
functional but also thought-provoking and humorous. What more could one want from
the stuff that surrounds us?

Questions 1-8

The text has eight paragraphs A-H. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.

1. Examples of customization    

2. Unusual keepsakes    

3. A new approach    

4. A simple cell phone    

5. Unbelievable material    

6. A strange TV    

7. Number of products shown on the festival    

8. Three designs of a software    

Exercise 2

Read the text and answer the questions below.

Black rats rainforest invasion 'speeded by deforestation'

(A) Cutting down trees in rainforests facilitates the spread of invasive black rats, a
study suggests. The rodents normally avoid mature forests with large trees as they
provide little in the way of cover. But researchers, writing in Biotropica, say that
logging makes rainforests more attractive for rats as fallen wood contains more insects
which they eat.

(B) Scientists are concerned that the invading black rats will be bad news for native
mammals. Sometimes called the ship rat, these rodents have spread around the world
over the past 400 years, often causing the extinctions of native species and spreading
disease.

(C) Much of their notoriety rests on the idea that black rats were the origin of bubonic
plague, although recent research casts doubt on that notion. Black rats have usually
avoided older forests as they contain large trees which do not provide much in the way
of ground level protection. They also tend to have leafy forest floors which are noisy
for rats to run through, as they attract predators.

(D) This new study examined the idea that logging of trees in rainforests might
facilitate the spread of the rodents. The researchers looked at the island of Borneo
where large tracts of the natural forest have been degraded.

(E) It had been believed that black rats were confined to urban areas in Borneo. To test
the idea that they might spread into deforested regions, the scientists trapped rats from
four different species - they then attached small spools of cotton thread to their backs
and and tracked their movements.

(F) Across the animals in the study, the researchers found that the black rats had the
 strongest preference for the type of disturbed habitat associated with logging. The
increased amount of fallen wood boosted the amount of insects which the rats eat. The
logged forests also have more undergrowth which provides better cover. The
researchers believe that black rats favour these small changes far more than related
species.

(G) "Logging creates micro-environments that black rats love, helping them move in,"
said study co-author Dr Rob Ewers from Imperial College London. "This could be bad
news for native mammals who might not be able to compete with black rats for food
and resources. It's also bad for the forest, as many small mammals are important seed
dispersers, helping rainforest plants to grow, and they are also prey for larger animals."

(H) The researchers say that the widespread destruction of forests throughout the
tropics may well be multiplying the threat from invasive species like black rats. They
believe the presence of these rats could pose a significant threat to nesting birds and
other small mammals. The scientists say that the way that logging is done can have a
big impact on the suitability of the land for the black rats. The more dead wood that is
left behind the better the black rats like it. If felled trees were more accurately cleared
as well as the vines that connect the trees, the rat's progress might be curbed.

Questions 1-8

The text has eight paragraphs A-H. Which paragraph contains the following

information? Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.

1. A valid concern    

2. The experiment    

3. More food for rats    

4. Possible threats    

5. Bad news  

6. A place of the research    

7. The difference between species    

8. The reason for bad reputation    

 Exercise 3

Read the text and answer the questions below.

When the flip of a coin wins an election

(A) In the first vote to decide the US's presidential candidates, several results were
decided on the toss of a coin. How common is it for elections to be decided this way? A
silver coin balanced on thumb and forefinger is pinged upwards, falls, then gives its
verdict - heads or tails. In sport, it's a common practice to decide who kicks off or
opens the batting. In elections it's rarer, but not as rare as you might suppose. In Iowa's
Democratic caucuses - a contest between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the
party's presidential nomination - the results in several precincts were decided by
flipping a coin, according to the Des Moines Register.

(B) It was a series of dramatic finishes in a race the party called "the closest in Iowa
Democratic caucus history". On Twitter there were reports that contests were settled in
this way in Ames, one Des Moines precinct, another Des Moines precinct, Newton,
West Branch and West Davenport. In some of these cases it was reported that there was
a dead heat in voting. In Ames, it was the vagaries of the voting system and the
decision by 60 of those present not to vote that left the final result unclear. Party
officials were contacted on a hotline to advise, and recommended tossing a coin.

(C) Unusually, all six coin tosses were won by Clinton. According to John Moriarty,
Reader in Mathematics at Queen Mary University London, there would have been a
one-in-64 or 1.6% chance of Clinton winning all six flips. (That's nothing, however,
compared to the time the England cricket team lost 12 tosses of the coin in a row - a
probability of about 4,000-to-one.) The caucus system used in 10 US states, American
Samoa and the Virgin Islands, differs from the primary system used in most states in
that votes are taken in small groups rather than on a statewide basis. This makes ties
more likely.

(D) "It's quite an idiosyncratic process," says Rene Lindstaedt, an expert on US politics

at the University of Essex. Unlike in primaries, which are conducted like ballots,
Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa show their support for candidates by standing or
sitting together in "preference groups" before a head count is taken (Iowa Republicans
use secret ballots or a show of hands).

(E) The Iowa Democratic party's caucus guide states that "where two or more
preference groups are tied for the loss of a delegate, a coin shall be tossed to determine
who loses the delegate". With the statewide result a virtual tie between Clinton and
Sanders, the flips became one of the night's biggest talking points, and within hours the
coin had its own Twitter profile.
 (F) It's not unprecedented for elections to be decided in this manner. The mayor of San
Teodoro, a town in the central Philippines, was ultimately chosen by a coin toss in
2013 after two rival candidates both received 3,236 votes apiece. In the UK, returning
officers are legally obliged to settle elections immediately if recounts fail to establish a
winner. This has never happened in an election to the House of Commons, but it has in
local elections.

(G) Worksop North East seat in Bassetlaw District Council was won by Labour on the
toss of a coin in 2000 after three recounts. Christopher Underwood-Frost, a
Conservative councillor in Lincolnshire held his seat by the toss of a coin in 2007. And
control of Stirling District Council was decided by cutting a deck of cards on two
occasions in 1988 and 1992. There are other uses for coin flips, too. Government
contracts in Canada can be awarded this way if tenders are identical.

(H) But there remains unease about the use of making decisions so arbitrarily - even in
sport, where the use of coin tosses is perhaps best established. From 2016, under an
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) trial, visiting county teams will be given the
option of bowling first, and a coin toss will only take place if they decline. Perhaps the
ECB will share its findings with Iowa's Democratic Party.

Questions 1-8

The text has eight paragraphs A-H. Which paragraph contains the following

information? Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.

1. Heat in voting    

2. A fact about the UK    

3. Statement of the caucus guide    

4. The way Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa show their support    

5. A parallel with sport    

6. Some examples of winning by the toss of a coin    

7. An unexpected outcome    

8. New rule