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Ielts Reading MCQ
Ielts Reading MCQ
Questions
This article will help you answer IELTS reading multiple choice questions more
effectively.
On both the academic and general IELTS reading papers you are likely to be asked
multiple choice questions (MCQs).
Your job is to simply choose the correct answer from a list of possible choices.
Example Questions
There are three different types of MCQ question. You will either have to:
2. answering a question.
In this example, you have to choose one answer from four possible options and the
question requires you to complete the sentences.
Reading Skills
MCQs test your ability to understand the main ideas contained in a text and then look
for specific information.
You will need to quickly identify the main idea in order to locate the correct section of
the text.
When you do this it will seem like two or three of the options could be the correct
answer and you, therefore, must read in much more detail to find the specific
information that gives you the correct answer.
Common Problems
Reading the text before the questions– If you do this you are reading ‘blind’ because
you are not sure what you are looking for. You also waste time because you will have to
read the questions and then read the text again, so you have just wasted your time on
the first reading.
Not answering questions– This seems like an obvious one but it would shock you how
many people don’t answer the question at all.
Being tricked by the examiner– examiners love to try and trick you with ‘distractors’.
Distractors are things that look like the correct answer but are actually incorrect. When
you locate the correct section in the reading text, there will appear to be two or three
plausible correct answers. A very common trick is matching lots of keywords from the
question options to parts of the text. Just because there are lots of matching keywords
doesn’t mean it is the correct answer. Also look at the context of the whole sentence
and any qualifying words like most, all, always, sometimes.
Not reading the whole sentence– The first part of a sentence might look correct but
the second half of it might change the meaning. Words like but and however can
change the meaning of a whole sentence. Examiners know you are trying to get the
answers as quickly as possible and will try to trick you in this way.
Not reading the text carefully– Because there are so many ‘distractors’, some of the
‘correct’ answers will appear to ‘jump out’ at you. If you don’t read the text carefully, you
will choose the incorrect answer. Take some time to really understand the meaning of
each sentence.
Top 10 Tips
1. Read the questions before you read the text.
2. You will often be able to eliminate 2 of the four answers and this leaves you with
two choices. Think about the difference in meaning between these two choices
3. If you are unsure of what the difference is between two or three sentences, it can
4. If you are running out of time or you really don’t know the answer, have a guess.
You will not lose marks for wrong answers and you have a 25% chance of getting
6. If you don’t know anything about the topic, don’t panic. It is a reading test, not a
7. Try to predict the correct answer before you read the text. This will help you find
8. Before deciding on your answer, always go back and carefully read the questions
10. You might be asked about both facts and opinions. Facts are things that are
always true or cannot be disproved but opinions are just what people think.
Strategy
This is my suggested strategy. There are many different strategies and you should use
the one you feel comfortable with. You can also adapt this strategy to what suits you.
3. Underline any keywords in the question and think about any synonyms that
4. Read the choices and underline any keywords. Think about the difference in
6. Read the text and using keywords and synonyms locate the part containing the
answers.
7. Read that part of the text very carefully, thinking about the difference in
meanings.
8. Think about not only which options are correct but how the other options are
wrong.
9. Go back and read the question again and mark your final choice.