READING COMPREHENSION 1

DELVIA ROZA, M.SC .

 IN THIS SESSION

• Overview of IELTS
Reading test
• Discussing types of
questions in the
IELTS Reading test
 OVERVIEW

• There are 40 questions.

• It takes one hour to complete and no extra time to transfer the
answers to answer sheet as that of listening.
• It has 3 passages with approx. more than 2000 words each.
• The reading texts are from journals, magazines, books and newspaper.
• Types of questions are:
- Multiple choice
- Matching headings
- Short answers
- Sentence/summary completion
- True, False, Not Given / Yes, No, Not Given
- Matching sentences endings
- List selections, etc.
READING TEST
ANSWER SHEET
READING BAND SCORE
 DISCUSSING TYPES OF
QUESTIONS

- Matching headings
- Multiple choice
- Short answer questions
- Sentence/summary completion
- True, False, Not Given / Yes, No, Not
Given
- Matching sentences endings
- List selections
 MATCHING HEADINGS QUESTION

Look at Skim each Focus on the Be careful in If you are stuck

paragraph to topic sentence reading the with two
Strategies the determine in each whole choices, choose
heading list the heading paragraph paragraph the best one
 YORUB A TOWN
A. The Yoruba people of Nigeria classify their towns in two ways.
Permanent towns with their own governments are called “ilu”,
whereas temporary settlements, set up to support work in the
country are “aba”. Although ilu tend to be larger than aba, the
distinction is not one of size, some aba are large, while declining
ilu can be small, but of purpose. There is no “typical” Yoruba
town, but some features are common to most towns.
B. In the 19th century most towns were heavily fortified, and the
foundations of these walls are sometimes visible. Collecting tolls
to enter and exit through the walls was a major source of
revenue for the old town rulers, as were market fees. The
markets were generally located centrally and in small towns,
while in large towns there were permanent stands made of
corrugated iron or concrete. The market was usually next to the
local ruler’s palace.
C. The palaces were often very large. In the 1930’s, the area of
Oyo’s palace covered 17 acres, and consisted of a series of
courtyards surrounded by private and public rooms. After
colonisation, many of the palaces were completely or partially
demolished. Often the rulers built two storey houses for
themselves using some of the palace grounds for government
buildings.
D. The town is divided into different sections. In some towns
these are regular, extending out from the centre of the town like
spokes on a wheel, while in others, where space is limited, they
are more random. The different areas are further divided into
compounds called “ile”. These vary in size considerably from
single dwellings to up to thirty houses.
They tend to be larger in the North. Large areas are devoted to
government administrative buildings. Newer developments such as
industrial or commercial areas or apartment housing for civil
servants tends to be built on the edge of the town.
E. Houses are rectangular and either have a courtyard in the centre
or the rooms come off a central corridor. Most social life occurs in
the courtyard. They are usually built of hardened mud and have
roofs of corrugated iron or, in the countryside, thatch. Buildings of
this material are easy to alter, either by knocking down rooms or
adding new ones. And can be improved by coating the walls with
cement. Richer people often build their houses of concrete blocks
and, if they can afford to, build two storey houses. Within
compounds there can be quite a mixture of building types. Younger
well-educated people may have well-furnished houses while their
older relatives live in mud walled buildings and sleep on mats on
the floor.
F. The builder or the most senior man gets a room either near the
entrance or, in a two-storied house, next to the balcony. He usually
has more than one room. Junior men get a room each and there
are separate rooms for teenage boys and girls to sleep in. Younger
children sleep with their mothers. Any empty room are used as
storage, let out or, if they face the street, used as shops.
G. Amenities vary. In some towns most of the population uses
communal water taps and only the rich have piped water, in others
piped water is more normal. Some areas have toilets, but bucket
toilets are common with waste being collected by a “night soil
man”. Access to water and electricity are key political issues.
569 words
 MATCH THE HEADINGS

List of headings:
I. Town facilities
II. Colonization
III. Urban division
IV. Architectural home styles
V. Types of settlements
VI. Historical foundations
VII. Domestic arrangements
VIII. City defenses
IX. The residences of the rulers
X. Government buildings
 SOCCER VIOLENCE
1. Fiorentina's exclusion from the UEFA Cup after a
match official was injured by a firecracker thrown during
their second-round match with Grasshopper Zurich in
Salerno brought hooliganism back in the media.
2. The Florence club are appealing against the decision,
arguing that the object was thrown by rival Salernitana
fans and the ban would set a dangerous precedent. But
UEFA will have borne in mind that Fiorentina were playing
so far away from home only because they had been
banned from their own ground for crowd trouble in Europe
last season.
3. Whether Fiorentina have been hard done by or not, fan
violence is a major problem in the Italian game. Fighting
before Sunday's 1-1 draw between Bologna and Roma
left eight people in hospital, two with stab wounds. After
the game a Roma supporters' bus was stoned and set on
fire.
4. But Italy is not the only country suffering from what
used to be called "the English disease". At the weekend
police in Bucharest fired tear-gas and made 20 arrests
after a pitch invasion at the Steaua-Dinamo derby,
reflecting a marked growth in hooliganism in Romania.
The Greek first division match between PAOK
Thessaloniki and Olympiakos Piraeus last week was
abandoned after one of the linesmen was left concussed
by home fans furious at a disallowed goal, a decision
which brought 10,000 people on to the streets of Salonika
in protest. In neighbouring Albania, Skenderbeu Korce
were fined and docked three points last month after a
brawl involving players, fans and the referee.
5. Hooliganism is taking its toll on the South American
game too. An Argentinian judge suspended all second
division matches this month in an effort to combat rising
violence. The same judge halted the first division for two
weeks in May for the same reason.
6. Football violence has claimed 37 lives in Argentina in
the Nineties and leading clubs routinely have to dole out
free tickets and cash to their gangsterish fans, known as
barras bravas, whose activities include extortion. This is
leading to a frightening atmosphere. A recent survey in
Brazil found that 61 per cent of fans said they stayed
away from matches because they were too scared to
attend.
7. FIFA is considering the postponement of the
Confederations Cup, scheduled for January, which may
persuade the world champions France to take part, a
FIFA spokesman said yesterday.
 MATCH THE HEADINGS

• List of headings:
i. Climate of fear
ii. Fan violence returns
iii. FIFA’s response
iv. Cancelling the cup
v. Legal action is taken
vi. Not just the fans
vii. Violence at the core of Italian football
viii.Not to blame
ix. Violence in the news again
x. A widespread problem
 MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Look at Scan the

Find the
text by
the key words
Strategies question in the
using the
key
first question
words.
 MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. What is Dry Farming? 4. What did John Custance recommend?

a. Preserving nitrates and moisture. a. Improving wheat yields.
b. Ploughing the land again and again. b. Revitalising the industry.
c. Fertilizing the soil.
c. Cultivating fallow land.

2. What did H.V. Mc Kay do? 5. Why was William Farrer’s wheat better?
a. Export the stripper. a. It was drought resistant.
b. It wasn’t from England or South Africa.
b. Improve the stripper.
c. It was drier for Australian conditions.
c. Cut, collect and sort wheat.

3. What did the ‘stump, jump plough’ innovation allow

farmers do?
a. Cut through tree stump.
b. Change the wheel for the traditional plough.
c. Allow farmers to cultivate land that hadn’t fully
cleared.
1. People do not like coal and oil
powered power production because
…
a. It damages the environment.
b. It is wasteful.
c. They cannot be replaced once
consumed.
d. All of the above.

2. Wind power …
a. has only been used recently.
b. promotes environmental
awareness.
c. cleans the environment.
d. Is not wasteful