IELTS Academic Reading · Lesson 1 of 11
Developing reading skills
Forty questions in sixty minutes means you cannot read every word carefully. Learn the three reading skills that every question type depends on: surveying, skimming and scanning.
In this lesson you will
- learn how the IELTS Academic Reading test works
- survey a text to get an idea of its layout in seconds
- skim a text to find topic sentences, the gist and the organisation
- scan a text to find key words and answer questions quickly
The test
The IELTS Academic Reading test
The three texts total 2,150–2,750 words. They come from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online sources, and are written for a non-specialist reader. You do not need any specialist knowledge: everything you need is in the text, and technical words are explained in a glossary. There is no extra time to transfer your answers, so write them on the answer sheet as you go.
With 40 questions in 60 minutes, you cannot read every word slowly. You need to read in three different ways.
How do you read in real life?
Think about how you read in each situation. Which kind of reading are you doing?
- You are in a bookshop (or online) looking for something to read. You look at the title, the cover, the blurb on the back and how long the book is.
- You see a news article that might be interesting. You quickly read the headline, sub-headings and first lines to get the general idea.
- You look down your email inbox for one important email from a particular person.
Match the skill to its description
- Surveying
- Skimming
- Scanning
Skill 1
Surveying
Before you read, take a few seconds to look at the whole text: how long is it, does it have a title or sub-headings, are there any pictures or diagrams, is there a glossary?
Survey the text in 20 seconds
Press the button. The text will appear for 20 seconds only. Then answer the questions without looking.
A Remarkable Beetle
A Introducing dung1 beetles into a pasture is a simple process: approximately 1,500 beetles are released, a handful at a time, into fresh cow pats2 in the cow pasture. The beetles immediately disappear beneath the pats digging and tunnelling and, if they successfully adapt to their new environment, soon become a permanent, self-sustaining part of the local ecology. In time they multiply and within three or four years the benefits to the pasture are obvious.
B Dung beetles work from the inside of the pat so they are sheltered from predators such as birds and foxes. Most species burrow into the soil and bury dung in tunnels directly underneath the pats, which are hollowed out from within. Some large species originating from France excavate tunnels to a depth of approximately 30 cm below the dung pat. These beetles make sausage-shaped brood chambers along the tunnels. The shallowest tunnels belong to a much smaller Spanish species that buries dung in chambers that hang like fruit from the branches of a pear tree. South African beetles dig narrow tunnels of approximately 20 cm below the surface of the pat. Some surface-dwelling beetles, including a South African species, cut perfectly-shaped balls from the pat, which are rolled away and attached to the bases of plants.
C For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and autumn, farmers require a variety of species with overlapping periods of activity. In the cooler environments of the state of Victoria, the large French species (2.5 cms long) is matched with smaller (half this size), temperate-climate Spanish species. The former are slow to recover from the winter cold and produce only one or two generations of offspring from late spring until autumn. The latter, which multiply rapidly in early spring, produce two to five generations annually. The South African ball-rolling species, being a sub-tropical beetle, prefers the climate of northern and coastal New South Wales where it commonly works with the South African tunneling species. In warmer climates, many species are active for longer periods of the year.
Glossary
1 dung: the droppings or excreta of animals · 2 cow pats: droppings of cows
Source: IELTS Academic Reading sample tasks (ielts.org).
- Does the text have a title?
- Does it have sub-headings?
- Does it have diagrams or pictures?
- Does it have a glossary?
- How many paragraphs does it have?
- What is the text about?
If a text contains specialist or technical words that a non-specialist would not know, they are explained in a glossary at the end. Surveying shows you this help is there before you start.
Skill 2
Skimming
In good academic writing, each paragraph has one main topic, expressed in a topic sentence. It is often, but not always, the first sentence. To skim, read the topic sentence and the last sentence of each paragraph. This tells you the gist and how the text is organised, so you know where to look later. (You should also write clear topic sentences in your own Writing Task 2 essays.)
A Remarkable Beetle
A Introducing dung1 beetles into a pasture is a simple process: approximately 1,500 beetles are released, a handful at a time, into fresh cow pats2 in the cow pasture. The beetles immediately disappear beneath the pats digging and tunnelling and, if they successfully adapt to their new environment, soon become a permanent, self-sustaining part of the local ecology. In time they multiply and within three or four years the benefits to the pasture are obvious.
B Dung beetles work from the inside of the pat so they are sheltered from predators such as birds and foxes. Most species burrow into the soil and bury dung in tunnels directly underneath the pats, which are hollowed out from within. Some large species originating from France excavate tunnels to a depth of approximately 30 cm below the dung pat. These beetles make sausage-shaped brood chambers along the tunnels. The shallowest tunnels belong to a much smaller Spanish species that buries dung in chambers that hang like fruit from the branches of a pear tree. South African beetles dig narrow tunnels of approximately 20 cm below the surface of the pat. Some surface-dwelling beetles, including a South African species, cut perfectly-shaped balls from the pat, which are rolled away and attached to the bases of plants.
C For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and autumn, farmers require a variety of species with overlapping periods of activity. In the cooler environments of the state of Victoria, the large French species (2.5 cms long) is matched with smaller (half this size), temperate-climate Spanish species. The former are slow to recover from the winter cold and produce only one or two generations of offspring from late spring until autumn. The latter, which multiply rapidly in early spring, produce two to five generations annually. The South African ball-rolling species, being a sub-tropical beetle, prefers the climate of northern and coastal New South Wales where it commonly works with the South African tunneling species. In warmer climates, many species are active for longer periods of the year.
Glossary
1 dung: the droppings or excreta of animals · 2 cow pats: droppings of cows
Source: IELTS Academic Reading sample tasks (ielts.org).
Find the topic sentences
Give yourself to skim the text. Which is the topic sentence of each paragraph?
- Paragraph A
- Paragraph B
- Paragraph C
Where would you look?
Using the topic sentences only, which paragraph would you look in for information about each topic?
- a) different species of beetles
- b) how the beetles get into the field
- c) what happens at different parts of the year
- d) what the beetles do inside the cowpat
- e) information about climate and the beetles
In under two minutes you have surveyed the text (its length, title and glossary) and skimmed it, so you know how it is organised: A = putting the beetles in the field, B = what the beetles do inside the cow pats, C = different types of beetle.
Skill 3
Scanning
Scanning means moving your eyes quickly through the right part of a text to find specific information: numbers, names, facts or key words. Once you find the key words, you close-read the sentences around them to get the answer.
A Remarkable Beetle
A Introducing dung1 beetles into a pasture is a simple process: approximately 1,500 beetles are released, a handful at a time, into fresh cow pats2 in the cow pasture. The beetles immediately disappear beneath the pats digging and tunnelling and, if they successfully adapt to their new environment, soon become a permanent, self-sustaining part of the local ecology. In time they multiply and within three or four years the benefits to the pasture are obvious.
B Dung beetles work from the inside of the pat so they are sheltered from predators such as birds and foxes. Most species burrow into the soil and bury dung in tunnels directly underneath the pats, which are hollowed out from within. Some large species originating from France excavate tunnels to a depth of approximately 30 cm below the dung pat. These beetles make sausage-shaped brood chambers along the tunnels. The shallowest tunnels belong to a much smaller Spanish species that buries dung in chambers that hang like fruit from the branches of a pear tree. South African beetles dig narrow tunnels of approximately 20 cm below the surface of the pat. Some surface-dwelling beetles, including a South African species, cut perfectly-shaped balls from the pat, which are rolled away and attached to the bases of plants.
C For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and autumn, farmers require a variety of species with overlapping periods of activity. In the cooler environments of the state of Victoria, the large French species (2.5 cms long) is matched with smaller (half this size), temperate-climate Spanish species. The former are slow to recover from the winter cold and produce only one or two generations of offspring from late spring until autumn. The latter, which multiply rapidly in early spring, produce two to five generations annually. The South African ball-rolling species, being a sub-tropical beetle, prefers the climate of northern and coastal New South Wales where it commonly works with the South African tunneling species. In warmer climates, many species are active for longer periods of the year.
Glossary
1 dung: the droppings or excreta of animals · 2 cow pats: droppings of cows
Source: IELTS Academic Reading sample tasks (ielts.org).
Read the table first
| Species | Size | Preferred climate | Complementary species | Start of active period | Generations per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| French | 2.5 cm | cool | Spanish | late spring | 1–2 |
| Spanish | 1.25 cm | 9 …… | 10 …… | 11 …… | |
| South African ball roller | 12 …… | 13 …… |
- What is the table showing?
- Which paragraph should you scan?
- What are the key words to scan for?
Complete the table
Close-read around the key words Spanish and South African ball-rolling. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
- Spanish: preferred climate
- Spanish: start of active period
- Spanish: generations per year
- South African ball roller: preferred climate
- South African ball roller: complementary species
Reflect
- Did you need to close-read the whole text to answer questions 9–13?
- Why is it important to close-read those parts carefully?
Summary
The three skills in every question
- Survey (about 20 seconds): title, sub-headings, pictures, glossary, length.
- Skim (1–3 minutes): read topic sentences and last sentences, and make a quick note of what each paragraph is about.
- Scan: use key words from the question to find the right place, then close-read only that part.
Each of the following lessons shows you how to combine these three skills into a strategy for one question type.
Activities adapted from British Council IELTS teaching materials (takeielts.britishcouncil.org).