GT Reading Practice Test

GT Reading Practice Test
0 student
Test format – General Training Reading

60 minutes
The Reading section consists of 40 questions, designed to test a wide range of reading skills. These include reading for gist, reading for main ideas, reading for detail, skimming, understanding logical argument and recognising writers’ opinions, attitudes and purpose.

IELTS General Training test – this includes extracts from books, magazines, newspapers, notices, advertisements, company handbooks and guidelines. These are materials you are likely to encounter on a daily basis in an English-speaking environment.

IELTS General Training Reading description

Paper format There are three sections. section 1 may contain two or three short texts or several shorter texts. section 2 comprises two texts. In section 3, there is one long text
Timing 60 minutes
No. of questions 40
Task types A variety of question types are used, chosen from the following: multiple choice, identifying information, identifying writer’s views/claims, matching information, matching headings, matching features, matching sentence endings, sentence completion, summary completion, note completion, table completion, flow-chart completion, diagram label completion, short-answer questions.
Sources The first part, ‘social survival’, contains texts relevant to basic linguistic survival in English with tasks mainly about retrieving and providing general factual information, for example, notices, advertisements and timetables.

The second part, ‘Workplace survival’, focuses on the workplace context, for example, job descriptions, contracts and staff development and training materials.

The third part, ‘general reading’, involves reading more extended prose with a more complex structure. Here, the emphasis is on descriptive and instructive rather than argumentative texts, in a general context relevant to the wide range of test takers involved, for example, newspapers, magazines and fictional and non-fictional book extracts.

Answering Test takers are required to transfer their answers to an answer sheet during the time allowed for the test. No extra time is allowed for transfer. Care should be taken when writing answers on the answer sheet as poor spelling and grammar are penalised.
Marks Each question is worth 1 mark.
  • Read through sample tests to familiarise yourself with the different types of tasks/questions and the level of difficulty in the texts that you will come across in the test.
  • Practicing as many sample test / practice tests will enable you to learn to manage time efficiently in the real test.
  • Develop the habit of writing answers aligned in the middle of the space provided to you on the OMR, so that your answers are clear and easily readable.
  • When reading texts, get into the habit of identifying the introduction, main points or arguments and the conclusions. This will help you to organize your thoughts and look for relevant information easily.
  • The test gets more difficult as it progresses so you will probably need more time for the questions at the end than for those at the start. Time management is important.
  • You must make note of the time allowed in the IELTS test. Completing sample tests in real time will help you build on your speed in reading and understanding of the paper.
  • You should use the keys of the Reading practice tests to identify your errors.
  • Keep a record of the different type of errors that you may make, such as misspellings, writing incorrect numbers or letters, misunderstanding the opinion of the writer.
  • Work on improving your errors and checking again to be sure the errors you made earlier are now no longer there.
  • Read carefully to make sure that you understand the questions and follow instructions closely.
  • Pay attention to any special features in a text: title, headings, sub-headings, underlining, italics, figures, graphs and tables. These will help you understand the text easily.
  • You should also pay attention to any examples that are included in the passage.
  • You don’t have to read and understand every word in a given passage. You should read for a purpose and find answers to the questions. It doesn’t matter if you do not understand some parts of the text.
  • In case any technical words are used in the text their definitions are provided at the bottom of the passage. You must read these definitions to help you understand unfamiliar words.
  • Read the questions before reading the text. This will give you a purpose for reading and you will know what parts of the text to focus on to be able to find the right answers.
  • One way to manage time according to the increasing difficulty of the test can be to divide it in chunks of, say, 15 minutes for Part 1, 16 minutes for Part 2, 17 minutes for Part 3 and 12 minutes for revision. This will allow you to not only divide time logically for solving the paper, but also give the much-needed time for revision and filling in the answer sheet at the end.
  • When starting a new passage, look for question types like ‘Match paragraphs to headings’ or ‘Find paragraphs containing the following information’ and solve them first. These types of questions require you to skim the entire text and when you move on to the next type of questions based on the same text, you’ll know exactly where the information relating to them is.
  • Look for the meaning of a certain part of the text to find an answer instead of searching for the exact words that are used in the question. Think of synonyms and the different ways of expressing key words in the question.
  • If you have completed all questions and have time to spare, check what you have done. If you have time after  checking, check again.
  • Check your answer sheet for any grammar, spelling and common mistakes such as if there should be an ‘s’ at the end of a noun or verb or not, or if you have used singular and plural correctly.
  • You must write your answers in pencil in the answer sheet. This will allow you the opportunity to make changes.
  • Remember that the test’s questions, overall, are in the same sequence as the order of the information in the text. Do not get confused and remember to follow the general sequence within a task/question type.
  • While solving a question, do not give any answers based on your knowledge of the topic or what you assume to be right. You must respond based on what is available to you in the text.
  • There is a difference between the questions True/False/Not Given and Yes/No/Not Given. T/F/NG requires you to check whether the statements given to you are facts (T) or not (F) or if they are mentioned at all (NG) based on what you read. In Y/N/NG, you need to check whether the statements match the author’s views and claims (Y) or not (N) or, again, if they are mentioned at all (NG). Do not assume that they are the same while writing down answers on the answer sheet.
  • Do not write more than one answer in the reading answer sheet for one question. Even if one of them is correct, it will not get you any marks.
  • Do not make the mistake of writing extra words for an answer. For example, if you are asked to fill in the gap ‘on ………..’ and the correct answer is ‘Friday’, you must not write ‘on Friday’ as that would be incorrect.
  • You must keep to the word-limit in questions where it is mentioned otherwise your answer will not be marked as correct.
  • Getting nervous or confused during the test can be unfavorable for both your efficiency and time management. Pick up a good pace right at the start of the test and maintain the pace throughout the test.
  • Write your answers as it is from the text and do not paraphrase them unless asked to.
  • Remember that what you write on the question paper will not be marked. You should check your answers and fill them into the OMR at the end of every passage.
  • You will not get extra time at the end of the test to transfer your answers on to the OMR.

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