How To Solve List of Heading in IELTS Reading Passage

by MrGreen · Published July 25, 2019 · Updated August 3, 2019

Simple step by step process to answer Correct Heading for paragraph. Matching headings with paragraphs tests your ability to understand general information. Look always for the most general heading. This may be the first paragraph or the conclusion. Always do exercises with headings first, as the headings summarize the text. They help you scan the answers to the other questions.

Basic information about Choosing Heading

One heading only use for each paragraph.
Don’t read Heading list first to solve the questions
If there is an Example given then read the Heading of the given Example, and Mark it in the list so that you don’t read it again to find the answer of other Heading Matching Questions.
Each paragraph will come up with 1 or 2 new ideas/information, so find those New Topic/Idea to find the Heading of the Paragraph.

How to solve Heading Matching Question

Basic Techniques:

Step 1. First, read the instructions. Make sure you know which paragraphs or sections you need to find the heading.

Step 2. Read the first 2-3 lines of the paragraph and try to sum up, in your own words, underline the main ideas, what it is about.

Step 3. Then search through the list of headings for the best answer. Careful about Synonyms/Paraphrase. Use POE (Process of Elimination).

Step 4. If no heading from the list match with the paragraph information, then read 2 more lines of that paragraph and follow the same process to till you match the heading.

Note:

Make sure the heading you have chosen sums up the entire paragraph and not just one idea within it.
If there is any words like – ‘But, However, Nevertheless’ etc. then you should emphasize on that sentence.
If the paragraph is short then read whole paragraph.

Advanced Techniques :

• Read the headings and skim a paragraph quickly. Make a decision quickly.
• Expand the heading into a sentence. This might make the meaning clearer.
• When you find the general theme or focus of the paragraph, stop skimming and match quickly.
• Once you have matched the headings, read them in order and see if the sequence makes sense.
• When you check, avoid looking at the detail, as it can make you change your mind.
• Predict a possible sequence of headings before you look at the text.
• If a paragraph is difficult, use the various skimming techniques focusing on text development. Always look for change of direction in a text .
• Skim each paragraph in turn and then decide very quickly what it is about. Make your own heading in a couple of words. Then look at the list of headings and match.

Practice Test: Do the following matching questions.