How To Solve Notes, Table, Form, Summary, Flow Chart, Diagram in IELTS Reading
Step by step technique to solve Notes/table/form/summary/flow chart/diagram completion questions in IELTS reading module.
These questions ask for specific information.
There are two types of these completion questions in the IELTS reading exam.
Type 1. With a selection of possible answers.
Type 2. Without a choice of possible answers.
These questions require you to:
> insert a word or phrase in the middle of a sentence
> insert a word in the middle and another word at the end of a sentence
> write words or phrases that are not in sentences
> write a letter that represents a word or phrase
For Type 1 questions the words or phrases provided will be different from the words in the text. There will be more words than gaps.
Type 2 questions are similar to the short answer questions in that they will tell you to write your answers in NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.
So you can answer with one word, two words or three words but no more.
As with short answer questions: Also note that the answers should not require a hyphenated word (e.g. non-smoker) or a contraction (e.g. They’ve).
If the answer requires a number, you can write it as a numeral (e.g. 6) or a word (e.g. six) or a combination (e.g. 6 million).
How to do these completion questions
• Read the instructions carefully.
• Look at the table or form etc carefully:
– examine any headings or subheadings.
– try to get an idea of the topic.
– decide what section of the passage the exercise covers.
– anticipate grammatical form as well as vocabulary.
– if a box of answers is given, see if you can guess any of the matches & eliminate unlikely answers.
– if the question is in the form of a table, work out which way it is best to read it – horizontally or vertically.
– If the question is in the form of a summary, read through it first and see if you can guess any of the missing words.
• Take each gap one by one and search the text for the best word(s) to fill the gap.
Remember
- if there is a box of answers, there will be at least two you don’t need.
- if there is no box, the answer could be one word, two words or three words but not four or more.
- if you think you need more than three words your answer is probably incorrect.
- there may be alternative rubrics for these completion questions e.g. ‘complete the notice’ or ‘complete the explanation’ or ‘complete the news report’.
Practice From:
Focus on IELTS: p.66, p.98
notes: p. 20, p.50, p52, p.82, p97, p.98, p.130, p.169, p.172
table: p.36, p.38, p.133, p.146, p.161, p.163, p.172
form: p.65, p.114
flow chart: p.146, p.163
diagram: p.170
Cambridge IELTS 2:
form: p.7, p. 31,
notes: p.9, p.36, p.58,
table: p.11, p.12, p.13, p.30, p.34, p.37, p.58
Insight into IELTS:
table: p.11, p.27
form: p.12
notes: p.18, p.24, p.26
IELTS Preparation & Practice (R&W):
summary: p.16, p.25, p.44, p.50
table: p17, p.46, p.48
table: p.22, p.42
form: p.37, p.41
notes: p.40, p.51
IELTS Reading Questions Solution:
>> Information Matching Question
>> List of Heading or Heading Matching
>> Sentence Completion Questions
>> Notes/Table/Form/Summary/Flow Chart/Diagram Completion
