IELTS Reading Practice Test: An Overview

The International English Language Testing System, commonly known as IELTS, is a test taken by anyone primarily aiming to immigrate, study, or work abroad in an English-native nation. Moreover, the IELTS examination scores are accepted by over 10,000 institutions in 100+ nations, and the test scores remain valid for two years. 

The IELTS test remains divided into four sections that test different language aptitudes – listening, writing, reading, and speaking, with reading being the toughest part. Hence, while preparing for the reading section of the IELTS examination, it is essential to comprehend the test format and access the best IELTS reading practice tests. 

Understanding the IELTS reading practice test format 

The IELTS exam reading section is developed to test the diverse aspects of reading aptitudes, such as reading and comprehending the central idea, outlining, identifying the writer’s views or statement, and examining the same. Furthermore, during the IELTS exam, test-takers will get a time limit of 60 minutes, with 40 questions in the Reading Section, regardless of their chosen IELTS version. There are generally two versions of the IELTS examination, and here is a summary of both versions’ reading sections. 

IELTS Academic Examination– Reading Section 

The Academic examination is usually conducted for test-takers planning to pursue their higher education at a college in an English-speaking nation. It is the more challenging one of the two versions of IELTS because it examines the applicant’s critical, analytical thinking, and reading aptitudes at a university level. In addition, it evaluates whether the applicant can keep up with the lessons and convey his thoughts effectively. 

And in this reading section, there are three extended, comprehensive passages for reading extracted from different sources that vary from educational textbooks and magazines to newspapers and periodicals. As specified earlier, these excerpts are at a college level and need a higher order of thinking than the General Test. 

IELTS General Examination – Reading Section 

This version of the IELTS examination is meant for people aspiring to complete their secondary education, participate in technical training programs or acquire work experience. This test might also work as a prerequisite for anyone planning to immigrate to another country. 

Moreover, unlike the IELTS Academic Test, the IELTS General examination does not assess the test-taker’s higher-order knowledge aptitudes or critical reasoning at a college level. Rather, it aims to evaluate your level of interaction and fundamental understanding, which meets the objective of survival and interaction in an unknown environment where the communication mode is English. 

Generally, sources selected for the passages and assignments within the General Test are the type that you might interact with every day, such as – company handbooks, advertisements, newspapers, books, and magazines. Below are the three major divisions of the IELTS General examination reading section.  

• Social Survival: In this section, you will get two or more brief but consolidated texts which comprise comprehensive data. These are texts that you will see on an everyday basis.

• Training Survival: Applicants will receive two texts that comprise details about a university or company.

• General Reading: The last section concerns one extended paragraph that tests fundamental reading comprehension. 

IELTS reading practice test materials

There are two primary practice resources for IELTS Reading section preparation — quality reading materials and trusted practice materials. However, drawing on different learning resources in your studies is essential to enhance your reading aptitudes. It is because diverse resources more effectively create different required aptitudes. 

In addition,  trusted practice materials — like an official IELTS reading practice test is excellent for two specialties: acquainting yourself with the minute specifications of the IELTS Reading section and building solid reading strategies. Likewise, the IELTS reading section practice materials are exceptionally vital for learning the peculiarities of the specific version of the IELTS examination you’re taking — be it Academic or General Training. 

IELTS exam reading section: question types

Here are some primary question types you would generally come across in the IELTS exam reading section. 

• Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

It is a more comprehensive question type, where multiple choice questions might comprise Sentence Completion and the most suitable option to select. Furthermore, other questions in this section comprise Reading Comprehension, where students must choose the correct answer to the given questions from different alternatives.

• Matching Information

In this question type, you must determine the exact information or details within the text sections, like finding a summary or a definition.

• Matching parts 

This type of question evaluates your capability to identify ideas, theories, and the relationships between the facts within the text.

• Matching Sentences

In these question types, you will need to finish a sentence within a specified number of words coming from the text, and these are not MCQs.

• Flow-chart Completion, Tables & Summaries

Once again, this question type evaluates your capability to pay attention to the facts and identify the text’s primary ideas.

• Identification of the author’s opinions or determining the data within the passage 

In this question type, you must determine whether a set of information agrees with the data within the passage or the writer’s opinions. It is more reasonable to pick yes/no / not given or true/false /not given. In addition, a fundamental thing to remember is that your understanding or beliefs should not impact your answer.

Key takeaways 

• After comprehensively understanding the IELTS test reading section format, practice plays quite a vital role. 
• An IELTS reading practice test can assist you in acquainting yourself with the examination format and getting a fair picture of what to expect in the IELTS test.
• IELTS reading can be divided as social, training and general reading sections.
• The questions range from MCQ to true/false/not given and match the following.

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FAQs

Question 1: What is the duration of the IELTS test reading section?

Answer 1: The IELTS test reading section is 1 hour long and begins right after the reading section is over. 

Question 2: How many questions are there in the IELTS test reading section?

Answer 2: There is a total of 40 questions in the IELTS exam reading section. 

Question 3: How long should a test taker spend on each passage in the IELTS exam reading section?

Answer 3: It is advisable to manage time efficiently to attempt the entire reading section and not give more than 20 minutes for each passage.