IELTS Reading Module: Common Mistakes to Know

Avoid Reading Instructions

• A very common mistake occurred in IELTS is to answer in more words than instructed.
• If the task says "Not more than 3 words", answering in 4 or more words will definitely cost marks. One should not avoid reading the instructions given. Then, any more than 3 words make anyone defeating the very purpose of the question which is to test the vocabulary and paraphrasing ability.
• Candidates often throw away marks by skipping instructions. In the IELTS exam, you must do exactly what the instructions tell you so, for example, if the question asks one to choose two answers but he/she gives only one, then that is incorrect. If one writes ‘yes’ or ‘no’ instead of ‘true’ or ‘false’, that is also wrong.

 

Write answers on the Test Booklet instead of writing on the Answer Script

• In the test, one is given a question booklet and an answer sheet.
• One can write down the answers in the booklet if he/she wants but the examiners only look at answers written on the answer sheet.
• So, later he/she has to transfer the answers to the answer sheet from the booklet without having any transfer time given.
• It must be kept in mind that IELTS Reading test does not give the 10 minutes to transfer answers to the answer sheet, as the Listening test does.
• If one start writing on the booklet and thinking to transfer the answers latter then he/she does not have enough time to transfer answers to the answer sheet.
• It is always a great mistake to copy the answers incorrectly from their question paper to the answer paper, especially if one is in a rush.
• He / She has to make it sure that the answers are put in the correct place with the right form of spelling.

 

Read the passage Entirely

• IELTS is a time-constrained test. One should keep it in mind and run an active reading to extract the main idea out of the passage in a swift manner to utilize the time for reading.
• The IELTS reading test consists of three passages of approximately 500-700 words and 13-14 questions each, all in a span of 60 minutes. Now, if you were to read each of these passages, word for word, you’d spend nearly 30 minutes. Then it will be really difficult to answer all the 40 questions within only 30 minutes. So, one has to scan and skim the text quickly to get an idea of the topic.
• The unnecessary words and information in the passage can be skipped.
• One should not waste time to explore the meaning of any word that is not important to answer any question.
• The entire reading process is a mistaken approach to lose the important time. One should start answering as soon as possible after exploring the main idea.

 

Unwise Use of Time

• Each question is worth the same. So it is not worth and wise to spend a lot of time on a question one finds difficult to answer.
• So it is unwise to spend more than 1.5 (60/40) minutes on any one question. If one can’t get the exact answer after that time then it is the time to perceive and guess.
• One needs to have the ideas related to questions and question patterns adapted by means of regular practices to save time on the test day.

 

Read Questions without reading the Passage

• In order to save time, one can start answering questions directly.
•  If anyone gets a familiar topic and starts answering the questions before reading on the basis of confidence then it can a great mistake.
• The IELTS exam is testing the logical language ability.
• One must use the words from the text to answer the questions, so by answering questions without reading the text, there is a high risk of getting an answer marked wrong.
• One can read the questions before reading the text on the basis of own strategies but one should not start answering them straight away.

 

Being unconcerned by the importance of Order of Questions

• A lot of time can be wasted because of forgetting that in general, the questions are in the same order as the text.
• This means that if one has correctly underlined answer 2 and answer 4 in the text, then he/she knows where to focus to find answer 3.
• It is to be kept in mind that the exception to this is the paragraph matching exercises where the questions will not be in order.
• So one should also be familiar with the types of questions asked in the reading test of IELTS.

 

Fail to Find the key-words

• One needs to run with the time in the exam which may put one under pressure which makes anyone failed to find the usual and unusual keywords in the questions.
• Mistaking a negative factual question for a factual question e.g. overlooking the word 'NOT' or 'EXCEPT', is one of the common mistakes. These mistakes make always the wrong answer. Eventually, the test taker loses marks.
• It is, of course, a huge mistake to overlook the transition words such as 'however', 'though', and 'despite'.
• In order to sense the main theme of the sentences inside the passage, one has to find the keywords to drive the passage in the proper direction and to get the marks correctly.
• It is suggested not to search the keywords as it and look for its synonyms or words that make sense with respect to them. One may not find its answer by searching the keywords as it is rather it may lead to a wrong answer making a mistake of searching the answers using the exact keywords.
• The passage is to read at an average speed which is not too slow or too fast. If one reads too fast then there may be risk failing to identify the keywords.

 

 Trapped by Unknown Vocabularies

• To be trapped by unknown vocabulary is one of the biggest problems almost all test takers encounter during their IELTS exam which leads towards the path of flaws.
• One needs to identify if the word is important in understanding the passage. If it isn’t then the step is to move on because it’s going to take time and making sure that completing the reading section is more important than understanding every word. Actually, one doesn’t have to understand every word in a passage.
• When the unknown word contributes much to the overall understanding of the passage, then one needs to be aided by the specific strategy. One needs to check if the word is defined. There are not many of them throughout the test, but sometimes there are.
• The sentence with the word should be read actively to see if he/she can make a reasonable guess. Native English speakers don’t understand all words, but based on the context of where and how the word was used in the sentence/passage, they are able to make an educated guess of its meaning. To guess as much as one can work on this problem to score positively.
• If one gets stuck on a single word or phrase then it will lead to a path of mistakes that always kills time. It needs to keep in mind that one has limited time to utilize wisely. So he/she should not get stuck, rather one needs to guess or move on swiftly to check it later.
• In order to avoid the trap of unknown vocabs, one needs to enrich vocabulary for the IELTS test. One can start by setting goals of learning 7-10 new words each day.  This will help you learn more than 50 new words in a week, which is a great achievement.

 

Forget to Explore the Main Idea

• The purpose of the reading should be to explore and understand the main idea of the passage.
• Some candidates follow skimming and scanning strategies and end up doing it wrong. 
• Performing incorrect skimming and scanning would waste time and one may miss out essential information.
• One needs to practice a lot under timed reading process to train the brain so that he/she can scan the reading passage and explore the main idea to perceive the purpose simultaneously.

 

Bemused by Details

• One can be bemused and caught in the details of a reading comprehension.
• He / She can often get stuck on the meaning of a single word or get stuck looking at small details regarding the passage. One should not get confused on these details because it may make forgetting the main idea of the passage.  
• One can also get stuck at a small detail, a particular phrase, or a specific fact from the article.
• This detail is often one that can help to answer one of the questions, so he/she does not only get stuck at one idea but also at a single question for a long time.
• It is suggested that if one is doing fine with time, spend a minute or so to briefly summarize the main idea of the passage in mind and brain.  
• One needs to apply strategic reading actively to scan and skim the passage by means of avoiding unnecessary information and getting the gist. It helps to avoid mistakes.

 

Neglect the Method of Elimination

• The main purpose of the examination is to find the correct answer. The negligence to use the method of elimination can lead to mistakes and waste of time.
• One should eliminate the wrong answer before selecting the correct answer in IELTS.
• The IELTS makers purposely try to bemuse examines. They use complicated and convoluted wording in their questioning. This is done on purpose.
• The scrupulous way to avoid making a mistake is to take time to eliminate answer choices which are wrong and then look towards the answer which is correct by all means.

 

 Incorrect application of Grammar, Spelling and Tense

• In IELTS exam one can be trapped in the area of mistakes by applying the incorrect form of grammar, spelling, and tense.
• One needs to go through the passages along with the tense in which the passage is presented and given to read.
• It is highly suggested to maintain the coherence and link to match the answer with the given passage on the basis of the correct form of grammar, spelling, and tense.

 

IELTS reading module is always a place where one can ascend the total band score by means of acquiring the strategies to shun the common mistakes. It is so important to know where the mistakes can be taken place during reading the passages otherwise the marks can easily be deducted even if the questions would be easy to answer. Examines are to be scrupulous and conscious enough to know the common mistakes of the reading module to walk confidently and correctly towards the desired score.