IELTS Reading: Multiple Choice Questions

IELTS Reading: Multiple Choice Questions

In this article, we’ll learn how to answer multiple-choice questions on IELTS Reading. Multiple choice questions asks you to choose the correct answer from 3 or 4 proposed answers.

 Important information about multiple-choice questions:

• Questions follow the order of the text.
• Questions repeat keywords (or their synonyms) from the text.

Multiple-choice questions have 3 or 4 answers, only one of which is correct. Usually, there are such types of answers:

1. The irrelevant answer that gives information, which is not stated in the text.
2. Answer that gives completely opposite information.
3. An answer that gives information that figures in the text, but not what you’re asked about.
4. Correct answer.

Strategies to answer Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Read the first question and underline the keywords.
2. Read the text from the beginning, simultaneously scanning it for the information that relates to the question.
3. Once you found the keywords or their synonyms in the text – look for the answer (it should be somewhere close).
4. One you’ve found the answer, read the next few lines of the text to make sure that it is correct. Also, reread the question.
5. Repeat this strategy with other questions, but now read the text from the place where you stopped the last time.

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions:

• Scan text for the keywords and their synonyms.
• Cross out the answers which are obviously wrong. This will help you to identify the correct answers more quickly.
• The order of questions can help you. Answer for question 4 will be between answers for questions 3 and 5 in the text.
• Don’t rely on your own knowledge, the correct answer contains ONLY information stated in the text.

      IMPORTANT:

How do you tackle multiple choice questions in IELTS reading?

When you read the text for the first time, you should focus on the topic sentences, and skim the rest of the paragraph. But once you start answering the IELTS reading multiple choice questions and you have found where the answer is, you will need to read the text carefully in order to identify the correct choice.