Match Heading Question Type

This article will help you to match headings more effectively in the IELTS reading test.

Match Heading Question Type

The Match Heading question type is one of the easier question types on the IELTS reading exam, because as long as you can understand the general idea of each paragraph, you can answer questions correctly.

A heading is a short sentence that summarizes the information in a paragraph. Your job is to match each paragraph to one heading.

Common Problems faced by IELTS test takers:

1. There is too much information provided you in the paragraph and time is running out.
2. Trying to match the heading with the same words that are in the paragraph.
3. Some headings can have the same meaning to confuse you.
4. Headings will not in the same order as the paragraph.
5. Spending too much time reading the paragraphs and headings.
6. The first sentence is not always enough to find a perfect heading.
7. We try to correlate the heading by reading first and last sentence of the paragraph.

Strategies to answer the Match Heading Questions

1. Underline the keywords in headings.
2. Quickly read through the paragraph headings so you can see what they say.
3. Then look at the first paragraph.
4. Often only the topic sentence needs to be read carefully because the main idea and answer are there – you may be able to just skim the rest.
5. Sometimes, however, the answer is not in the topic sentence and the whole paragraph needs to be read more carefully.
6. If a match is not immediately obvious, move on to the next one.

7. If you are unsure between two answers at first, put them both in. You may be able to eliminate one answer later if it fits another paragraph better.
8. If at the end you are still stuck between two answers for a question, pick which fits best.

Things to beware of

1. There are always more choices of paragraph headings on the list than paragraphs, so be careful when matching them.
2. Watch out for synonyms – often words in the paragraphs and paragraph headings will not be the same; they will be synonyms.
3. Having a noun from a heading that is in the paragraph does not guarantee they match – you still need to read it carefully to check.