IELTS Reading Note Completion
Note completion is one of the most frequently seen question types in the IELTS reading test both for academic as well as general training modules. Therefore, it is very important for us to understand how to answer this type of question if it is seen in the IELTS reading test. This article will highlight the important points that you have to keep in mind while completing the notes.
To begin with, let us understand the different types of questions that can be seen in the reading test before we get to understand how to complete the notes.
1. IELTS reading note completion
2. Sentence completion
4. Summary completion with options and without options
5. Table completion
7. Matching the information to the paragraph
8. Matching the nouns with the information
9. Matching the endings of sentences
10. Matching the list of headings or titles to the paragraph.
11. True /false /not given
13. Short answer questions
14. Multiple choice questions in which single option needs to be selected
15. Multiple choice questions in which two options have to be selected.
What is the step by step process in answering IELTS reading not completion questions?
The process for answering ielts reading note completion questions are very simple yet very important to know. If you can follow the given sequence of steps, you can be assured that the score for this type of question is always high. Let us understand how.
Step 1: As ielts reading note completion questions come to under fill in the blanks, it is important to begin answering them by reading the instructions. The instructions not only give us a clue that you need to fill in the blanks, but they also provide us with useful information regarding the number of words in which the answer needs to be written.
What are the different types of word instructions that you can see in the IELTS reading note completion question type?
1. Write the answer in one word only.
2. Write the answer in one word and /or a number.
3. Write the answer in no more than two words.
4. Write the answer in no more than two words and/ or a number.
5. Write the answer in no more than three words.
Understanding these word instructions and correctly following them while answering the questions is very important. Let us suppose that the word instructions say to write the answer in no more than two words, if you write the third word, then it would be considered as an error. Hence, be very careful
Read these instructions very well before starting to answer the questions.
Step 2: Read the title or subheadings, if any, and try to guess the meaning of what the passage means by referring to these keywords. Some of the very important words that are seen in the title and the questions are nouns, verbs adjectives, etc. These words are of significance because they convey a lot of information which can be easily located in the text. Do not neglect this step.
Step 3: Understand that note completion questions are often seen in a sequence in the text. Hence, you need not worry about finding the answers. In fact, answering these questions is so easy that the majority of the candidates who take the IELTS test would usually start with this question time. Answering such questions will give us the confidence to answer the more difficult and time taking questions with ease.
Step 4: Read the first question carefully and underline the important words in that. On the basis of these keywords, you can now start locating the answers using quick reading methods like skimming and scanning.
Skimming refers to the process of reading the first sentence and the last sentence of each paragraph. The first sentence of the paragraph is called the topic sentence, and this conveys information about what the writer intends to convey in the paragraph. The last sentence of each paragraph is like a conclusion for that paragraph. Therefore, first, skim the entire passage following this procedure.
This is then followed by scanning, which refers to a process of quick reading in which you read for specific details. This is only possible when you analyze the keywords in the question and predict what the right answer would be. Have this information ready and this makes it easy for scanning the right answer.
Step 5: Once you have skimmed and scan the text, you are going to get a clear idea of what is contained in the paragraph, however, it is not a good idea to confirm the answer without close reading. This is because sometimes the answers might be confusing. In order to avoid the risk of losing marks for simple question types like Note completion, you should the technique of close reading to read each and every line carefully before arriving at an answer.
Step 6: It is very important to understand that for the IELTS listening test and for the IELTS reading test, you will get separate answer sheets onto which the answers need to be transferred. Why there are 10 minutes of time at the end of the listening test to transfer the answers onto this sheet, there is no additional time given in the IELTS reading test to do so.
Hence, it is not a good idea to write the answers first in the question paper and later into the answer sheet. What is advisable is to transfer the answers parallelly while you are getting the answer from the text. This saves a lot of time for those questions like multiple choice and matching, which will take up a longer duration of time to find the answer.
Step 7: Last but not least, the answers which are written in the reading answer sheet need to have the right spelling. The IELTS test is an English proficiency test and spellings do play a vital role in giving the appropriate score. The listening test and the reading tests are completely objective-based, and the only factors that are considered for the score are the word count and the spelling. If you write the wrong spelling, then you are at risk of losing the mark for that answer.