IELTS Reading Task: Notes/table/form/summary/flow chart/diagram completion question

There are two types of these completion questions in the IELTS reading:

Type 1. Selection of possible answers.

Type 2. Without a choice of possible answers.

• These questions require you to:
• Insert a word or phrase in the middle of a sentence,
• Insert a word in the middle and another word at the end of a sentence,
• Write words or phrases that are not in sentences,
• Write a letter that represents a word or phrase.

Type 1: The words or phrases provided will be different from the words in the text. There will be more words than gaps.

Type 2: Similar to the short answer questions in that they will tell you to write your answer in NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS. So you can answer with one word, two words or three words but no more.

As with short answer questions: also note that the answers should not require a hyphenated word (e.g. non-smoker) or a contraction (e.g. They’ve).

If the answer requires a number, you can write it as a numeral (e.g. 6) or a word (e.g. six) or a combination (e.g. 6 million).

Try this examples below.

Type 1:

Type 2:

How to do:

-          Read the instructions carefully,

-          Look at the table or form etc carefully:

Examine any headings or subheadings,

Try to get an any idea of the topic,

Decide what section of the passage the exercise covers,

Anticipate grammatical form as well as vocabulary,

If a box of answers is given, see if you can guess any of the

matches & eliminate unlikely answers,

If the question is in the form of a table, work out which way it

is best to read it – horizontally or vertically.

 If the question is in the form of a summary, read through it

first and see if you can guess any of the missing words.

- Take each gap one by one and search the text for the best words to fill the gap.

Remember:

If there is a box of answers, there will be at least two you don’t need.

If there is no box, the answer could be one word, two words or three words but not four or more.

If you think you need more than three words your answer is probably incorrect,

There may be alternative rubrics for these completion questions e.g. ‘complete the noise’ or ‘complete the explanation’ or ‘complete the news report’.

Reference: How to Prepare for IELTS Writing. City University of Hongkong: English Language Center.