Sixty minutes, forty questions, three passages. The Academic and General Training versions differ in their texts.
The IELTS Reading test contains 40 questions designed to test a wide range of reading skills — reading for gist, for main ideas, for detail, skimming, understanding logical argument, and recognising writers’ opinions and purpose. You have 60 minutes, and there is no extra transfer time, so you must write answers directly on your answer sheet as you go.
Three long passages ranging from descriptive and factual to discursive and analytical, taken from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. They are written for a non-specialist audience but deal with topics suitable for people entering university or seeking professional registration.
Section 1 contains short everyday texts such as advertisements and timetables. Section 2 focuses on work-related texts. Section 3 is one longer, more complex text on a topic of general interest. The skills tested are the same, but the texts are more practical.
Both versions use the same question types: multiple choice, True/False/Not Given, Yes/No/Not Given, matching headings, matching information, sentence completion, summary completion, and short-answer questions. Each type rewards a slightly different reading skill.
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