IELTS Reading Test: Here’s How to do Short Answer Type IELTS Exam Questions

To achieve a good score in the IELTS exam, all the four sections should be given equal and sufficient attention. If an aspirant finds the writing section more interesting and decides to dedicate most of his/ her time towards that section and neglects the other sections, then it is very tough or almost impossible for him/ her to score well in the examination.

IELTS reading band score is as important as any other section of the exam because the total band score will completely depend on the scores achieved in the individual sections.

So, let’s check out this important part of the IELTS reading test and see how an aspirant can score well in this part.

Short Answer Question in IELTS Reading Test

Short answer questions are perhaps the easiest questions in the IELTS reading exam. In these questions, you are to give your answers in one word and/or a number, at least two words and/or a number or at least three words and/or a number.

Another thing about these IELTS exam questions is that you are able to find the answers easily as compared to the other type of questions. Let us see some useful tips about solving short answer types of questions.

Strategy to Solve IELTS Reading Test Questions

The best strategy to solve any type of question in the IELTS reading test is to underline keywords in it. The main and important words in the question that help you to determine its meaning should be underlined. These are usually nouns, verbs etc. avoiding other words in the question such as prepositions, articles etc.

Example

• Which programming language is used for designing DNA circuits?
• How long was the biological structure that Voigt had designed?

In the above two short answer questions, the main keywords have been underlined which you can prefer underlining in order to understand the question well and also, with the help of these keywords, you can find out one paragraph from the passage where you can find its reference.

Identify Focus in the IELTS Exam Question

Now, other than underlining the important keywords in the question, you need to identify the focus or stem of the question. Here, in short answer questions, you also need to keep your focus on words such as “what”, “where”, “when”, “which”, “how long” etc. so that you can predict whether your answer should be a word or a number, a noun or an adjective etc.

Such words are important to avoid making silly mistakes as it is often seen that IELTS candidates make such mistakes in IELTS. For instance, in the above short answer questions, the focus has been identified as follows:

• Which programming language is used for designing DNA circuits?
• How long was the biological structure that Voigt had designed?

Want to know How to do Short Answer Type IELTS Exam Questions, click here