IELTS Reading: Summary Completion
A very common question type in the IELTS reading is summary completion questions. In this question type, you will be given a summary of information from part of the text which you will be required to complete by reading the text. You will either have to fill in the gaps with words from the word list provided or, you will be required to fill in the gaps finding words from the text. You should note that when you are provided with a list of words, the number of words on the list will always be more than the number of gaps.
This question type measures candidates’ ability to understand the general meaning of the summary. Additionally, it measures their ability to scan for specific information in the text, identify key words, synonyms and paraphrases.
A common problem students usually face is that they waste a lot of time reading the whole text trying to understand every detail. Students also read the summary in the question and try to find the exact same words in the text and often miss out on the synonyms and paraphrasing. A lot of times students forget that the words they write to fill in the gaps should also fit in grammatically to be correct. Students find it really confusing when they see words from the text in their word list. It is important to note that these words are probably wrong as the answers are generally synonyms.
STRETEGIES FOR SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
The common strategy and the most important one as with any other question types in the reading section is to carefully read the instructions to take note of the number of words you can use in each gap when you have to select words from the text. When provided with a word list to choose from, you can simply select words from the list to complete the summary. Read the summary with gaps for general understanding. You should also think of the word form that will fit in the gap. Using a noun when a verb should be used to fill in the gap will make your answer grammatically incorrect which clearly means you have selected the wrong word. When you are able to predict the word form (adjective, verb, noun etc.) required in the gap, you can easily narrow down words from the word list.
You should read the summary in detail to find the section of the text it relates to. When you are able to identify the section of the text summarized, remember you need to only read that particular section in detail. Do not waste time reading the whole text in detail. You can use a few key words from the summary in order to scan the text to find the section you need to read in detail. Proper nouns, numbers or dates are easy to spot however, please note that synonyms are more commonly used for other words. If you have identified the correct section of the text that has been summarized, you will notice that all the information in the summary is in the text but, it is paraphrased and several synonyms are used.
You should carefully read the section of text in detail to identity the word required to fill in the gap after which you can either select words from the text or from the list as mentioned in the instruction. You should pay extra attention before entering your answer as you have to ensure the word is grammatically correct.
The answers will usually come in the same order in the text as the order of the questions and if you’re struggling with one of the gaps, it is highly recommended that you make a good guess and simply move on to the next gap. You can always come back to it later if you get time.
Summary completion requires you to identify synonyms and paraphrasing and building up your vocabulary can be often very helpful. Lastly, remember to focus on the summary than the whole text.
And again, PRACTICE is the KEY!
