Academic/General Training Module by Adam Smith First Published in 2015

Find words or phrases in the text that are similar to those in the list below.
1. sufficient levels …….. 
2. negative …….. 
3. resulted in …….. 
4. main reason for …….. 
5. serious …….. 
6. as many as twelve …….. 
 
 

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 IELTS
 JOURNAL 
 
23 
Should you read the whole passage? 
1. Should you read the whole passage before looking at the questions?
2. Should you go to the questions first and then skim and scan to find the answers? 
My answer to question 1 is 
no
. You don't have time to read the whole passage unless 
your English is almost 'native speaker' level. 
My answer to question 2 is 
yes and no
. 
Yes - go to the questions first. 
No - don't skim or scan unless the question contains a name or number. 
My advice is to do the questions one by one. Instead of skimming or scanning, read the 
passage carefully. The answers to most question sections will be in order in the 
passage, so 
you will gradually read the whole passage
as you find the answers. 
 
Think but DON’T ‘over-think’ the answer
I've noticed that many students get the wrong answer because they think too much! 
They worry about small differences in meaning. For example, look at the following part 
of a reading passage: 
The two week planned study into the psychological impact of prison life...
Now decide whether the following statement is true, false or not given: 
The study aimed to investigate the mental and behavioural effects of life in prison.
The statement is true, but many students put 
not given
because they "over-think" the 
meaning of 'psychological'. They think that the definition of psychological must be 
more complex than 'mental and behavioural'. 
Don't think too hard about small differences in meanings. 'Mental and behavioural' 
might not be a perfect definition of 'psychological', but the overall meaning is the same 
(a simple definition of psychology is the study of the mind and behaviour).