Read between the lines

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Multiple choice questions appear regularly in both the Academic and General IELTS Reading tests. They are fairly simple to complete but it’s easy to get tricked into picking the wrong answer.

The information and strategy on this page will help you to avoid common errors and to gain high marks. They will also save you time in your test.

Here’s what’s included:

• 
  Explanation of this question type
  

• 
  Key tips
  

• 
  The strategy
  

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  Examples from real test papers
  

• 
  Step-by-step instructions & model answer
  

The aim of this type of question is to test if you can:

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  Understand the main idea of each paragraph
  

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  Scan for specific information
  

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  Use detailed reading to differentiate between several possible answers
  

The Task

You will be asked to:

1) Read the first half of a sentence, a statement or a question about the text.

2) Choose the most appropriate sentence ending, response or answer from a choice of a number of options (usually 4). Only one is correct although several could appear to be the right one on first reading, so beware.

Here’s an example of how the instructions and questions will be set out. It's part of a question taken from a past test paper. 

Source: IDP – Past test paper