What skills are tested in this task type? This task type tests candidates’ ability to locate and understand precise information in the passage. Are the questions in text order? The questions are usually arranged so that the answers appear in order in the passage. What text type is this task type used with? It is most likely to be used with a passage that contains a lot of factual information and detail. Understanding the Task Example of Task Type 2 – Short-Answer Questions
Example Questions 1 and 2 Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1 and 2 on your answer sheet.
1
Apart from underground cables, what other development first made longer-distance telephone calls possible?
2
What kind of media that can be integrated using ISDN does the writer mention?
Things to consider 1.
How would you approach this task type?
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What kind of information do the instructions give you?
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What skills are being tested in this task type?
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How could you help your students to develop these skills?
IELTS Academic Reading – Task Type 3 – Sentence Completion Task Description What are candidates required to do? There are two variations of this task type. • •
Type A: candidates are asked to complete the sentence in a given number of words taken from the passage. Type B: candidates are given the first half of a sentence based on the text and asked to complete it from a list of possible options.
In Type A candidates will be told in the instructions the maximum number of words that they can use to complete the sentence. The instructions for this type usually state ‘NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER’, but sometimes candidates may be asked to write ‘ONE WORD’, or NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS. Numbers can be written as figures or words.
22