Archive for September 27th, 2010
Reading skills for the IELTS test – skimming and scanning
Visit www.ieltsforfree.com to take a free IELTS practice test! This is one of the 350+ videos that are used in our online course. Each video is followed by practice questions and examples, building your skills in all the areas needed for IELTS. Go to http for more information and to try the free IELTS practice test. NARRATION: One of the biggest problems in the IELTS reading test is time. You have one hour to answer 40 questions, which means that you will have to be able to get the information you need quickly. There are three different skills you will need in the test. Skimming, scanning and reading in detail. Skimming means looking quickly at the passage to get a general idea of what it is about. Scanning means looking at the passage for specific information. Reading in detail requires you to carefully read the section of the passage you are looking for the answer in. Here are some common situations in which you have probably already used these skills. You might skim a newspaper article to see if you think it is interesting enough to read. If you were looking for a telephone number in a directory, you would scan, looking for the specific information you need. If you are assembling a complicated product, you would need to read the instruction manual carefully to make sure you understand all the details of what you have to do. Skimming and scanning skills will help you find the right section of the reading passage to answer the question. Most questions will then require …