IELTS Academic Reading, three passages · Lectura Académica IELTS, tres pasajes
A heading and a date need different evidence
- Original paragraph: “The archive opened in 2018. Its index was difficult to search, so staff added place-name tags. Searches became faster, although some spellings still needed review.” A year question needs 2018; a heading needs the paragraph’s overall contribution: improving access with a remaining limitation.
- “The archive’s opening date” names one detail but misses most of the paragraph. A scan can locate 2018; connected reading explains why the tags matter. The archive preserves records, but your answer need not preserve every word.
In the original archive paragraph, when did the archive open?
2018 is explicitly stated; it is a detail rather than the whole paragraph’s main idea.
Which heading covers the original paragraph’s main contribution?
The tags and search result form the main response; the remaining review qualifies it.
Keep answering inside the sixty minutes
- Academic Reading has three sections, forty questions and sixty minutes, including answer entry or any transfer. There is no extra Reading transfer period. On computer, enter answers against their question numbers during the section.
- Reserve time to reach all three texts and check responses. A twenty-minute average per text can help plan, but is not a requirement to stop every text at exactly twenty minutes; question demands and difficulty can differ.
How many questions are in Academic Reading?
Three passages, 40 questions in 60 minutes.
Academic Reading lasts ___ minutes, including answering time.
Sixty minutes includes answer entry or any transfer; there is no extra Reading transfer period.
Read the text rather than supplying outside expertise
- Academic texts come from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online resources for non-specialist readers. They can contain argument as well as narrative or description, and may include diagrams. Technical terms can be defined in the task.
- In the archive case, knowing that indexes are useful does not establish that all spellings were corrected. Use what this paragraph says. Topic familiarity can aid comprehension, but cannot replace evidence for the requested claim.
Where do Academic Reading passages come from?
Academic passages are from books, journals, magazines and newspapers. Notices belong to General Training.
Choose the read from the task
- A heading asks for a paragraph’s main idea; matching information asks for a specific detail; matching features asks for an attributed relationship. A diagram label requires matching textual relationships to a position, not merely recognising a familiar noun.
- Completion may require words from the passage or options from a supplied list. Read the actual instruction and word limit before deciding where the response must come from. There is no one scanning or copying rule for every Reading task.
You should reserve some of the 60 minutes for all three passages.
There are three passages in one 60-minute section. A difficult topic early on should not prevent you from reaching the later passages.
Every summary-completion task requires copying words from the passage rather than using supplied options.
There are passage-word and option-list forms. Read the actual instructions.
Support the whole claim, including its limits
- “The archive opened in 2018” is supported; “the archive opened in 2020” contradicts the stated date. “Every spelling was corrected” conflicts with the remaining need for spelling review. Shared vocabulary does not make the full claim true.
- For a claim the paragraph neither supports nor contradicts, use NOT GIVEN when that is the requested task. Do not select it merely because a word is unfamiliar or a quick scan failed. Search and inspect the relevant context before deciding evidence is absent.
Match the task to what it asks.
Main ideas, details, evidence labels and completion sources have different demands.
Transfer the method to a changed question
- Now ask what staff added: place-name tags answers that fact, while 2018 answers another question. Under a two-word limit, a correctly hyphenated “place-name” counts as one word. Check response, source wording and the specific instruction together.
- Recap: task → relevant evidence → required answer form. Format checked on 2 October 2026: official IELTS Academic Reading guide. The archive paragraph and our checks are original practice, without official band predictions.
- A technique can locate evidence without completing the reasoning. Match the whole question before entering the answer.
Match the distinctions in this worked case.
Skim for structure, then let the task decide the next read. A heading needs a paragraph’s main idea; an exact short answer needs its specific fact and instruction.
Which task requires the main idea of a paragraph?
A learner reads every passage carefully first, then discovers that an unanswered diagram label is located in one short paragraph. A map of the passage could have reduced that search. Skim for structure, then let the task decide the next read. A heading needs a paragraph’s main idea; an exact short answer needs its specific fact and instruction.