Matching, completion, and the last five minutes · Correspondance, complétion et les cinq dernières minutes
The first sentence can describe a problem rather than the main result
- Original paragraph A: “The archive’s index was hard to search. Staff added place-name tags and a report button. Searches became faster, although some spellings still needed review.” Improving access while keeping an accuracy check fits the whole contribution; The history of every spelling error overstates one limitation.
- The opening introduces a problem; the middle supplies a response; the ending supplies result and limit. Read across those parts before choosing a heading. The first noun in a paragraph has not been elected its spokesperson.
A heading and a paragraph share the word 'pollution'. What does that tell you?
A shared word does not establish the main idea. Read the paragraph, distinguish its main claim from an example, and compare that claim with the heading.
A specific-detail question may need another paragraph
- Original paragraph B: “Visitors can suggest a corrected place name through the report button. Lea reviews the suggestion against the photographed page before changing a tag. Unclear cases remain marked for review.” A question about who checks suggestions needs Lea, not paragraph A’s general account of faster searches.
- Matching information searches for a specific detail across paragraphs and need not follow their order. Use a paragraph more than once only when instructed. Heading matches concern main ideas; each heading is used at most once in the official task.
Which task asks you to locate specific information across paragraphs, without assuming the answers follow passage order?
Matching information does not require passage order. Reuse a paragraph only if the instructions allow it. Other tasks, including summary completion, can also be out of order.
In official matching-headings tasks, the same heading may be used more than once.
Each heading is used at most once. Other matching tasks may permit reuse when instructed.
Keep a view attached to its speaker and status
- Original exchange: “Lea recommends checking each suggestion against the image. Omar agrees that speed helps, but wants uncertain names marked rather than guessed.” A question about marking uncertain names points to Omar’s proposal, not simply the closest printed name.
- Names can be useful search anchors, but finding one does not establish the attribution. Read reporting verbs, pronouns and surrounding sentences. For matching features, check whether instructions permit reuse of a person or option.
In the original exchange, who proposes marking uncertain names rather than guessing?
Omar proposes flagging uncertainty; Lea recommends checking against images.
Grammar narrows a gap without deciding the word
- Under ONE WORD ONLY FROM THE PASSAGE, “Lea checks each suggestion against the photographed ____” takes page from paragraph B. “The samples were ____ by the technician” suggests a past participle, but the passage must supply which action occurred.
- Completion tasks may supply an option list instead of requiring passage words. Use the requested source and exact word limit; an invented synonym is not safer. For sentence endings, a grammatically possible continuation still needs the passage’s meaning.
'The samples were ______ by the technician before the trial.' What verb form is needed?
In this passive construction, 'were' and 'by the technician' require a past participle, such as stored or labelled. The passage still decides which verb is correct.
In summary completion it is safer to use your own synonym than the passage's word.
Read the instruction: copy from the passage when it says to do so, or choose from the given list when one is supplied. An invented synonym is neither.
Paragraph B: “Lea checks each suggestion against the photographed ____.” ONE WORD ONLY FROM THE PASSAGE.
Page is the exact noun in paragraph B. Image is a related synonym in the separate exchange but is not the requested passage word.
Choose a final check from the evidence still available
- If five minutes remain, a marked question with a known evidence location may be a useful first return. A question needing several sentences may also be worth resolving; this is a time-management option, not a fixed ranking of question types.
- Enter a reasoned response for remaining items if time permits, then check numbering and instructions. Reading’s sixty minutes includes answering; there is no extra transfer period. A guess can gain a mark, but does not guarantee one.
Put these final checks in a useful order.
This is a suggested checking order. Evidence location and remaining time guide the choice; a response may gain a mark but does not guarantee one.
Change the demand before repeating the method
- A heading for A summarises improved access with a remaining check; “who reviews a suggestion?” uses B’s Lea; “who proposes flagging uncertain names?” uses Omar in the exchange. The same topic can require different evidence and response forms.
- Recap: main idea for headings, specific detail for information, attribution for features, source and grammar for completion. Rules checked on 2 October 2026: official IELTS Academic Reading guide. All passages and exchanges here are original practice.
- Search anchors locate a place to read; they do not settle the main idea, attribution or answer limit on their own.
Match the distinctions in this worked case.
The first sentence sets a problem; the next two describe a response and its result. The limitation matters but does not turn the whole paragraph into a catalogue of errors.
Which heading best fits the archive paragraph?
Original paragraph: “The archive’s index was hard to search. Staff added place-name tags and a report button. Searches became faster, although some spellings still needed review.” A heading about improving access fits better than one only about spelling errors. The first sentence sets a problem; the next two describe a response and its result. The limitation matters but does not turn the whole paragraph into a catalogue of errors.