IELTS General Training Reading: Question Pattern, Tips, and Practice Papers

IELTS General Training Reading Test examines your ability to understand everyday written English. IELTS general reading exam paper format contains three sections, Section one suppresses two or three short texts or several shorter texts. Section two suppresses two texts. Section three contains one long text. IELTS general training reading test comprises 40 questions, and you’ll have 60 minutes to answer them.

The reading of general IELTS Test section 1 consists of one, two, or three texts (typically two). Each text may be a commercial for a hotel, shop, college, sports center, or business. Section 2 of IELTS reading topics includes more than one text and is frequently related to college courses, leaflets, and content about working and living in an English-speaking nation. Section 3 of IELTS general training reading is frequently the longest and most difficult of the three reading passages.

IELTS general training reading test sections contain topics extracted from notices, advertisements, magazines, company handbooks, and guidelines. There are 11 different types of questions, and you need to do regular practice with IELTS general reading practice test, for better understanding. Many books provide IELTS general reading practice test with answers, which can help you to do effective practice for higher scores.

IELTS General Reading Training vs Academic

IELTS is the only English competency test that allows candidates to choose between IELTS general training vs academic. IELTS Academic tests are usually designed for students for entry into university. IELTS General Training on the other side used for professionals, jobseekers, and for the migration process.

IELTS General Training Reading Test Format

IELTS General Training Reading test paper format contains three sections and includes various types of questions. ‘Social survival’ the first section, contains texts relevant to foundations for basic linguistic survival in English. ‘Workplace survival’ the second section contains workplace contexts. ‘General reading’ the third section includes reading more fiction with a more complex format. Candidates need to complete the answer sheet during IELTS Reading time limit. Candidates should be taken care of while answering for IELTS General Reading test as poor spelling and grammatical errors are penalized. Every question contains one mark.

IELTS General Training Reading Task Types

IELTS General Training Reading test comprises 11 types of questions. IELTS General Training Reading course requires candidates to read topics extracts from notices, magazines, books, newspapers, company handbooks, and advertisements. These are the main topics a candidate faces daily in an English-speaking environment. You need to do effective IELTS prepareation for general training reading to understand the different types of questions.

IELTS GT Reading Multiple Choice

In this IELTS General Training Reading task type, candidates choose the right answers from the options provided. The questions are given to complete a sentence or choose the right options for the questions.
Candidates needed to choose between

• One answer from four alternatives (A, B, C or D)
• Two answers from five alternatives (A, B, C, D or E)
• Three answers from seven alternatives (A, B, C, D, E, F or G)

Sample Question

IELTS GT Reading Identifying Information

In this section, the candidate will be provided a set of statements and asked: ‘Do the following statements agree with the information in the text?’ Then the candidate needs to write their answer as ‘True’ ‘False’ or ‘Not Given’. The candidate has to understand the difference between ‘False’ and ‘Not Given’. Answering False stands for that the passage states for the opposite of the statement in question. ‘Not Given’ states that the statement is not mentioned in the passage.

Sample Question

IELTS GT Reading Identifying Writer's Views/Claims

In this section, the candidate was given a number of statements and asked: ‘Do the following statements agree with the views/claims of the writer?’ The candidate needs to answer ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘not given’ in the answer sheet.

Sample Question

IELTS GT Reading Matching Information

In this specific section, the candidate was asked to match the information in the lettered paragraph/section in the boxes of their answer sheet. The candidates are required to find specific information, an example, a reason, a description, a summary, and an explanation. The questions do not follow the same segments as the information in the text.

Sample Question

IELTS GT Reading Matching Headings

The candidate has to adjust a set of pieces or statements to the list of options given. The candidate is required to match a given list of headings to the correct paragraph or sections. This specific section tests the candidate's ability to acknowledge the theme in the sections of a text and to perceive the main ideas from the supporting ones.

Sample Question

IELTS GT Reading Matching Features

The candidate is required to match a set of statements to a list of given options. The candidate needs to match different events relevant to the different historical periods. Matching features will judge the ability of the candidates to understand the relationship between facts in the table and the candidate's ability to acknowledge opinions and theories.

Sample Question