How To Use Keywords In The IELTS Reading Test

The IELTS reading test comprises two reading test formats; Academic reading test and general training reading test. Both of these IELTS reading tests occur for a duration of 60 minutes each and comprises three reading passages and 40 questions in total. The questions may be short answer types, multiple choice questions, match the phrases or paragraphs, etc. However, the aspirants find it a challenging task to read the passage thoroughly, understand the passage, and to answer all the questions correctly within 60 minutes, thus a few of them lag behind. Moreover, a rich vocabulary is crucial in order to pass any IELTS reading exam with flying colors. Most of the words asked in questions are not directly written in the passage, but are expressed in terms of synonyms or keywords. In this article we would explain how we can identify the keywords and use them.

What is a Keyword?

A keyword is a synonym or a similar word which is used in place of the exact word asked in the question. They contain specific relevant information related to the question asked. Keywords can be used to represent:

• nouns (bad: awful, terrible, horrible, etc.),
• verbs (Ask: beg, request, seek permission, allow, etc.),
• names (Saint Thomas Junior can be later referred to as Junior, Thomas, etc.)
• Locations (Jaipur may be written as the pink city)
• Dates or years (1947 may be represented as the year of independence)
• Italicized words
• Capitalized words, etc.

Keywords help the aspirant to locate the correct answer relevant to the questions. Having a good vocabulary is essential to decipher any keyword present in the passage.There are a lot of IELTS Reading practice papers available that one must add in their preparation for IELTS reading test.

What Are Keyword Synonyms?

Synonyms are the words or the phrases that have exactly the same meaning, or a similar meaning to the word given, e.g., the synonyms of beautiful are pretty, wonderful, etc. Synonyms are used to check the vocabulary of the students, along with their level of understanding the passage. They are often closely associated with the words under question, and are also referred to as parallel expressions. We have stated a few words and their synonyms and a statement as example, for a better understanding:

What Is The Keyword Technique?

They way or method of finding the word having the exact same meaning or even similar meaning to the word in question, is termed as the keyword technique. Finding the correct keyword helps the aspirant to answer the question correctly. Finding the right keyword is one of the most crucial steps to ace the Reading test and to achieve your dream IELTS Reading score.

For example:

Question: a catalogue of domestic animals at risk of disappearing is made.

Answer: There is no word catalogue mentioned in the passage, but the passage has the word database present in it. Hence, Database is a keyword to the word catalogue in the question.

How To Use The Keyword Technique?

To use the keyword technique efficiently, the aspirant needs to ace or enhance the following two characteristics properly:

• The aspirant should have a rich vocabulary
• The aspirant must have thoroughly read and understood the reading passage.

Including these techniques in IELTS preparation can help in achieving the desired goal. Cracking an IELTS examination is often considered as a challenge, however a few IELTS reading tips or points the aspirant can consider in order to find out the right keywords and ace the examination are mentioned below:

1. Read the passage thoroughly and attentively twice, in order to clearly understand it.
2. After reading the passage thoroughly, go through the questions once before attempting them.
3. Skim the passage and underline all the words that might have similar meaning as the words in the questions, i.e., synonyms, or the same word in the question.
4. In case there are words which one is not aware of, try to find relevant statements, making the same meaning, or are relatable to the questions asked. At times, there are words which are new to the aspirant, so a statement making the same sense often helps.
5. After identifying the keywords, locate them in the passages, and mark them.
6. Read the statements surrounding the keywords to ensure the meaning of the words, and to check their relevance to the question.
7. Go back to the question, and check if the keyword makes sense.
8. Write down the answer.

Keywords are essential to determine the correct answer, however, it is always necessary to clearly understand the passage to answer all the questions correctly. Therefore to achieve your overall desired IELTS score follow all the things mentioned in this article.