雅思閱讀shortanswer

In this lesson, we will cover the Short Answer question type, which will test your ability to locate information in the passage and answer a question in the number of words specified in the instructions, which can range from NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER, ONE WORD ONLY, or NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS. This section requires some attention towards the spelling and number of words and numbers that you write, so be sure to spend time adhering to the instructions. As always, numbers can be written using figures (12) or words (twelve), and will always count as one word. Most times, prepositions and articles (such as ‘the' or ‘an') are optional. Additionally, unless otherwise stated, answers that are last names are sufficient, but you could also write the first and last names of a person. Here is an example question:


The Short Answer question type is almost always used with factual information. In other words, you will probably never have to answer this question with a passage based on the writer's opinions. Similar to other question types in the exam, the answers are most likely going to be in the order of the questions.

Now let's look at some tips of how to approach this section and what not to do when approaching this type of question on the exam. Please note that we will provide the reasoning and tips on confronting the logic of the exam in our example, but the following tips represent a simplified strategy to take when approaching the short answer question type.

What To Do:
1. Read the Questions and Underline Key Words – As the answers are most likely to appear in the text in the same order as the questions, test takers should pay close attention to the order of questions. Read each statement first in order to get an overview of the theme of the passage, and underline key words in both the question and the answer options.

2. Think About the Missing Words – Once you have successfully understood the information presented in the sentences, think about the type of word that will fit in the gap. Is it a noun, verb, adverb, or adjective? Write a note about what you think it could be next to the gap.

3. Scan the Passage & Skim Read as Necessary – Now that you've read the sentences and you are aware of what type of word could fit in the gap, start scanning the passage based on the underline words. Once you've found a section of the text that looks promising, skim read the section in order understand the information to correctly answer the question.

4. Pay Close Attention and Answer the Questions – Pay attention to the amount of words you need to write, and be sure to write in all capital letters in order to maintain consistency and precision.

What Not To Do:
Do not read the entire passage, and do not read the passage first, as you won't know what you're looking for. As a general rule for the Reading section, it is not necessary and actually time-restrictive to read the entire passage, word for word. Be sure to use the scanning technique, first and foremost, and then the skimming technique as necessary.

Do not misspell or use words incorrectly. This information is included in the passage, so there is not really any excuse to misspell a word. Remember to use the step of “thinking about the missing words” in order to appropriately write a verb, noun, etc.

Using these tips, let's look at an example of a passage with this specific question type.

Short Answer Recap

In this section, we examined the Short Answer section of the IELTS Academic Reading section. Here are some brief tips to remember when approaching this question type:

Do:

• Read the questions first, underline key words, and scan for information.
• Remember that answers will most likely come in order.
• Remember to think about the parts of speech of the missing word.
• Skip a question if it is difficult and move on. Then, you should be able to better locate the
• answer to a difficult question in the text, since it will most likely be between some of your marked information.
• Write in capital letters to ensure precision.

Don't:

• Read the entire passage first.
• Make mistakes when it comes to spelling or grammar, or write more words than necessary.
• Miss key words such as “first” or “last”.