You are told what kind of information to find (an example, a reason, a comparison, a date) and must say which paragraph contains it. The statements are not in passage order, and a paragraph can be the answer more than once unless the instructions say otherwise.
At a glance
- Where
- Academic and General Training Reading
- How many
- Usually 4–6 statements
- Order
- Not in passage order
- Marking
- One mark each; check whether letters can be used more than once
How to answer, step by step
- Note the type of information each statement asks for: "an example of…", "a reason why…", "a reference to…".
- Pick out a key idea in each statement that will be easy to recognise, such as a name, a number or an unusual topic.
- Read the passage paragraph by paragraph and ask which statements each one answers, rather than hunting for one statement at a time.
- Check the match: the paragraph must contain the exact type of information, not just the same topic.
Common mistakes
- Expecting the answers in order, as in most other question types.
- Stopping at the first paragraph that mentions the topic. The specific detail may be in a later one.
- Ignoring the kind of information asked for. "A description of a method" is not met by a paragraph that only names the method.
Worked example
From Skillora IELTS Academic Mock Test 1 · Reading Passage 3, Question 37
Complete each sentence with the correct ending (A–F).
Decay theory claims that memories
- fade over time.
- are blocked by other learning.
- find it hard to generalise.
- may feel more useful than it is.
- are stored only during sleep.
- cannot be studied in animals.
Answer: fade over time.
"According to decay theory, memories simply fade with time."
“According to decay theory, memories simply fade with time”
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