Reading Academic – Session 3 – Forms of Questions in IELTS Academic Reading

In IELTS Reading, there are three forms of questions: summarizing questions, detailing questions, and mixed questions. The three forms require three different approaches, which are discussed in the next part. In each form, there are different types.

• Summarizing questions aim for an overall understanding of the topic or a part of the topic. In other words, these questions ask for the main idea or the sub-main ideas of the text. They require you to read the entire text or a portion of it and explain your understanding by answering questions. An example of summarizing questions is Heading-matching questions.
• Detailing questions aim for details from the text, such as a name, a number, or a word. They require you to read a portion of the text and locate specific information in order to answer the questions. An example of detailing questions is Fill in the gaps.
• Mixed questions aim for your understanding of particular details in the text. They represent both summarizing questions and detailing questions. An example of mixed questions is Multiple-choice questions.

The levels of difficulty of both texts and questions range from Part 1 to Part 3.