IELTS Reading lesson: Skimming

and Scanning
Skimming and scanning are two very effective (yet different) strategies
for speed-reading.

What is speed-reading? You may be used to read every word slowly and
carefully to understand every sentence of the text. But on IELTS Reading
test, you are limited in time and it’s impossible to read attentively all the
information. But how to read more, in less time? One way is to use speed-
reading - quickly read the text according to your purpose, getting only the
information you need.

Skimming

Skimming means quickly reading the text to get only its main idea. To skim
effectively, you need to read only a part of the material.

You have already encountered skimming: when reading a long chapter of a

book, or doing a research on a long article. In such case, you would probably
read the first sentences of each paragraph, dropping down to the end of the
paragraph.

How to skim?

1. Read the first paragraph attentively to get an idea of what will be

discussed in the text.
2. Read the first (and sometimes the second) sentence of each paragraph
- they give the main idea of the paragraph.
3. After you have read the first sentences, your eyes should drop down to
the end of the paragraph, looking for important pieces of information,
such as dates and names.
4. Read the last paragraph attentively as it may contain the summary.

Here’s a picture that illustrates skimming process:

Scanning

Scanning means searching for specific phrases in the text to answer some
questions.

Underline!

The questions on IELTS Reading test often

include dates, names, numbers, new terms or other key words. So it’s a
very good idea to underline those key words while reading, so you could find
the answers in the text more easily.

How to scan?

1. Underline the important information while reading the text (dates,

numbers, names etc.)
2. When you read the question, identify the key word and scan the text
for it. This way you’ll find the answer more quickly.

Scanning process looks like this:

Practice

Now it's time for practice. Like on a real IELTS Reading test, you have to read
the text and answer the questions below.

First of all, let's practise skimming. When reading a text for the first time,
you should skim over it to grasp the main idea. In this example, read
the highlighted text and quickly look over the rest of the text (you have about
1-2 minutes):
 Are electric cars really eco-friendly?

Electric-car drivers are saving the planet, right? Their vehicles produce
none of the pollutants that dinosaur-burning, fossil-fuel-powered machines
do. That is the standard view, and governments around the world provide
incentives to encourage the uptake of this new technology.

That is why a Tesla owner got a rude shock when he went to import his
vehicle into Singapore - the first person to do so. The Tesla Model S is a
100% electric vehicle. It does not have an exhaust to emit from. So what
happened?

Instead of an expected rebate of around S$15,000 (US$10,800) he

received a fine of the same amount for being a gross polluter. The company
commented the incident, "The Model S that our customer imported into
Singapore left our factory only two years ago with energy consumption
rated at 181 Wh/km. This qualifies as the cleanest possible category of car
in Singapore and entitles the owner to an incentive rather than a fine."

The Singapore authorities calculated the ‘carbon cost’ of generating the

electricity that will be used to charge the car. This is the elephant in the
trunk of electric vehicles. Where and how the power is produced is not often
considered, but perhaps it should be. Let’s move the elephant up to the
passenger seat and address it directly.

The authorities in Singapore apparently found the Tesla in question

consumes 444 watt-hours of electricity per km (Wh/km) in tests. Without
wanting to get too maths-heavy, the number of 444Wh/km does seem high.
And as we still need power stations to produce such amount electric
energy, the environmental impact is not so small as it seemed to be.

But what about the bigger picture - should we be factoring in the emissions
of power stations when working out how green an electric car is? The
logical answer is yes. Emissions shifted elsewhere are still emissions, and
CO2 impacts the global atmosphere wherever it is released.
After you’ve skimmed the text, you should get the general idea: one man
imported an electric car to Singapore and was fined for that, because the car
was considered as a polluter. It turned out that electric cars can also be
dangerous for the environment, because electric energy used to charge them
is produced at power stations, which emit pollutants.

Now let’s look at the questions:

1. What is the aim of this text?

A. To discourage people from visiting Singapore

B. To prove that electric cars are less eco-friendly than fossil-fuel-powered
machines
C. To show that we need to count the emissions of power stations to see
how green an electric car is.

2. When the owner of the electric car went to Singapore, he received

A. a rebate of around US$10,800

B. a fine of around US$10,800
C. a fine of around US$15,000

3. To prove that electric car was a gross polluter, the authorities in

Singapore calculated the ...................... of generating the electricity
to charge the car.
Here are some common mistakes that candidates usually make!

1. Reading the passage blindly

Without knowing what questions are asked, candidates start reading the passage. While reading,
they are unaware of what they are looking for. So, they first complete reading the passage and then
read the questions. Then, they re-read the passage to search the answer. This wastes time and
they might not be able to complete the task in given time.

2. Answering just by reading first half of the sentence

While reading the text, it happens that candidates read half of the sentence and locates the
information he/she is looking for. They assume that part of the sentence to be correct and write
their answer without further reading the sentence. But, there are possibilities that the second half
of the sentence might change the meaning and the answer written turns out to be wrong.

Usually, words like ‘but’, ‘however’ and more change the meaning of the whole text. So, examiners
trick the candidates by using such words and thus altering the sense of the sentence.

3. Reading the text in a hurry

One cannot understand the given text in context while reading in a hurry. When a candidate reads
the text hurriedly, there are chances that he/she might overlook the correct answers. So, wherever
candidates find the keyword or its synonym while reading the passage, they consider it to be correct
and note it as their answer. Answers selected in this way proves to be incorrect many a times and
the candidate ends up losing marks.

4. Falling in the trap of an Examiner

Examiners are well aware of the ‘distractors’ that can trick candidates in the exam. What are these
distractors? Well, distractors are actually wrong answers that appear right.

All the possible answers for a given question will have at least one synonym or keyword that
matches the given text. These are kept to confuse the candidate. If the text is not read properly, a
candidate chooses these distractors as their answer and loses marks.

To get rid of these mistakes and to ensure that you consistently get all your answers right, it
requires you to develop a specific strategy. Here, we have shared some of the proven tips and
strategies that aspirants have used in their actual IELTS Test and achieved their desired
score.
MULTİPLE CHOİCE

Useful information about multiple choice questions:

 Questions follow the order of the text.

 Questions repeat key words (or their synonyms) from the text.

Multiple choice questions have 3 or 4 answers, only one of which is correct. Usually,
there are such types of answers:

A. Irrelevant answer that gives information, which is not stated in the text.
B. Answer that gives completely opposite information.
C. Answer that gives information that figures in the text, but not what you're
asked about.
D. Correct answer.

You should obviously choose the correct answer, not confusing it with other answers.

To understand what I mean, see an example below.

 Answering strategy:
 Read the first question and underline the key words.
 Read the text from the beginning, simultaneously scanning it for the information
that relates to the question.
 Once you found the key words or their synonyms in the text - look for the answer
(it should be somewhere close).
 One you've found the answer, read the next few lines of the text to make sure
that it is correct. Also, reread the question.
 Repeat this strategy with other questions, but now read the text from the place
where you stopped the last time.

Tips:
 Cross out the answers which are obviously wrong. This will help you to identify
the correct answers more quickly.
 The order of questions can help you. Answer for question 4 will be between
answers for questions 3 and 5 in the text.
 Don't rely on your own knowledge, the correct answer contains ONLY
information stated in the text.
 Try to predict the correct answer before you read the text. This will help you find
the correct answer.
 If you are running out of time or are unable to find the right answer, make a
guess. You will not lose marks if the answer is wrong. So, it is better to write
something than nothing.
 Rice That Fights Global Warming

More than half the global population relies on rice as a regular part of their
diet. But rice paddies have a downside for the planet too: they produce as
much as 17 percent of the world's total methane emissions. That is even
more than coal mining emissions, which make 10 percent of total! So
Christer Jansson, a plant biochemist at the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory, spent the past 10 years developing SUSIBA2, a genetically
modified rice plant that emits almost no methane.

Multiple choice question:

1. What is the negative effect of rice?

A. It is regular part of more than half of the world population’s diet.

B. Rice paddies emit more methane than coal mining industry.
C. Its plantations produce 17% of the world’s total methane emissions.
D. Rice has genetically modified sort SUSIBA2, which is harmful for
health.

In this question key words are “rice” and “negative effect”.

Now let's consider all the answers:

Answer A gives us true, but completely opposite information from what

we're looking for. The first sentence tells us that

More than half the global population relies on rice as a regular part of their
diet.

But it is a positive effect! And we're looking for the negative one. So this
answer is false.

Answer B also gives us true information, but it is not what you’re asked
about. Look at the third sentence, which contains information that answer B
uses:
That is even more than coal mining emissions, which make 10 percent of
total!

This sentence is used only to highlight the negative effect, not to state it.

Answer C is correct. The second sentence clearly states the negative effect:

But rice paddies have a downside for the planet too: they produce as much as
17 percent of the world's total methane emissions.

downside = negative effect

As you see, it's very important to search key words or their synonyms in the
text.

Answer D is irrelevant: it was not written anywhere that SUSIBA2 is

harmful. This answer uses some words from the text just to confuse you.

Australian Agricultural Innovations:

1850 – 1900
During this period, there was a wide spread expansion of agriculture in Australia. The
selection system was begun, whereby small sections of land were parceled out by
lot. Particularly in New South Wales, this led to conflicts between small holders and
the emerging squatter class, whose abuse of the system often allowed them to take
vast tracts of fertile land.

There were also many positive advances in farming technology as the farmers
adapted agricultural methods to the harsh Australian conditions. One of the most
important was “dry farming”. This was the discovery that repeated ploughing of
fallow, unproductive land could preserve nitrates and moisture, allowing the land to
eventually be cultivated. This, along with the extension of the railways allowed the
development of what are now great inland wheat lands.

The inland areas of Australia are less fertile than most other wheat producing
countries and yields per acre are lower. This slowed their development, but also led
to the development of several labour saving devices. In 1843 John Ridley, a South
Australian farmer, invented “the stripper”, a basic harvesting machine. By the 1860s
its use was widespread. H. V. McKay, then only nineteen, modified the machine so
that it was a complete harvester: cutting, collecting and sorting. McKay developed
this early innovation into a large harvester manufacturing industry centred near
Melbourne and exporting worldwide. Robert Bowyer Smith invented the “stump jump
plough”, which let a farmer plough land which still had tree stumps on it. It did this by
replacing the traditional plough shear with a set of wheels that could go over stumps,
if necessary.

The developments in farm machinery were supported by scientific research. During

the late 19th century, South Australian wheat yields were going down. An agricultural
scientist at the colony’s agricultural college, John Custance, found that this was due
to a lack of phosphates and advised the use of soluble superphosphate fertilizer. The
implementation of this scheme revitalised the industry.

From early days it had been obvious that English and European sheep breeds had to
be adapted to Australian conditions, but only near the end of the century was the
same applied to crops. Prior to this, English and South African strains had been use,
with varying degrees of success. William Farrer, from Cambridge University, was the
first to develop new wheat varieties that were better able to withstand dry Australian
conditions. By 1914, Australia was no longer thought of as a land suitable only for
sheep, but as a wheat growing nation.

422 words

1. What is dry farming?

Preserving nitrates and moisture.
Ploughing the land again and again.
Cultivating fallow land.
2. What did H. V. McKay do?

Export the stripper.

Improve the stripper.
Cut, collect and sort wheat.
3. What did the 'stump jump plough’ innovation allow farmers to do?

Cut through tree stumps.

Change the wheels for a traditional plough."
Allow farmers to cultivate land that hadn’t been fully cleared.
4. What did John Custance recommend?

Improving wheat yields.

Revitalising the industry.
Fertilizing the soil.
5. Why was William Farrer’s wheat better?
 It was drought resistant.
It wasn’t from England or South Africa.
It was drier for Australian conditions.

https://www.ieltsbuddy.com/ielts-multiple-choice.html
https://www.ieltsachieve.com/ielts-reading/2017/5/22/ielts-reading-multiple-choice-questions
https://ielts-up.com/reading/multiple-choice-3.html
EXERCISE 1
Awareness about elder abuse, still largely a taboo topic, has
started to increase across the world. It is defined as actions or
lack of appropriate action which can cause harm or distress to an
older person, occurring within any relationship where there is an
expectation of trust. All types of elder abuse can ha ve an impact
on the health and well-being of the older person. Psychological
abuse is the most pervasive and includes behaviours that harm an
older person’s self-worth or wellbeing such as name calling,
scaring, embarrassing, destroying property or prevent ing them
from seeing friends and family.

What is the main idea of the text?

Choose one letter A-D

A. The elderly suffer psychological abuse

B. The awareness of the mistreatment of older people is on the

rise

C. People should know more about the abuse of the elderly

D. The government is trying to raise awareness of the abuse of

the elderly

EXERCISE 2

There are many ways to cope with exercising in hot weather. But
one of the most effective may be, surprisingly, to soak in long,
hot baths in the days beforehand, according to a well -timed new
study of how best to prepare for athletic competitions in the
heat. Across the United States and much of the Northern
hemisphere, summer temperatures are spikin g, which can make
outdoor exercise gruelling. When it is hot, our hearts labour to
shunt more blood to the skin, which allows internal heat to
dissipate but also leaves us feeling fatigued and potentially at
risk for heat illnesses, ranging from nausea to grievous heat
stroke.

What is the main idea of the text?

Choose one letter A-D

A. How to cope with exercising in hot weather

B. How to exercise outdoors in the summer

C. How to prepare for your exercise routine

D. How to prepare for an athletic competition in scorching

temperatures

Answers are at the bottom of the page.

EXERCISE 3
America is one of only a few countries in the Western world that
still puts criminals to death. Even there, executions are on the
wane: just 20 were carried out in 2016, down fr om a peak of 98
in 1999. Popular support is declining, too. Just 60% of Americans
approve of the death penalty for murder, down from 80% in the
1990s. Only eight states have carried out an execution since
2015, and around two-thirds either have abolished capital
punishment or have a moratorium on its use. But it has not
disappeared altogether: during an eight -day stretch in April,
Arkansas executed four people, so as not to waste its expiring
supply of a lethal injection drug. And last month in Alabama, a
man who spent 35 years on death row—and eluded seven
execution dates—was finally put to death. Why does America
continue to execute people?

Which two of the following points best describe the paragraph?

Choose two letters A-E

A. Though the American people mostly agree with the death

penalty, it has been declining over the past few years

B. Punishing people to the extreme

C. America's judiciary system still includes execution in selected

areas

D. All Americans believe in lethal injections as a punishment fo r

committing murder

E. Death row is a place where many criminals wait for sentencing

Answers are at the bottom of the page.

EXERCISE 4
But for years already, the country has been struggling with
another form of isolation - depression and suicide. A new report
by Unicef contains a shocking statistic - New Zealand has by far
the highest youth suicide rate in the developed world. A shock
but no surprise - it's not the first time the country tops that
table. The Unicef report found New Zealand's youth suicide rate -
teenagers between 15 and 19 - to be the highest of a long list of
41 OECD and EU countries. The rate of 15.6 suicides per 100,000
people is twice as high as the US rate and almost five times that
of Britain.

What does the author want to communicate to the reader?

Choose one letter A-D

A. The rising suicide rate of people in New Zealand

B. The appalling data collected of adolescent suicides in New

Zealand

C. The growing number of people who have depression and feel

isolated
D. A report was commissioned by UNICEF

EXERCİSE 1

Is violence innate?

In 1983, archaeologists in southern Germany discovered a mass grave

containing 34 skeletons. They included 9 adult males, 7 adult females and
16 children.

All of the skeletons showed signs of fatal trauma, including head

wounds. None of them showed any signs of defensive wounds, suggesting
they were killed whilst running away.

The "Talheim Death Pit" dates from the Stone Age, around 7,000 years
ago. It offers some of the oldest evidence of organised group violence
between two communities: that is, of war.

Clearly, humans have been fighting wars for thousands of years, and we
may not be the only ones. There is growing evidence that several other
species also engage in warfare, including our closest relatives the
chimpanzees.

That suggests we have inherited our predilection for warfare from our
ape-like ancestors. But not everyone agrees that warfare is inbuilt.

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. What did archaeologists in southern Germany discover? Show hint

A. Remains of 34 dead animals
B. Graveyard containing 34 skeletons
C. Relics of early civilization
D. 9 adult males, 7 adult females and 16 children

2. Why did scientists suggested that those people were killed whilst
running away? Show hint
A. Their skeletons showed signs of fatal trauma
 B. There were 16 children
C. During that period organised group violence was very
frequent
D. Their skeletons didn't show any signs of defensive wounds

3. Why do human beings fight, according to the article? Show hint

A. Because they have been fighting wars for thousands of years
B. Because chimpanzees, who are humans' closest relatives,
engage in warfare
C. Because humans inherited predilection for warfare from their
ape-like ancestors
D. Because fighting is their inbuilt instinct

4. Which of the following phrases best describes the main aim of the
Reading Passage? Show hint
A. To describe fighting among different species
B. To intoduce principles of contemporary archaeology and its
application
C. To introduce some relics of humans' warfare for further
discussion whether violence is innate or not
D. To suggest ways of interperting humans' violence

August 1985: The worst month for air disasters

There are many grim landmarks in the history of aviation. One in particular
stands out. Three decades ago, 720 travellers and crew lost their lives on
board commercial aircraft in a single month - more than in any other before
or since.

The deaths occurred in four separate accidents in August 1985. Each

disaster had quite different causes. The aircraft involved ranged from a 747
with hundreds on board to a tiny twin engine turboprop carrying just eight
people.

There was Japan Air Lines flight 123, the worst single-aircraft accident in
history, in which 520 of 524 on board were killed. A further 137 died when
Delta flight 191 flew into heavy winds as it approached Dallas-Fort Worth
International. A fire on board British Airtours flight 28M at Manchester
Airport led to 55 deaths. And all those on board the smallest aircraft, Bar
Harbor Airlines flight 1808, lost their lives as it flew into a small airport in
Maine, USA.

Each, in their own way, had a lasting legacy, whether in the memories of
those left bereaved or in changes in technology and procedure introduced
as a direct result. The worst death toll was on Japan Air Lines Flight 123, a
Boeing 747, which was en route from Tokyo to Osaka on 12 August 1985
when the airtight bulkhead between its cabin and tail tore open. The change
in pressure blew off the vertical stabiliser, or tail fin. It also destroyed the
hydraulic systems. The plane lurched up and down.

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. When did the 720 travellers die? Show hint

A. Thirteen decades ago.
B. A few decades ago.
C. 30 years ago.
D. There is no information about it.

2. Twin engine turboprop could carry: Show hint

A. Eight people.
B. Four people.
C. Two people.
D. Only a pilot.

3. The worst accident in history, according to the paragraph, was: Show

hint
A. Flight 123.
B. Delta flight 191.
C. British Airtours flight 28M.
D. Bar Harbor Airlines flight 1808.
 4. Why did the Japan Air Lines Flight 123 crashed? Show hint
A. The change in pressure blew off the vertical stabiliser.
B. Destruction of the hydraulic systems.
C. The airtight bulkhead between its cabin and tail tore open.
D. It is unknown.

Why does coffee shoot out of the lid of your cup?

You're running late for work and you've purchased your coffee in a hurry.
Just as you arrive at the office, a jet of hot liquid escapes from the tiny hole
in the lid, leaving you with hot beverage residue on your clothes before the
day has really started.

TThis is exactly what happened to Rob Kaczmarek after buying a cup of his
favourite caffeinated drink. The marketing director at Convergent Science
was intrigued by why the coffee shoots out so far and therefore set about
modelling this, initially as a joke for those who enjoy a bit of computational
fluid dynamics. It's the design of the lid that's the problem, he explains.

"It happens because of the sloshing of the coffee against the lid, which is
kind of unique. At the end of the lid, the hole is right up above that. As the
coffee sloshes against the end of the lid, that velocity is amplified and it
splashes up through the actual hole."

Not all coffee cups are designed with a hole, of course. Some have lids with
a tiny hole and others peel back to reveal a much larger gap, which offsets
the shooting jets of hot liquid.

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. What accident might occur at work in the morning, after you bought
coffee? Show hint
A. You spill it all over the place accidently.
B. You get burns from the hot coffee.
C. You contaminate your clothes with it.
D. Nothing out of ordinary.

2. Rob Kaczmarek explains to us that: Show hint

 A. The coffee shoots out very far.
B. He sat his experiment as a joke.
C. He was really intrigued by spilling the coffee.
D. Coffee spils because of the design of the lid.

3. The main reason coffee spils is: Show hint

A. Velocity.
B. Sloshing.
C. Design of the cup.
D. It is not stated.

4. This text might be classified as: Show hint

A. Scientific.
B. Humorous.
C. Fictional.
D. Romantic.