HEADING

Strategy for solving Matching Heading (Reading) and Map/Diagram Labelling (Listening)

Tips and Solutions

1. You are not expected to read every word of the text. This will take too

long and you don’t have time for this. In this kind of question you are

only expected to understand the main idea of each paragraph. A good

way to do this is to read the first one or two sentences and the last

sentence of the paragraphs. You can also briefly look at the rest of the

paragraph but you don’t have to read every word.

2. If there are words you don’t understand, don’t worry about this.

Again, you should only worry about the general meaning of the

paragraph as a whole, not individual words. Even native speakers

will fail to understand every word in the IELTS reading test.

3. Be aware of synonyms. Many students look for words that match

exactly with words in the text and ignore synonyms. For example, a

keyword in the heading might be ‘Beautiful’, however the word

you’re looking for could be many different synonyms of ‘beautiful’

like ‘attractive’, ‘pretty’, ‘lovely’ or ‘stunning’.

4. If there are two or three headings that are similar, write them beside

the paragraph and try to find out the difference between the two

headings. What are the keywords? How does this change the

meaning? Which one matches the paragraph best?

5. If you still can’t decide which one suits best, move on and come back

to it later. The answer will normally be easier to find after you have

matched some more headings.

6. Ignore anything you already know about the topic. You are being

tested on the text only.

7. Don’t read too quickly. Some teachers advise that students should

just ‘skim’ the text because you don’t have much time. In my

experience, this leads to students not understanding most of the text

and making mistakes. It is better to do this a little slower and actually

understand what is in front of you.

8. Don’t panic if you know nothing about the general topic of the

reading text. The IELTS reading test is not a knowledge test and you

are not expected to have prior knowledge of the topic.

9. Don’t look at the headings first. This will automatically make you look

for specific words in the text rather than the main idea. Remember it

is your ability to find the main idea that is being tested, not your

ability to find specific information. Instead of reading the headings

first, ignore them and get the general meaning of each paragraph first

by reading the first and last sentences.

Strategy

1. Don’t look at the headings.

2. Read the first one or two sentences and the last sentence of each

paragraph to understand the general meaning of the paragraph.

Don’t worry about highlighting keywords in the test. Try to sum up

the general meaning of each paragraph in one or two words.

3. Look at the headings and identify keywords within each heading.

4. Match any headings that are very obvious and you are sure about.

5. For the others, write 2 or 3 headings beside the paragraph. Identify

the difference between each of the headings. Establish if there are

any synonyms in the paragraph to keywords in the headings.

6. If you still can’t pick one, move one. The answer will often reveal

itself later.

7. Repeat until finished.

Practice

Let look at an example question. Below are two paragraphs from an

article called ‘Trees in Trouble- What is causing the decline of the

World’s giant forests?’

Match the two paragraphs with one of the following three headings:

1. How wildlife benefits from big trees

2. Factors that enable trees to grow to significant heights

3. How other plants can cause harm

Paragraph 1- Big trees are incredibly important ecologically. For a start,

they sustain countless other species. They provide shelter for many

animals, and their trunks and branches can become gardens, hung with

green ferns, orchids and bromeliads, coated with mosses and draped

with vines. With their tall canopies basking in the sun, they capture vast

amounts of energy. This allows them to sustain much of the animal life in

the forest.

Paragraph 2- Only a small number of tree species have the genetic

capacity to grow really big. The mightiest are native to Norther America,

but big trees grow all over the globe, from the tropics to the boreal

forests of the high latitudes. To achieve giant stature, a tree needs three

things: the right place to establish its seedling, good growing conditions

and lots of time with low adult mortality. Disrupt any of these, and you

can lose your biggest trees.

IELTS Listening- Labeling a Map or

Plan

Common Problems

1. Not being aware of the vocabulary and functional language used to

describe locations and directions. See our useful language section

below.

2. Too much information. This question requires you to not only listen, but

to also follow a description or directions, understand the map or diagram

and write short notes, all at the same time.

3. Spelling. A common problem in all IELTS listening questions, but

particularly in this type of question because you have to do so many

things at the same time.

4. Visualization. This refers to your ability to form mental visual images.

You will be sitting in an exam room and the person talking will be

describing a plan you have never seen before. Unless you can imagine

what it looks like it is very difficult to answer these questions.

Useful Language Below is a selection of vocabulary and phrases you should be aware of before

doing the listening test:

at the top/at the bottom

on the left/on the right/on the far side

North/South/East/West

to the north/to the west

slightly west of

in the southwest/in the northeast

in the middle of/in the centre of

above/below

inside/outside

opposite/in front of

left hand side/right hand side

clockwise/anticlockwise

a little beyond

just past

before you get to

adjoining

enter via

runs alongside

If you don’t understand any of these, please look them up and practice using

them.

Listening Strategy

1. Read the question carefully. Understand the map or plan and its

features.

2. Ask yourself where things are in relation to the questions. This should

help you predict the answers and follow the talk.

3. Think about where the person might begin their talk from. What is to

their right and left? What is in front of and behind them?

4. Look at the major parts of the map or plan to help you understand and

navigate your way around.

5. Predict what type of words might be the answer i.e. will it be a place,

room, street, building etc.

6. Listen to the beginning of the talk carefully because this will help you

understand the context and help you follow the talk more easily.

7. Visualize the place they are describing whilst the person is talking. Note

down any possible answers, but be careful with distractors e.g.

‘this was the library but we decided to move it down to the end of the

corridor’.

8. Use signposting language like ‘The next room we are about to see is…’,

or ‘If you now follow me to….’, to help you understand each stage of the

talk.

9. Make short notes on the question paper and then transfer your answers

at the end using correct spelling.