1. Read each paragraph instead of the whole article.

One reason why most students lose focus is trying to read and understand the whole passage. However, trying to read and understand the whole passage can easily lead to lack of focus and distraction. Therefore, the best way to do the reading test is:
– Spend 3-5 minutes to read through and grasp the main idea of ​​the passage 
– Read each paragraph in turn and understand each paragraph deeply
– Scroll down to the question section to see if it is in the paragraph you just read 

2. Study synonyms 

In the reading section, you do not need to understand all the vocabulary. 
However, understanding the synonyms of a vocabulary is an advantage because in the reading section and the IELTS questions, there are always similarities and connections, shown through the use of Synonyms.
To improve your synonym vocabulary, 2G encourages you to refer to the following dictionaries:
– WordHippo Dictionary  
– Thesaurus Dictionary 

3. Diversify background knowledge 

The IELTS Reading section has no limit on topics and the topics will vary from history to science, from information technology to the environment. 
Therefore, it is necessary to grasp the basic knowledge of each topic to avoid feeling confused and anxious when encountering a new topic.
To diversify your background knowledge, 2G encourages you to read newspapers from the following sources: 
– The Guardian 
– The Economist 
– VietnamNet for International 

4. Instead of practicing the whole test, focus on practicing the most difficult types of questions. 

A popular way to practice is to “work hard and continuously practice the entire set of questions”. However, this method is only useful when you have reached the ‘ripe’ stage and need to improve your time management skills.
For those who still have many wrong answers concentrated in one part, 2G encourages you to improve your weak areas by only doing exercises of that type.
For example, the ‘Matching Heading’ type is the biggest difficulty for most IELTS candidates. Instead of practicing the entire set of questions, you can search for the keyword ‘Matching Heading Exercises’ and practice intensively on this type of exercise. 

5. Time management

The final step, which is also one of the most important steps to prepare yourself mentally before taking the exam, is to control your time when doing the test.
A complete Reading test has 3 long reading passages, and running out of time is often unavoidable.
Therefore, 3 weeks before the exam, control your time while doing the test. The perfect milestone when doing the Reading test is 55 minutes to read the passage and 5 minutes to check the passage and answers. Of which, 15 minutes is for Passage 1; 20 minutes is for Passage 2 and 20 minutes is for Passage 3. (According to the increasing difficulty of each Passage) 

6. Create a quiet space to work and avoid distractions 

One reason why most candidates have the problem of ‘biting their pen for hours but still not being able to finish an exam’ 
is not due to lack of knowledge or difficult questions but due to lack of concentration. Therefore, to improve your ability to concentrate, 2G encourages you to create a quiet study space with little noise and not use music with lyrics to avoid losing focus throughout the exam process to optimize results and time.

7. After completing the exercise, analyze both the correct and incorrect sentences. 

After completing and grading the test, most students only check and analyze the incorrect answers. However, analyzing and reading detailed explanations of the correct answers is also necessary to understand the logic and flow of the test. 

8. Select appropriate documents.

With the development of technology, the source of documents is becoming more and more popular than ever. Besides, the widespread appearance of documents also makes students feel somewhat overwhelmed and confused because they do not know which type of book is suitable for their level. 
2G encourages students to choose reputable sources of documents, published by the British Council – the council that organizes the IELTS exam, for example: 
– Complete set of 17 Cambridge IELTS books
– Road to IELTS test set by British Council

Conclusion

Above are 8 ‘small but powerful’ tips – to help you improve your IELTS Reading score. 

Hope the help and advice from 2G Education will develop and perfect your English learning process!