Lessons / Reading / Summary completion
IELTS Reading
Summary completion
Fill the gaps in a paragraph that summarises part of the passage.
The instructions, word for word as the test writes them
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
What this task is
A short connected summary, usually of one section of the passage, not the whole thing, with numbered gaps. The summary paraphrases heavily. The answers are exact words from the text.
Because it is connected prose, each gap has to satisfy two things at once: the meaning of the passage and the grammar of the summary. That double check is your friend. It usually points at exactly one span.
The traps
These are built in on purpose. Know them by name and half the danger is gone.
A heading like "Summary — paragraphs C to F" is a gift most candidates ignore. Answers outside that range are not answers.
On the surface, the summary reads nothing like the passage. Match the ideas paragraph by paragraph and the gaps resolve. Match words and they will not.
What to do next time
- Read the whole summary first. Knowing where it is going makes each gap far easier to place in the passage.
- For each gap: decide the word class, find the matching idea in the text, copy the exact words within the limit.
- Gaps follow the order of the text. Use each answer's location to launch the search for the next.
Now meet it under a clock. Start a free mock. Every summary completion question you get wrong comes back with the sentence that proves the answer, and the reason the trap was tempting.