Lessons / Reading / Summary completion from a word list
IELTS Reading
Summary completion from a word list
The same summary task, but the answers come from a boxed list of words, not the passage.
The instructions, word for word as the test writes them
Complete the summary using the list of words, A–J, below.
Write the correct letter, A–J, next to Questions 28–33.
What this task is
A gapped summary with a bank of lettered words. Because the bank supplies the words, they can be synonyms the passage never uses. That changes the task completely. This variant tests whether you understand the meaning, not whether you can find a string.
The bank always holds at least three more words than there are gaps. Every spare word fits the grammar somewhere. No word is used twice.
The traps
These are built in on purpose. Know them by name and half the danger is gone.
Every distractor fits the grammar of at least one gap by design. Slotting in whatever "reads nicely" is exactly the habit the bank is built to punish.
The right word may look nothing like the passage's word. "Expansion" in the box can answer for "growth" in the text.
What to do next time
- Sort the bank by word class first. Nouns, verbs, adjectives. Most gaps only accept one class, and the box shrinks fast.
- Check each choice against the passage, not against the summary's flow. The summary reading nicely is not evidence.
- No reuse, so every letter you place is one fewer to consider. Do the confident gaps first.
Now meet it under a clock. Start a free mock. Every summary completion from a word list question you get wrong comes back with the sentence that proves the answer, and the reason the trap was tempting.