IELTS Preparation : Tips, Strategy & Guide

Summary completion is the common question that the candidate encounters in IELTS academic readings exams to check your skills in grasping information from the text. Since, it is all about the vocabulary, you should look for the keywords and their synonyms to complete the blanks with suitable words from the given reading passage.

For summary completion questions, you will be given:

• The text
• A summary of information from a section of the text with some gaps where words have been missed out

You'll either be provided a list of words to fill in the blanks with, or you'll be asked to find answers from the reading paragraphs. The proper keywords from the questions will help to locate the correct text in the reading passage.

Also Check: IELTS Listening Tips

This type of question tests your ability to:

• Skim the summary for general meaning.
• Scan the text for specific information.
• Identify key words.
• Recognize synonyms & paraphrasing.
• Use context to make predictions.

Here are a few crucial IELTS Reading tips to help you boost your IELTS score by following these:

1. Vocabulary: For cracking these questions you must be a pro with vocabulary. You should recognize a wide range of synonyms and paraphrasing to score high. Knowing your vocabulary is essential for your IELTS Writing Tips as well.
2. Answer order: The order of the answers to the questions is usually in chronological order. On the rare occasions that they aren’t, the key words will help you to easily spot this.
3. Word count: You should take a note on the word limit on how many words do you have to use. For instance, NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS. If you write more than this, your answer will be marked wrong even if the information is correct.
4. List of words: There are more words given in the options than required hence it is a test of your skills to choose the right answer. Test takers do this intentionally to test your skills.
5. Prediction: Try to predict the words for answers before you fill in the gap. Example is it a noun, adjective or an adverb which you need as an answer. This will make it easier to find the answers.
6. Use other clues: After predicting the word for example you need an adjective for an answer look for the closest word in the text.
7. Manage your time: Do not waste your time on finding an answer which you are not able to find. Make an educated guess and move on.
8. Check your grammar: After you have written the answer check whether it fits grammatically correctly in the sentence. This tip is helpful in IELTS Speaking Tips as well.
9. No need to read the full passage: Do not read the full passage, it will just waste your time.

EVOLUTION OF MUSEUMS

Part A

The very first museums of the world were private collections of objects by wealthy people and institutions. The objects in these museums were displayed in Cabinets of Curiosities, also called Cabinets of Wonder or Wonder Rooms. The word “cabinet” was then used to describe a room and not a piece of furniture. The oldest recorded example of such was the Ennigaldi Nanna’s museum that was located in Mesopotamia. It was founded in 530 BC.

Before the 18th century, only elite or respectable members of society, by the standards of that era, could visit museums with permission from the owner and the staff. The first museums to be opened for the general public were the British Museum in London in 1759 and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence in 1765. However, even though they were no longer exclusive places, only people from the middle and upper class were privileged with a written permission request. Also, the visitations were often limited to a few hours. The first public museum in its true sense was the Louvre in Paris which was opened in 1793 to people of any status and age, emerging as an agent of nationalistic fervor.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, societies began to regard museums as centers of the production of new knowledge. Historical museums shifted focus to display scientific discoveries and artistic developments with collections that could be useful for research also. Over the twentieth century, as cities increased in size, wealth, and population, more museums developed. These were shaped by the public response to education and entertainment. Greater funding was directed towards the development of modern museums. Study programs dedicated to the field of art and culture were created to promote the growth of museums, and activities such as the collection and preservation of artifacts such as paintings or sculptures had consequently become more organized. Even wealthy industrialists such as Henry Ford and Henry Mercer contributed their collections leading to the development of more privately run museums.

Questions 1 - 5

Complete the summary below.

Write ONE WORD ONLY from Part A of the passage for each answer.

The earliest museums displayed personal 1______ belonging to rich people, and until the eighteenth century, only the elite class could visit these places. In the latter half of the century, the British Museum and the Uffizi Gallery opened their doors for the 2 _______, but not without restrictions. Finally, in 1793, the Louvre in Paris allowed access irrespective of class and 3 _______ and became a key factor in promoting nationalistic emotions.

By the early twentieth century, museums had started gaining recognition as centers of knowledge. The 4 ______ had moved from history to art and science. During this century, with urbanization and more funds coming in, museums were modified to provide learning as well as 5 _______.

 Answers:

1. Collection/objects

Explanation: The very first museums of the world were private collections of objects by wealthy people and institutions.

2. Public

Explanation: The first museums to be opened for the general public were the British Museum in London in 1759 and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence in 1765.

3. Age

Explanation: The first public museum in its true sense was the Louvre in Paris which was opened in 1793 to people of any status and age, emerging as an agent of nationalistic fervor.

4. Focus

Explanation: In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, societies began to regard museums as centers of production of new knowledge. Historical museums shifted focus to display of scientific discoveries and artistic developments

5. Entertainment

Explanation: Over the twentieth century, as cities increased in size, wealth, and population, more museums developed. These were shaped by the public response to education and entertainment. Greater funding was directed towards the development of modern museums. Also check our FREE Online IELTS Videos on our Youtube channel.

Flowchart completion questions appear to test your understanding and logical thinking abilities. The structure of the flowchart has a sequence or pattern of events. You have to understand the flow of sequence and the passage to find the right responses to your questions.

In Flow Charts Completion questions in IELTS Reading ,the information bith in the passage and the question remain the same ,but it is likely to be paraphased.You cannot pick up any answer outside rthe passage. All the answers should be taken from the passage.

• Quick reading speed
• Grasping the passage quickly
• Looking for the perfect synonyms
• Keen eye for detail
• Not wasting time on unimportant things

Here are a few essential IELTS Redaing Tips to enhance your IELTS score:

1.Remember to read the instructions carefully as they will tell you about the word limit for every particular question.

2.Highlight the keywords in the question to match later with the synonyms in the passage.

3.Do not fail to notice the directions, dates, arrows, years or verbs. Because it makes it easy to find the answers quickly.

4.The answers might not be in the order of the questions in the passage. Hence, note the key points in the flowchart.

5.Predict the word that fits grammatically and logically in the sentence. Do not panic as you might pick the responses wrong in a hurry.

6.Guessing helps in finding the correct answer. Look for the words you require for the answer, for example: verb, adjective, adverb, noun etc.

7.Do not rewrite the same word of the question statement which is reworded form of the word.

8.Check your spellings and grammatical accuracy of the words and phrases before writing the final answer, as marks are cut for the wrong spellings and grammar.

Answer questions 1-4 which are based on the reading passage below.

A Brief (and Tasty) History of Chocolate

The first records that chronicle the manufacture and consumption of chocolate originate from about 200-950 A.D., during the Classic Period of Mayan culture Glyphs and ancient Vessels provide the first evidence that the Theobroma cacao a tree that grows in the tropical rainforest - was harvested for its cacao seeds. The Mayan culture was spread over vast Mesoamerican territory, covering what is now southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and part of El Salvador.

Not only were cacao trees harvested in the wild, but Mayans also grew the trees near their homes, in their own backyard gardens. After the cacao pods were picked, the seeds found inside were fermented and dried. The seeds would then be roasted over a fire, followed by grinding between two large stones. The resulting paste was mixed with water, chilli peppers, cornmeal and other ingredients. This final concoction made the cacao paste Ginto a spicy, frothy, and rather bitter drink. With sugar unknown to the Mayans, if chocolate were sweetened at all, the sweetener would have been honey or flower nectar.

The Mayan culture reached its zenith during the Classic period, followed by centuries of (decline. By 1400, the Aztec empire dominated much of the Mesoamerican landscape. The Aztecs not only adopted the cacao seeds as a dietary staple but also as a form of currency. (Cacao seeds were used to pay for items, and also given as tribute by conquered peoples. While in the Mayan culture many people could drink chocolate, at least occasionally, in Aztec culture the chocolate was reserved mostly for royalty, priests, and upper echelons of society. The priests would also present cacao seeds as offerings to the gods, serving chocolate drinks during sacred ceremonies, one reason for our calling chocolate the 'elixir of the gods'.

During the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards in 1521, Europe became aware of chocolate for the first time. Spaniards had observed the Aztec royalty and priesthood making and drinking the dark concoction, and quickly came to like it as well. Cacao seeds were shipped back to Spain in bulk, where the paste was mixed with spices like cinnamon and sugar, thus {taking the edge off their bitterness. An expensive import, only the Spanish elite could afford to purchase chocolate, and for the next 300 years, chocolate was treated as a status symbol. Spain continued to import and manufacture its chocolate in secret for at least a hundred years before the rest of Europe caught wind of the delicious brew. Once out, chocolate became one of the greatest fads to hit the continent.

Production of both cacao beans and sugar were labour-intensive and time-consuming processes. To keep up with demand for both items, many European countries set plantations in the New World for the cultivation of these two crops. Wage labourers and slaves were used to grow the crops, then process them, for export to and sale in Europe.

It was not until the 1800s that mechanisation speeded up the process of chocolate-making making chocolate cheaper, more plentiful , and thus available to the public at large. With the advent of the steam engine, cacao beans could be ground automatically. Bakers and cheese seized the opportunity to work with this suddenly available medium, establishing shops to the exclusive manufacture of chocolate, especially in countries like Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and France. Lindt & Sprungli, of Switzerland, showed up in 1845, and Neuhaus Master Chocolate Makers, of Belgium, in 1857.

Different chocolate manufacturing processes were also invented along the way. One of the three biggest processes to change the way in which chocolate was made and consumed was the addition of milk, instead of water, to chocolate. This idea, credited to Sir Hans Sloane, further reduced cacao bitterness and improved taste. Sir Sloane kept his discovery trade secret for some time before selling the recipe to a London apothecary (which later on became the property of the Cadbury brothers). Condensed and powdered milk eventually replaced whole milk, allowing for a smoother and far sweeter product than before; milk chocolate is by far the most popular chocolate item in America today.

Another improvement in manufacturing came with the making of liquid chocolate into semi-solid edible bars, allowing the item to become much more portable and not as perishable (solid chocolate has a shelf-life of about a year). The secret to bar-making comes from cacao butter, the fatty part of the cacao bean. When the bean is ground up, about 55% of the resulting paste is cacao butter. This fat percentage, though seemingly high, is still too low to make soft (and edible) bar chocolate, yet way too high for powdered chocolate (such as is used to make hot chocolate). Heavy-duty presses are used to remove about half of the cacao butter from the paste, after which the purified butter is added into "untouched” raw paste, making bar chocolate that is about 75% cacao butter, and semi-solid at room temperature. The stripped paste, devoid of about half of its fat content, solidifies into a hard cake that is pulverised into cacao powder.

A third, and major, improvement in chocolate manufacturing came with the discovery of the conching method - the mixing of chocolate over a period of several days in order to allow volatiles and moisture to evaporate, resulting in a more pleasing, smoother taste to the final product. Conching is credited to Rudolph Lindt (of Lindt & Sprungli fame), who found out that a batch of chocolate left mixing for several days became much smoother in texture and taste than allowed to solidify immediately.

Despite modern improvements to the processing of chocolate, the actual harvesting of the cacao bean has remained virtually unchanged since the days of the Mayans and Aztecs and is still cultivated in tropical climates, within 10 to 20 degrees of the Equator.

Questions 1 - 4

Complete the flow chart below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Harvesting and Consumption of Cacao in Mayan Culture

1.backyard gardens 

Explanation: Paragraph 2 - Not only were cacao trees harvested in the wild, but Mayans also grew the trees near their homes, in their own backyard gardens.

2.grinding

3.paste 

Explanation: Paragraph 2 - The seeds would then be roasted over a fire, followed by grinding between two large stones. The resulting paste was mixed with water,...

4.bitter 

Explanation: Paragraph 2 - The final concoction made the cacao paste into a spicy, frothy, and rather bitter drink.

This article will help you to boost up your score in IELTS Reading by practicing diligently and persistently for the exam.