Headings can take time. By not looking for a single answer but accepting any that are possible you can cut down your time. This also makes sure that you won’t get them wrong by choosing an incorrect answer for the first 1 or 2 choices.
Here is a Heading question:
The passage is about Tea, there are 12 headings and 8 paragraphs. Here are the headings:
- Diverse Drinking methods
- Limited objections to drinking tea
- Today’s continuing tradition – in Britain and China
- Tea – a beverage of hospitality
- An important addition – tea with milk
- Tea and alcohol
- The everyday beverage in all parts of the world
- Tea on the move
- African tea
- The fall in the cost of tea
- The value of tea
- Tea-drinking in Africa
Here are 3 of the paragraphs:
- Tea originated in China, and in Eastern Asia tea-making and drinking ceremonies have been popular for centuries. Tea was first shipped to North Western Europe by English and Dutch maritime traders in the sixteenth century. At about the same time, a land route from the Far East, via Moscow, to Europe was opened up. Tea also figured in America’s bid for independence from British rule - The Boston Tea Party.
- While European coffee houses were frequented by men discussing politics and closing business deals, respectable middle-class women stayed at home and held tea parties. When the price of tea fell in the nineteenth century poor people took up the drink with enthusiasm. Different grades and blends were sold to suit every pocket.
- For over a thousand years, Arab traders have been bringing Islamic culture, including tea drinking, to northern and western Africa. Techniques of tea preparation and the ceremonial involved have been adapted. In Western African countries, such as Senegal and The Gambia, it is fashionable for young men together in small groups to brew Chinese ‘gunpowder’ tea. The tea is boiled with large amounts of sugar for a long time.
IELTS Reading Tests McCarter and Ash
Skim each paragraph, ask yourself what it is telling you and then match as many headings as are possible. Then move to the next.
- Paragraph A tells us about tea being traded in several regions – headings vii and viii are possible
- Paragraph B explains about tea drinking among high-class women at home and thereafter how it became universal after the price decreased – headings i, x and xi seem possible
- Paragraph C tells us about Arab traders and then tea drinking habits in Africa – maybe headings viii, ix and xii might be possible here
Heading viii can’t be for both A and C and looks like a better choice for A. C tells us about drinking tea and doesn’t say the tea comes from Africa – indeed we know that it was brought by traders so it probably came from somewhere else so xii is a better choice. In B the main point seems to be the fact that drinking tea moves from the middle classes to the lower classes and this was a result of the fall in price so a better choice is x.
Therefore, to manage the time and also ensure that the right answers are picked it’s important not to decide too quickly. Keep all options open for the first few questions then you’ll see certain headings fit with particular paragraphs and at the end of the Headings questions they should all be allocated. If there are still choices for one or two then look at these again (you can come back to check at the end of the passage and also at the end of the test before you hand in your script if you are still unsure).