Well I think it is! Searching for individual words or synonyms and then matching these in the question can be a challenge but if you see it as such rather than a drudge then you may become more involved in the thrill of the hunt.
Some words are associated with particular topics and they come back again and again so it’s possible almost to anticipate what the synonyms will be in the text.
Here are a couple of examples:
Mosquito eggs are capable of surviving in dry conditions
Here are the key words to use when searching for the place in the text. In the text we find desiccated eggs which means the eggs have been dried out and we also see in the same sentence remain viable which is the same as survive. This tells us that the information is correct so we can answer True in this case.
Animals which feed on mosquitos may be adversely affected by global warming
Before searching for these words I believe that animals feeding on other creatures is probably predators – this word comes up often in passages about animals (as do words like carnivore, herbivore).
In the passage I find climate change reduces the populations of predators that normally keep mosquitos in check which gives me synonyms/paraphrase for the question so again I am happy to choose True.
Matching keywords is the best way of finding the relevant information and then matching this with the question.
It’s very satisfying to see the answers pop out
I do hope that my examples above have illustrated this. When the right keywords are selected and these are carefully matched with the text then generally the answer will be there looking at you. Of course some questions are a bit trickier than others but on the whole with the right strategies and a string technique it should be relatively easy to find most of the answers.
If the answer doesn’t seem to be there then there are two courses of action. Firstly make sure you are in the right place, you may have been ‘seduced’ by one keyword and forgotten about the others and this has led you to the wrong place. Check and see if this word appears elsewhere with the other keywords. If this doesn’t produce the answer then you need to go back to the question as you may have forgotten exactly what it is asking or there may be other words that you have overlooked.
It’s a great way to learn new vocabulary
Reading and writing are connected. Although reading passages are longer than your Task 2 writing, they will follow a similar structure and have the same kinds of words, linking words and sentence structures that you will need for your writing. Don’t ignore this source of vocabulary. Where you find synonyms for words you already know learn them as they may be words you can use in your own writing.
Also, as I mentioned before some words are linked to particular subject areas and so you will find them in several reading passages on those topics. It could just be that the words you are looking for in your reading practice will appear in the exam itself. Nothing you do in IELTS to improve vocabulary and sentence structure is wasted it will all be useful either in the exam or in your own future work and life in English.
It’s a bit like a puzzle and I like puzzles
Matching text to question is a kind of puzzle and if you take the right approach it can be a fun and interesting activity.
The skills for matching, summarising, completing tables and labelling diagrams are all things you find in puzzle books. Choosing specific words can be like doing a crossword.
The key for intrepid puzzlers is to practise and get to know the system used by the puzzle setter and it’s not really any different with IELTS. The more you do the more you will learn and the more you learn the more you will be able to do. It’s a cycle that will help you. However doing it all against the clock will not be much fun if your scores are very low. So, the answer is to learn how to do it first and get as many answers as you can then once you score is high at a slower pace you can start to speed up and you should find this quite easy if your technique is strong.
Don’t let IELTS Reading be your nightmare – take it slowly and soon you’ll wonder why you were worrying about it at all!