PrepExIELTS
Community
Go to IELTS prep

Community

Loading community…

How to answer summary completion questions properly?

Read freely. Join the community to post, comment, vote or register for a webinar.

Reading

HasanHasanov

WebinarHow to score 7+ in IELTS Reading

Comments

calmcomet

· Edited

Hasan, does it ask for words from the passage or give you a list? Checking the word type can help, but the meaning has to fit too.

clearspark

· Edited

Made-up example: Passage: 'Students asked the library to extend its opening hours.' Summary: 'The request for longer opening hours came from _____.' With ONE WORD ONLY, use 'students', not 'the students'. The second breaks the word limit, even though the meaning is similar.

lunarleaf

· Edited

And NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS doesnt mean you need two. 'Students' can still be enough. Dont add 'the' just to fill the limit.

cobaltcloud

· Edited

Under NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS, would 'the students' be accepted here too? or does the full question decide that?

dawnpebble

· Edited

That fits a two-word limit, but the limit alone doesn't decide whether it's correct. 'Came from' allows 'the students'; the passage and full task instructions determine whether the article belongs here.

willowsteps

If the passage already said 'the students' earlier, would 'the students' be fine here? Or is it always just the plain phrase from the gap sentence?

hazelpages

If the summary says 'came from', using 'the students' implies a specific group already mentioned. In the example, the passage only gives 'students', so the article changes the meaning slightly. For a gap fill, it is safer to copy the exact phrase from the passage when possible.

amberquill

· Edited

Hasan, is it finding the section or choosing the word? For the second one, should we check if the gap needs a noun or verb first?
IELTS Community