30 Confusing Words in IELTS

Have you ever come across some words that just simply confused you? Let's take a look at some of the words that even a native speaker might find it difficult to get them right.

The famous British journalist Harold Evans has written down a vocabulary list outlining 30 words that are confusing, and many people have treated them as synonym. Why not take a look at the words and see if you know the differences? You can use this as quiz to test your friends too!

01. affect / effect

Examples: 

affect: The bad weather affects my mood. 

effect: The president effected several changes in the company.

02. alibi / excuse

Examples: 

alibi: The police broke her alibi by proving she knew how to shoot a pistol.

excuse: I can't buy his excuse. 

03. alternatives / choices

Examples:

alternatives: New ways to treat arthritis may provide an alternative to painkillers.

choices: Our choices come down to staying here or leaving here. 

04. anticipate / expect

Examples:

anticipate: What Jeff did was to anticipate my next question.

expect: I expect that the weather will be nice.

05. flagrant / blatant

Examples:

flagrant: The judge called the decision "a flagrant violation of international law."

blatant: Outsiders will continue to suffer the most blatant discrimination.

06. chronic / acute / severe

Examples:

chronic: For those with chronic depression, she said, "keep at it."

acute: Acute dysentery wracked and sapped life from his body. 

07. compose / comprise

Examples:

compose: England, Scotland and Wales compose the island of Great Britain. 

comprise: After the 2014 referendum on independence for Scotland, the UK still comprised England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

08. continual / continuous

Examples:

continual: “No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual war,” Madison concluded. 

continuous: Continuous farming impoverishes the soil. 

09. crescendo / climax

Examples:

crescendo: She spoke in a crescendo: "You are a bad girl! You are a wicked girl! You are evil!"

climax: The fifth scene was the climax of the play. 

10. decimate / destroy

Examples:

decimate: Famine decimated the population.

destroy: The soldiers destroyed the village.  

11. dilemma / problem

Examples:

dilemma: Many women are faced with the dilemma of choosing between work and family commitments. 

problem: The problem of street crime is getting worse every year. 

12. disinterested / uninterested

Examples:

disinterested: A lawyer should provide disinterested advice. 

uninterested: He was uninterested in politics. 

13. entomb / trap

Examples:

entomb: The city was entombed in volcanic lava. 

trap: The train was trapped underground by a fire. 

14. flotsam / jetsam

Examples:

flotsam: The water was full of flotsam and refuse. 

jetsam: The smallest bits of jetsam, like the most transient incidents in a life, can be the most evocative.

15. forego / forgo

Examples: 

forego: So she did his bidding and gave him the cup, which no sooner had he drunk than his head forewent his feet.

forgo: Sometimes this priority shift means you have to forgo one goal in exchange for another. 

16. gourmet / gourmand

Examples:

gourmet: Food critics have to be gourmets in order to write about food in an informed way.

gourmand: He's the kind of gourmand who swallows food without even pausing to taste. 

17. inchoate / incoherent

Examples:

inchoate: She had a child's inchoate awareness of language.

incoherent: The talk she gave was incoherent and badly prepared.

18. incumbent(noun.) / incumbent (adj.)

Examples:

incumbent(noun.) : The incumbent president faces problems which began many years before he took office.

incumbent (adj.): She felt it was incumbent on herself to act immediately.

19. inflammable / flammable

Examples:

inflammable: Petrol is a highly inflammable liquid.

flammable: This solvent is flammable.

20. insidious / invidious

Examples:

insidious: Cancer is an insidious disease.

invidious: The boss made invidious distinctions between employees.

21. judicial / judicious

Examples:

judicial: a judicial enquiry

judicious: We should make judicious use of the resources available to us.

22. less / fewer

Examples:

less: We must try to spend less money.

fewer: Fewer people smoke these days than used to.

23. litigate / dodge

Examples:

litigate: The case is still being litigated.

dodge: He dodged the bullet.

24. luxuriant / luxurious

Examples:

luxuriant: Tall, luxuriant plants grew along the river bank.

luxurious: They have a very luxurious house.

25. prescribe / proscribe

Examples:

prescribe: The doctor prescribed his patient who was down with fever.

proscribe: The sale of narcotics is proscribed by law.

26. refugee / migrant

Examples:

refugee: Refugees were pouring across the frontier.

migrant: The government divides asylum seekers into economic migrants and genuine refugees.

27. replica / reproduction

Examples:

replica: Replica is the more valuable, for it is supposed to be more beautiful.

reproduction: This is a reproduction of a popular religious painting.

28. sceptic / denier

Examples:

sceptic: The sceptic may argue that there are no grounds for such optimism.

denier: He is a denier of harsh realities.

29. transpire / happen

Examples:

transpire: Later, it transpired she had failed the examination.

happen: 'It just happened.' she said, after failing her exam.

30. viable / feasible

Examples:

viable: Cash alone will not make Eastern Europe's banks viable.

feasible: She questioned whether it was feasible to stimulate investment in these regions.

31 (bonus). viral / viral

Examples:

viral: I can't believe that video of our puppy lounging on a pool float went viral!

viral: Some viral proteins do good.

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Traditional or Religious Festivals (Corrected Essay)

Most people have forgotten the meaning behind traditional or religious festivals; during festival periods, people nowadays only want to enjoy themselves.

WRITING TASK 2

Write about the following topic. 

Most people have forgotten the meaning behind traditional or religious festivals; during festival periods, people nowadays only want to enjoy themselves. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

SAMPLE WRITING TASK 2

A festival is the celebration of an agricultural or a religious traditional event. While some festivals have lost their original purposes, I disagree that they are merely for entertainment; instead, there is significant effort to revive the tradition of our ancestors.

The origins of festivals are linked with agriculture and religions. In the harvest season, after a year of hard work, rewarded by ample food, people could finally enjoy themselves with music and ritual ceremonies. As a result, tradition and religious festivals were created to provide entertainment and group cohesion. Various festivals started to appear throughout history, each had its own cultural and religious meaning.

The Industrialization Revolution has made agriculture less important, resulted in a decline in cultural awareness. The Halloween was originally a harvest festival of the Gaelic, however, recently it has become an entertainment event, with people wearing costume and drinking in the night. The same thing happened in Vietnam not so long ago, where Hau Dong - the practice of spirit mediums - gradually declined in the twentieth century.

However, there is a rise of traditional awareness around the world. For example, Hau Dong has been revived, with thousands of people attending the festival. Numerous efforts to signify the importance of cultural identity have been made worldwide, such as teaching history lessons to the children, or preservation and translation ancient texts into modern languages. Many young people are growing interest in their tradition, with the celebration of ancient festivals like The Olympics Games is a clear evidence. 

To summarize, I acknowledge that some festivals have lost their original meanings. However, the effort to reinvigorate our culture has made significant impacts, thus the traditional and religious of festivals will be preserved into the future.

 

Corrected essay:

A festival is the celebration of an agricultural or a religious traditional event. While some festivals have lost their original purposes, I disagree that they are merely for entertainment; instead, there is significant effort to revive the tradition of our ancestors.

• The author’s opinion is clear. He partly agrees with the topic question: he accepts the fact that the meanings of some festivals have been lost, but he disagree with the notion that people only think of festivals as a place to indulge themselves.
• The IELTS exam only test your ability, not your opinion. So you can either agree, disagree or partly agree with the question.

The origins of festivals are is linked with to agriculture and religions. In the harvest season, after a year of hard work, rewarded by ample food, people could finally enjoy themselves with music and ritual ceremonies. As a result, tradition and religious festivals were created to provide entertainment and group cohesion. Various festivals started to appear throughout history, each had its own cultural and religious meaning.

• The author has explained the meanings behind most of the festivals: a celebration of harvest seasons and an event to strengthen social relations.
• The use of passive voice in the first sentence is on point. If we simply start the first body paragraph with “Agriculture and religions are the direct origins of festivals”, then it might be confusing, even when the above example is grammatically correct. Since there is no mentioned of agriculture in the topic question, you need to introduce the required topic first (“festivals”), then do the same to the key word “agriculture”.
• Contrary to popular belief that passive voice makes your writing much weaker and ambiguous, it is in fact frequently used in academic contexts.

The Industrialization Revolution has made agriculture less important, which has resulted in a decline in cultural awareness. The Halloween was originally a harvest festival of the Gaelic, however, recently it has become an entertainment event, with people wearing costumes and drinking in the night. The same thing happened in Vietnam not so long ago, where Hau Dong - the practice of spirit mediums - gradually declined in the twentieth century.

• The second body paragraph aims to express the notion that the meaning behind traditional festival are lost over time.
• The second sentence is a typical example on when to use the present perfect. You firstly develop the sentence with a clause in past simple tense, then introduce another in present perfect tense.

 

However, there is a rise of traditional awareness around the world. For example, Hau Dong has been revived, with thousands of people attending the festival. Numerous efforts to signify the importance of cultural identity have been made worldwide, such as teaching history lessons to the children, or preservation and translation ancient texts into modern languages. Furthermore, many young people are growing interest in their tradition, with the celebration of ancient festivals like The Olympics Games is a clear evidence.

• The last body paragraph is highly contrast to the previous one. By using the method “bait and switch” (first talk about the oppose idea, then attack it with your own opinion), the author has successfully expresses that he believes in the effort of reviving traditional festivals, without ever using words like “I think”, I believe”, “from my perspective”, or “in my opinion”.
• Generally, saying “I think” too many times will lower both of your Coherence & Cohesion and Lexical Resource band score, so try to avoid it.
• Lots of related vocabulary are presented in this paragraph: “traditional awareness”, “cultural identity”, “preservation”, “ancient”, “modern languages”.

To summarize, I acknowledge that some festivals have lost their original meanings. However, the effort to reinvigorate our culture has made significant impacts, thus the traditional and religious of festivals will be preserved into the future.

• The author’s position about tradition and festivals has stay the same throughout the whole essay. Your conclusion has to match the introduction.
• Using topic markers such as “to summarize”, or “in conclusion” may make your writing boring, and thus should be avoided in an academic thesis. However, the rule in the IELTS exam are much more relaxed, and a topic marker could be very helpful since it increases your word count and reminds the examiner that you have written the conclusion.

 

Words: 287

 

Overall: 8.5

• Task Response: 8

✓ sufficiently addresses all parts of the task (the author has written more than 250 words, and give an adequate answer to the topic question in both his introduction and conclusion)

✓ presents a well-developed response to the question with relevant, extended and supported ideas (each paragraphs is started with a topic sentence, then followed by evidences and examples)

• Coherence and Cohesion: 8

✓ sequences information and ideas

✓ logically

✓ manages all aspects of cohesion well (the author has avoided using connectives in a repetitive way by using various relative pronouns and conjunctive adverbs)

✓ uses paragraphing sufficiently and appropriately

• Lexical Resource: 9

✓ uses a wide range of vocabulary with very natural and sophisticated control of lexical features; rare minor errors occur only as ‘slips’ (the author only has one noticeable mistake with collocations; he uses various less-frequently used and topic-related words such as “ritual ceremonies”, “group cohesion”, “spirit medium”, etc)

• Grammatical Range and Accuracy: 9

✓ uses a wide range of structures with full flexibility and accuracy; rare minor errors occur only as ‘slips’ (The author can express his idea in many different ways, for example when he convey the notion of “reviving”: “to revive the tradition”, “Hau Dong has been revived”, “to reinvigorate our culture”. He also use a variety of sentence structures, with only a few small mistakes.)

 

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What are the Common Errors While Writing an Essay?

What are the Common Errors While Writing an Essay?

Essay writing in IELTS is troublesome for many students who repetitively make mistakes of one or the other kind and hence struggle to get their target band score in writing. By merely working on those committed mistakes and by just to avoid repeating them, you are able to write an essay effectively. Following are some of the common errors that candidates appearing in IELTS often make while writing an essay:

Not Meeting Minimum Word Limit

Though the instruction regarding word limit is clearly written in the essay question, it is usually ignored by the students. Rather, some students do not even bother to count the number of words in their writing tasks. So, the result is that they do not even write the minimum number of words. The word limit for writing an essay is minimum 250 words and you need to strictly ensure this, otherwise it would lead to reduced band score.

Writing Longer Essay

While you must write at least 250 words, you should also not write excessively. Writing longer essays indirectly cost your marks. Actually, for two reasons, we should not be writing longer essays. One reason is that the more you write, the more grammatical mistakes you are likely to make and hence, it would lower your band score. Hence, you should write precisely! The other reason is that you would not be able to complete the essay on time or if complete it, you may not get the time to review it.

Not Meeting Task Requirements

If the case is that you lack in terms of task response, it is a big issue in your essay such as not writing your opinion in the essay question which asks for your personal opinion, missing one or the other part of the essay question e.g. if the question is to discuss both views, one view is completely not described in the body paragraph or one view is comparatively described more in length when you have to write both equally as per the question.

Not Explaining Ideas

One of the myths associated with writing an essay a student carries in his mind is that essay writing requires you to write a number of ideas and that the more you write, the better it is. This is wrong! You should rather focus on explaining and extending the ideas that you have mentioned in your body paragraph.

For example, if you are writing a paragraph on reasons, mention one point as reason and then explain how it is the reason along with supporting that reason with an example.

Copying the Essay Question in Introduction

Some students are in the habit of copying the question the way it is written rather than re-writing it. Introduction is the part where you need to paraphrase the question but if you instead copy the complete statements from the question, the examiner will not count those words and hence, you will get penalized for writing less number of words. Therefore, understand the essay question first and then try to rewrite it in your own words.

Missing Out Examples

It is more habitual with the students to write ideas, in general, without supporting them with examples. Writing example is an important element of your essay and hence, it should not be ignored at all. It is good to write an example along with 2-3 ideas you have described in the body paragraphs. Apart from this, example should be written as per your knowledge and experience, keeping the tone as academic.

For example, rather than writing “Yesterday, I found a person committing a crime who got caught by the policeman” as example in the body paragraph, we can write “The one who commits crime gets punished by the police”.

Extending Length of Conclusion

It is quite common that when students are practicing essays, they give more emphasis on content and ideas in body paragraphs, and hence unintentionally, they do extend conclusion also in the same way they write body paragraphs. You should keep in mind that conclusion has to be shorter in length and should not look like a fully developed body paragraph.

Over-using Connectives

Many students try to exceed the usage of connectives in essay since they know that coherence and cohesion are important marking criteria. But actually, using the connectives more than required will lead to reduced band score. Hence, always make sure that you are not over-using the connectives.

Following is an example of overusing connectives (highlighted below),

To begin with, technology is changing day by day and thus, bringing positive changes in the life of mankind. Moreover, it has revolutionized the way humans used to work earlier.

Incorrect Tone of Writing

Students with casual approach towards writing or those who are not aware of the IELTS writing format, complete their writing tasks in informal tone the way they speak informally. It should be strictly noted that you should write essay in academic tone and style, rather than writing as if you are talking to somebody or the way an interactive blog is written.

For example,

Informal tone, incorrect tone of writing an essay:

We see many kids are gonna have fun playing more and more games, and wasting their time when they got to go for study.

Formal tone, correct tone of writing an essay:

Many children are found wasting their precious time, by playing games more, which they can otherwise use for study purpose.

While practising the writing prompts, keep all the points in your mind. Your writing will improve allowing you to score higher band score in IELTS.

 

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How to Find the Right Keywords in IELTS Reading Comprehension?

Reading is often perceived as a challenge in IELTS by many students. But if proper reading strategies of skimming and scanning are adopted, this challenge can be overcome. One of the important activities during skimming is finding out keywords in the passage and underlining them. During scanning as well, you can mark keywords in the question as your tendency to match them with similar words in the passage. Since the passages are long and complex, finding out keywords will help you read more efficiently.

1. Find keywords in reading passage
An important part of skimming the passage is underlining keywords. While you are reading the passage, you can identify important keywords in the paragraphs that will also help you to better understand the given information.

• At this time, you should underline keywords to understand the paragraph by abstracting important information from it.
• You can definitely underline some keywords such as names, locations, facts, figures etc.

For example:

• Names (Names of scientists, people etc. involved in the story)
• Locations (Town, city, country etc.)
• Years or dates (1978, 12th Oct 1982 etc.)
• Figures (1.2 million, 20000 etc.)
• You may mark any word or phrase which is capitalized e.g. titles of books, event names etc.

The reason behind highlighting these keywords is finding easy reference from the passage. If you have a question referring to the year 1978, it would be easy for you to locate it in the passage if you had already underlined it while reading the passage. Otherwise, you would need to read the whole passage to find where 1978 is mentioned and hence, it would consume your time.

2. Find keywords in reading questions

In the process of scanning i.e. locating answer of the question, you will first need to read the question carefully to find important keywords you can mark and at the same time, to understand meaning of the question.

• Keywords you underline are usually nouns, group of nouns, verbs etc. except articles (a, an, the), prepositions (for, in, at etc.) and others.
• An extremely important strategy of underlining keyword is to identify the focus of the question, especially in MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions). Focus or stem of the question is a word in the question that will help you to choose the right option. For example, focus or stem is highlighted in the following question:
  Which of the following is most at fault for the Titanic disaster?
  A. The ship
  B. Captain and crew
  C. Titanic’s owners and builders
  D. Standard operating procedure

Sometimes, your keywords are synonyms or similar words, not the exact keyword as given in the passage and hence, you can try to understand its meaning to relate it well with the right paragraph. However, the nearby words and paraphrasing skill will help you understand the meaning of the question.

Let’s take an example on how to find keywords in question and similar keywords in passage.

Question:

Recommendations about __________________ are given to the wife-to-be.

Passage statement:

Her guests often tease the bride about her husband and give her advice about married life.

Keywords in Question	Similar Keywords in Paragraph
Recommendations	Advice
About	About
Are Given	Give
Wife-to-be	Bride
ANSWER: MARRIED LIFE

Explanation is as follows:
If you read the question, you can identify keywords as “wife-to-be”, “recommendations” and the word nearby the blank, “about”.

Thus, it may so happen that keywords of question do not match with that in the passage. In this case, you may need to paraphrase them or find out their meanings. Here, in the passage statement, “bride” is the word used in place of “wife-to-be” and “advice” in place of “recommendations”.

Also, it is to be noted that “is given” in question is paraphrased grammatically for “give” in the passage statement.

Another important thing to be noticed is that “about” is exactly the same word nearby the blank in the question as you can find in the passage statement.

Thus, you can find the answer as “married life”.

*Note: Always remember that matching keywords would help you to locate the paragraph and its statements for reference but at the end, it’s all about understanding of the question without which answers go wrong. Hence, you should instead try matching the information or the meaning.

Practice Questions

Question 1:

Read the following short passages and questions to find out keywords. Fill the keywords in the table given below:

A super-hard metal has been made in the laboratory by melting together titanium and gold. The alloy is the hardest known metallic substance compatible with living tissues, say US physicists. The material is four times harder than pure titanium and has applications in making longer-lasting medical implants, they say.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36855705

The hardest substance discovered in the laboratory is formed by combining titanium and gold after they are ……………

Keywords in question	Similar keywords in paragraph

Question 2:

Quakes are the ever present danger for those who live along the Apennine mountain range in Italy. Through the centuries thousands have died as a result of tremors equal to, or not much bigger than, the event that struck in the early hours of Wednesday.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37176502
Which part of Italy is always under the threat of being affected by quakes?

Keywords in question	Similar keywords in paragraph

Question 3:

But look closer at the specifics of any quake and the details are much more complicated. The Tyrrhenian Basin, or Sea, which lies to the west of Italy, between the mainland and Sardinia/Corsica, is slowly opening up. Scientists say this is contributing to extension, or “pull-apart”, along the Apennines which works at a rate of 3mm per year. Add in movement in the Adriatic where the crust is rotating in an anti-clockwise direction, and you have a fiendishly complex picture. Italy is literally being pushed and pulled every which way.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37176502

When the particulars of an earthquake are studied deeply, it is found that it is very _________

Keywords in question	Similar keywords in paragraph

Question 4:

We all recall the L’Aquila (Magnitude 6.3) event of 2009 in which 295 died. But go much further back to Avezzano (Magnitude 6.9-7.0) in 1915, which claimed 30,000 lives; and to 1703 when a trio of Magnitude 6 quakes killed at least 10,000 people.Thankfully, we tend not to see deaths on those scales anymore, and that is because of more robust building, better preparation and more co-ordinated emergency responses after the fact.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37176502

Which one of the following is NOT the reason why deaths are rare with quakes of magnitude between 6 and 7?

1. Good planning and preparation
2. Quakes are not seen anymore
3. Effective construction of buildings
4. Handling emergency situation well

Keywords in question	Similar keywords in paragraph

Question 5:

But look closer at the specifics of any quake and the details are much more complicated. The Tyrrhenian Basin, or Sea, which lies to the west of Italy, between the mainland and Sardinia/Corsica, is slowly opening up. Scientists say this is contributing to extension, or “pull-apart”, along the Apennines which works at a rate of 3mm per year. Add in movement in the Adriatic where the crust is rotating in an anti-clockwise direction, and you have a fiendishly complex picture. Italy is literally being pushed and pulled every which way.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37176502

A major effect can be observed at the western region of Italy where a (i)_________is located. It is found to be gradually broadening up leading to the situation of  (ii)_________ at the rate of (iii)_____per year.

Keywords in question	Similar keywords in paragraph

ANSWERS:

1.

Keywords in question	Similar keywords in paragraph
Hardest substance	Super-hard metal
Discovered in the laboratory	Made in the laboratory
Combination	Together
ANSWER: MELTED

2.

Keywords in question	Similar keywords in paragraph
Of Italy	Of Italy
Always	Ever present
Threat	Danger
ANSWER: APENNINE MOUNTAIN RANGE

3.

Keywords in question	Similar keywords in paragraph
Particulars of an earthquake	Specifics of any quake
Studied deeply	Look closer
Much more	Very
ANSWER: COMPLICATED

4.

Keywords in question	Similar keywords in paragraph
The reason why	That is because of
Deaths are rare	Not to see deaths anymore
Good planning and preparation	Better preparation
Effective construction of building	More robust building
Handling emergency situation well	More co-ordinated emergency responses
ANSWER: B

5.

Keywords in question	Similar keywords in passage
Is located	Lies
Western region of Italy	West of Italy
Gradually broadening up	Slowly opening up
Leading to	Contributing to
At the rate of	At a rate of
ANSWERS: i. Tyrrhenian Basin/Sea ii. Extension/pull-apart iii. 3 mm

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10 Important IELTS Reading Tips

Every candidate feels that the IELTS Reading test is tough and they have a very short amount of time to answer a large number of questions on very complicated texts. You need to master the reading skills to get a 7 Band Score or higher and have a range of strategies prepared in order to tackle it. Here are some tips:

Read a lot of Academic texts

Develop a habit of reading in your free time! The IELTS texts are “general academic texts”. This implies that they are obtained from sources such as textbooks and specialist magazines and journals. In case you are not familiar with reading such kind of texts in English then you need to start reading them so that you become familiar with the words and language also with the structure used when you meet them in the exam. The three typical sources for IELTS Reading texts are the National Geographic, the New Scientist and the Economist.

Focus

Your focus should be on the text first, then on the questions! Only if you have a good understanding of the text, you can answer the questions more precisely and effectively.
Be able to Categorize

IELTS exam writers select a range of specific type of texts. You need to learn to recognize the type of text you are reading. It will help you predict its structure and you will be able to understand it more quickly. There are four types of IELTS Reading texts – A) analytic texts that will discuss the reasons why something happened or make recommendations or explain a concept B) descriptive texts that describe a situation, explain how something is done or categorize something C) discursive texts in which different opinions are expressed about an issue and D) narrative texts that explain a chronological sequence of events.

Skimming

Develop the ability to skim. Skimming means to read quickly by skipping the unimportant words like prepositions and ignoring the difficult words that you don’t have to understand. You should do this to get a general idea about a text or a paragraph or while intensively searching for the answer of a question.

Scanning

You must learn to scan. Scanning is exactly what you do when you look for a price in advertising text or a name in a telephone book. While scanning you do not actually need to read the text but move your eyes quickly over it. You can scan either left to right or right to left, from top to bottom or bottom to top. You should do this to find out the location of answers in the texts looking out for easy to spot words like numbers, dates and words beginning with capital letters such as place names.

Structure

Learn to recognize paragraph structure. This involves spotting the relationship between main ideas and supporting ideas in a paragraph. Paragraphs are mostly descending i.e., they start with the main idea somewhere near the start and develop from there, however some, frequently first and the last paragraphs of the texts, are ascending – the main idea is found to be located towards the end. This can prove to be helpful particularly when matching the headings to the paragraphs.

Overview

Get the overview of a text before beginning with the questions. Do this by reading the title and the subtitle as well as focusing on the beginnings and ends of paragraphs. This will help you process the information in a text.

Similar phrases

Develop the skill to spot similar phrases. There are different ways of expressing the same thing, such as, “I like to ski” and “skiing is enjoyable”. Many questions, for example, YES NO NOT GIVEN questions and gap fills, test your ability to match up a parallel phrase in the task with its equivalent in the text.

Stop panicking

Don’t panic when you face an unknown or difficult word. IELTS texts are packed with highly specialized vocabulary and therefore you are advised to read relevant texts beforehand to prepare. Skip over difficult words which are unnecessary for your understanding of the text. For words you need to understand, practice trying to guess their meaning using the overall context of the text.

Time management

Manage time in the exam. Most of the IELTS candidates complain about running out of time in the third reading section. Each text should take you about 20 minutes (the examiner will bring it to your notice when 20 minutes have passed). Never spend too long on a single question – either guess the answer if you don’t know the answer exactly or skip the question and return to it later. Also, if you feel you are running out of time, tackle questions like gap fills before attempting “easy-to-guess” tasks.

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20 Common Essay Topics for IELTS Writing Task 2

Dear Students,
Below is a list of 20 common IELTS Essay topics that appear in writing task 2 with subtopics. Although the essay questions change, the subject of the essays often remains the same. Each topic is divided into subtopics which you should prepare.

You should practice developing ideas for all common essay topics used by IELTS so that you can write your essay within the given time limit.

Common Essay Topics with Subtopics

[1] Art

• censorship of art and artists
• creativity
• art at school
• the benefits of art for individuals and society
• funding

Click here to learn more about Art related vocabularies.

[2] Business & Money

• small vs large business
• international business
• family run business
• management and leadership
• success in business
• business and technology
• skills vs knowledge for business
• materialism and consumerism

[3] Communication & Personality

• technology and communication
• family and communication
• face to face vs long distance communication
• types of communication
• the development of character and personality
• innate of developed personalities
• female/ male characters

[4] Crime & Punishment

• prisons vs rehabilitation
• capital punishment vs other types of punishment
• criminals - what makes a criminal
• major vs minor crime
• crime and technology
• teenagers and crime
• role of policemen
• men and women in law enforcement

[5] Economics

• cash vs credit cards
• saving vs spending
• globalisation and economy
• world economic issues
• economic progress and success

[6] Education

• children and education
• relevant subjects
• education and technology
• role of teachers
• discipline and rules in school
• single-sex schools
• uniforms
• funding
• educational aid to proper countries

[7] Environment

• animals
• protection of endangered species
• Zoos
• environmental problems
• saving the environment & solving problems
• government vs individual roles

[8] Family & Children

• family roles
• family size
• the generation gap
• discipline
• role models
• family and education

[9] Food

• health diets
• education of diet
• traditional vs modern diets
• fast food
• children and diet

[10] Health

• prevention vs cure
• funding
• health and education
• poor countries and rich countries
• health aid
• dealing with global epidemics
• hospitals and treatment
• obesity
• exercise and health

[11] Language

• having only one language in the world
• methods of language learning
• travel and language
• the disappearance of languages
• language and culture

[12] Media & Advertising

• censorship, control and freedom of speech
• advertising methods
• children and advertising
• media and technology
• news & reporting

[13] Other Common Essay Topics

• Space Exploration
• Water and Oceans
• Change or Moving vs Stability and Constancy

[14] Reading

• paper books vs e-books
• children and reading
• books in education
• libraries
• reading and leisure

[15] Technology

• controlling the internet
• socialising online
• children and technology (safety)
• the change in society
• letter vs email
• storing data
• safety of personal information
• hacking

[16] Transport

• development of infrastructure
• comparing forms of transport
• problems with modern forms of transport
• environmental issues

[17] Travel

• culture and travel
• understanding people and travel
• living in a global world

[18] Society

• overpopulation
• poverty
• homeless people
• crime on the streets
• modern life styles
• budget spending
• public services

[19] Sport

• professionals vs amateurs
• salary
• equipment
• sport and learning
• sport as a school subject
• men vs women in sport
• types of sport

[20] Work

• shift work
• women in work
• types of jobs (blue collar / white collar)
• children and exploitation
• part time work
• work and technology
• employment
• salary
• equality

IELTS Recent Exam Topics with Model Answers (Academic Task 1)

To get a list of recent essay questions with solution, follow this link: https://bestmindsielts.blogspot.com/2019/07/academic-writing-task-1-questions-with.html 

Happy Learning ❤