IELTS General Training Reading – Task Type 7 – Choosing Headings for Paragraphs or Sections of a Text

Task Description

What are candidates required to do?
A ‘bank’ of headings is supplied for a passage that comprises a number of paragraphs or sections. Candidates are required to match the appropriate heading with the paragraph or section it belongs to.

How many paragraphs or sections must candidates identify headings for?
Usually candidates are asked to match no more than seven or eight headings. The passage may have more paragraphs or sections than this, but some of the headings may be given as examples.

Are the number of headings supplied equal to the number of paragraphs or sections?
In this item type there are always more headings supplied than there are paragraphs or sections, so the candidate needs to choose very carefully.

Is it possible to use one of the headings more than once?
Each heading should be used once only.

What skills are being assessed?
This item type tests candidates’ ability to distinguish main ideas from supporting detail.

Understanding the Task

To see an example of this task type please click on the link below.

Example of Task Type 7

To understand better how candidates need to approach this task, it may help you to do the task yourself and analyse what you had to do to find the right answer.

Look at this sample Task Type 7. Complete the task, thinking about how you are doing it.

Sample Task Type 7 Task (PDF)
Answers

Things to consider

Now look at these questions about how you approached the task and consider your answers.

1. Did you read the whole passage carefully before beginning?
   
   
2. Did you read through all the headings provided before you chose the correct one for each paragraph/section?
   
   
3. Were the number of headings supplied equal to the number of paragraphs or sections?
   
   
4. Did finding the heading for each paragraph or section involve finding a single word or phrase?
   
   
5. Was it necessary to understand every word to complete the activity correctly?
   
   
6. Did you need to be quite sure you had chosen the correct heading for one paragraph or section before moving onto the next?