IELTS Reading matching headings: why the obvious answer is often wrong
You see a word from the heading in the paragraph and choose it. It feels certain. It is often the trap.
In matching headings you choose a heading for each paragraph from a list. There are usually more headings than paragraphs. The heading must sum up the whole paragraph. Wrong options are usually built from a detail inside the paragraph, so they look right at first glance.
Take a look at a paragraph
Paragraph: In the 1980s coffee prices fell sharply. Many small farmers could no longer cover their costs, and within a decade thousands had turned to other crops or moved to the cities.
A routine that works
- Do matching headings first in that passage. Reading for main ideas also shows you where the other answers are.
- Read the first two sentences and the last sentence of each paragraph. Say its main idea in five words.
- Only then look at the list. Choose the heading that matches your five words.
- Cross out each heading once you use it, unless the instructions say you may use one more than once.
- If two headings fit, check which one covers the whole paragraph, not just part of it.
Exam rules change. Always check with the exam provider and the organisation you are applying to.
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