The completion tasks that you may come across in IELTS Reading are: note-completion, sentence-completion, flow-chart-completion, summary-completion, and table-completion tasks. All completion tasks are similar in terms of the strategy we follow, so here are some things you need to remember:
1.) First of all, there will be a WORD LIMIT. So, be careful of the number of words you use.
2.) One thing you need to remember is that in all completion tasks, the questions and their gaps are NOT necessarily displayed in the same order as they will appear in the text. In other tasks we have examined, the order is the same but not in completion tasks!
3.) Thirdly, you should copy the words as they appear in the text; do NOT change their form! For instance, don’t change a verb you found in the text into a noun just because the gap needs a noun. You should find the noun in the text: if you see that the information you found needs to change in order to fit grammatically in the gap, then you probably made a mistake, so search a little bit more.
These are three very important points you should remember regarding these tasks. Other than that, you will follow the same advice that I have already shared with you about: a.) Skimming and Scanning b.) Underlining key-words c.) Paraphrasing
Let’s see an example of how each task will look like:
Questions 21 – 23
Complete the sentences.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
21 One aspect of communicative approach in teaching emphasizes the
interaction ………..………………………………. in the classroom.
22 This approach requires teachers to prepare the ……………………..
that will motivate students to take part in the lesson.
23 Communicative courses encourage students to ……………………..
and ………………………. leading the lesson to a whole new level.
In this task, you need to fill the gaps in the sentences. You should be careful of the WORD LIMIT. In this example, you shouldn’t write more than three words. Also, remember that the questions will not appear in the same order: for example, you may find the answer to question 23 first and then the answer to question 21. Phrases like “communicative approach” cannot be paraphrased, so underline phrases like that as they will be your guide while you try to find the answer in the text.
The following task is a note-completion task:
Questions 14 – 20
Complete the notes below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
DRAMA THERAPY
Using drama as a therapeutic method
14 ………………………………….. and as a
15 ……………………………………………. that will relieve traumatic memories.
Goal:
the 16 …………………………….. of the participants
the 17 …………………………….. of traumatic events
Important for 18………………………….. and 19 ……………………….
It urges participants to seek out 20………………………… and think out of the box.
The same strategy and tips are applied here, too. Use the words before the gaps in order to locate the answers in the text.
Here follows a flow-chart completion task:
Questions 20 – 26
Complete the flow – chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD for each answer.
Again,
1.) Check out the word limit
2.) The order will not be necessarily the same
3.) The words you can see before the gaps will guide you through the text.
4.) You have to fill in the gaps with the exact same words you will find in the text.
As you can understand, the same goes with a table-completion task where instead of a flow-chart, there is a table:
Questions 6 – 9
Complete the table below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
| Graphology: Handwriting Analysis | Personality Trait Interpretation |
| Left or Right Slant | A right slant indicates 6 ………………………… while a left slant shows emotion and reserve. |
| Upright Handwriting | An upright handwriting tendency conveys an 7…………………………………… |
| Handwriting Size | If the writing is 8……………………… and in the middle can mean that the person is outgoing. |
| Word Space | The spacing between words (wide or narrow) is the 9………………………… in somebody’s handwriting |
You will follow the same strategy and use the information given both in rows and in columns as guides to find the answers in the Reading passage.
And last but not least, here’s an example of a summary completion task:
Questions 4 – 7
Complete the summary.
Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
Did you realize that autism affects approximately 6 out of every 1000 people? Those numbers are actually 4……………………….. when you think about how much they have increased in the past several years. Even though autism can leave a person unable to deal with life at all, some people have a form of autism that allows them to live a life that is fairly 5…………….……………. In fact, there are plenty of famous people with autism that you may not have ever realized had the disease.
Becoming famous and successful despite having autism is extremely difficult and these exceptional individuals should be honored and looked to for 6………………………. However, for everyone who has become famous there are hundreds, if not thousands, of others who have overcome autism and achieved personal success in their lives without most of us having ever heard of them. These people should be 7…………………………… as well.
In summary completion tasks you have to fill in the gaps of a small paragraph that is the summary of the text. Everything we already said about completion tasks applies to this task as well.
However, there is another type of summary completion task that gives you the missing words in a box and you have to choose among several options. It will look like this:
Questions 36 – 40
Complete the summary using the list of words, A – I, below.
Write the correct letter, A – I, in the spaces below.
People who suffer from poor quality sleep tend to be irritable,
36 ………………………., lacking energy, and accident prone. They are more likely to suffer from depression, 37 ……………………….. and strokes. Continued sleep deprivation brings about changes in the activity and timing of important hormones such as melatonin, cortisol, leptin, thyroid 38……………………… and prolactin. It has been shown in studies that this pattern of hormonal changes has also been witnessed in sufferers of depression and in age-related chronic conditions such as obesity, 39……………………….. and hypertension.
The hormones secreted as a result of stress 40……………………. excite the body’s systems. When stress is chronic we are hyperaroused. When we are hyperaroused we can’t sleep.
| A responses B stress C hormones
D irresponsible E inattentive F insomnia
G heart disease H inability I diabetes |
The difference here is that you are given options and even more options than you need. You will follow the exact same steps we covered about all completion tasks, but be careful of one thing: the words in the options will NOT be found in the text in the same way: they will be paraphrased. So, do not search for the words: search for the same meaning. Of course, the word you will choose to fill in the gap should fit in both grammar and syntax.
Here’s the video lesson:
