Tips and advice on how to do well on the Matching Sentence Endings section of the IELTS Reading exam. For more English tutorials, please visit: https://www.thelecturette.com

1. Matching Sentence Endings
Reading: Tips & Strategy

2. Reading
• Content
• What do you need to do?
• What does it test?
• Examples
• Common problems
• Tips and advice
• Strategy

3. Reading
• What do you need to do?
• You will be given a list of incomplete
sentences with no endings along with a list
of possible endings.
• You will need to match each incomplete
sentence with a sentence ending from the
list based on the content of a text.
• This is not a common question type but it
does occur occasionally.
• There will be more endings than required.

4. Reading
• What does it test?
• The ability to understand how ideas in a
sentence link to the main ideas in the
reading text.

5. • Example
Reading

6. Reading
• Common Problems
• Students treat this type of question as a
grammar test rather than a reading test,
matching sentences that only grammatically
make sense.
• Students focus on exact vocabulary
matches in the text and in the questions
while the examiner will probably use
synonyms and paraphrases.

7. Reading
• Tips
• Locate question one first. The answers are in
the same order as the text, so this will give
you a good place to start.
• Predict how the sentence will end before
looking at the endings that are given.
• Look at the incomplete sentences first before
you examine the endings. Looking at the
endings first wastes time because there will
be more endings than sentences.

8. Reading
• More Tips
• The examiner is unlikely to use the same
words in the sentences so look for synonyms
and paraphrases.
• All the sentence endings will appear in the
text. However, it is best to just read the ones
you decide to match with the incomplete
sentences.
• When reading the text, highlight names,
places and dates. This makes it easier to find
them later.

9. Reading
• Even More Tips
• When matching, don’t just match to get
grammatically correct sentences. Make sure
the meaning matches with the text.
• Keep in mind that matching the first sentences
takes more time. The last ones will go faster
because you will have fewer matching options
left.

10. Reading
• Strategy
• Read the questions carefully.
• Read the incomplete sentences first, without
looking at the endings. Highlight keywords,
names, places, and dates in the text.
• Try to predict what the ending might be,
keeping in mind the word type you are
looking for to make the sentence
grammatically correct. (verbs, nouns,
adjectives, adverbs, etc.)

11. Reading
• More Strategy
• Glance over the endings to see if there are
any obvious answers and eliminate the
options that don’t fit grammatically.
• Match the answers you think might be
correct, even if there are more than one.

12. Reading
• Even More Strategy
• Find the correct part of the reading text for
the complete sentence while paying attention
to synonyms and paraphrases.
• Make sure you understand the selected part
of the text and choose your answer based on
meaning.
• Repeat this for all the questions.