3 Summary Completion questions

3. Summary Completion questions

Summary Completion questions are another group of questions that test your ability to locate and identify particular details in the reading passage.

There are two types of Summary Completion questions:

questions with a box of possible answers
(i.e., you choose answers from a box of possible answers)
questions without a box of possible answers
(i.e., you find the appropriate word or expression from the reading passage).

For these two types of Summary Completion questions, you will be given a one-paragraph summary of either the whole reading passage or a part of the passage. In the summary, there are a number of blank spaces (blanks) that show where there are words missing. You will then have to choose the most appropriate word or word groups that belong in the blank spaces. The instructions will tell you the word limit, from one to four words.

Let's first look at Summary Completion questions with a box of possible answers.

Summary Completion questions with a box of possible answers

Look at the example below.

Example

Questions 31-34

Complete the summary below using words from the box.

31 ................... determines what and how people learn. In some countries, students are asked to work 32 .................. and to ask questions while in other countries, these practices would not be encouraged. Students of the same culture might even experience different teaching and learning practices. While younger students are required to do a good deal of memorisation in primary and secondary schools, they are asked to do more 33 ................... when they enter university. In terms of writing proficiency, research has shown that being a good writer in one language doesn’t mean a person will be a good writer in another language, despite their good level of 34 .....................

diversity	language proficiency
culture	in groups
competence	study
alone	analytical thinking

Note that there are more possible answers (eight) than the number of questions (four). Most of the possible answers are nouns and some are adjectives.

Now let's practise answering these Summary Completion questions.

IELTS Online: Course