General Training Reading:
What is the IELTS General Training Reading test?
The General Training Reading test takes 60 minutes. There are 40 questions, divided into three sections, based on reading texts with a total word length of 2,150 to 2,375 words.
Texts and questions appear on a question paper which test takers can write on but not remove from the test room. All answers must be entered on an Answer Sheet during the 60-minute test.
No extra time is allowed to transfer answers.
How the General Training Reading test is marked
The General Training Reading papers contain 40 questions and each correct question is awarded one mark; hence the maximum raw score being 40. Band scores ranging from Band 1 to Band 9 are awarded to test takers on the basis of their raw scores.
All IELTS test materials are pretested before being used in live tests, but there are inevitably minor differences in difficulty across the large number of tests administered each year. To equate different test versions, the band score boundaries are set so that all test takers' results relate to the same scale of achievement. This means, for example, that the band 6 boundary may be set at slightly different raw scores across test versions.
Table 1 below indicates the average General Training Reading raw scores achieved by test takers at bands 4-7, showing the number of marks typically required to achieve a particular band score.
Table 1: Average General Training Reading raw scores
General Training Reading: Sample test questions
Look at the advertisements, A-E, on General Training Reading: Reading passage Answer the following questions below:
Which TWO advertisements mention entry requirements?
Which TWO advertisements say what you will have achieved by completing the course?
Which TWO advertisements mention being run by professionally trained teachers?
Which advertisements indicate that it does not matter how old are you?
Now answer questions 5-14 in this Sample General Training Reading test
Questions 5 – 8
Classify the types of extinguishers which should be used on fires in the following situations.
Write:
A if only cream or black should be used
B if only cream or red should be used
C if only blue or black should be used
D if only cream, red or blue should be used
E if only red or black should be used
Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
5 a plug in its socket
6 a large industrial oil spill
7 a frying pan of cooking oil on an electric cooker
8 the edge of a curtain
Check your answers by looking at the General Training Reading Answer Key
ANSWERS.
Answers to sample General Training Reading questions
1. IN EITHER ORDER, BOTH REQUIRED FOR ONE MARK A (and) E
2. IN EITHER ORDER, BOTH REQUIRED FOR ONE MARK B (and) D
3. IN EITHER ORDER, BOTH REQUIRED FOR ONE MARK C (and) D
4. D
5. C
6. A
7. C
8. D
9. FALSE
10. TRUE
11. FALSE
12. NOT GIVEN
13. FALSE
14. TRUE
Read the text below and answer Questions 9-14.
Hours of Work
There are no prescribed hours of attendance for office managers. The main office hours comprise a 37½ hour week worked from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm on Monday to Friday, with one hour for lunch. All sections work a flexitime scheme of attendance which features core hours from 9.30 am to 4.00 pm with a lunch break of between 30 minutes and two hours’ duration, with the opportunity to work from 7.30 am to 6.00 pm daily, at which time the premises are locked. Office managers do not qualify for overtime rates for any additional hours worked, but time off may be taken for any hours required to be worked at weekends. In one calendar year, a total of 5 weeks’ holiday may be taken. Staff are reminded that they may not take more than two consecutive weeks of holiday.
Questions 9 –14
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text above?
In boxes 9-14 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
9 Office managers must work from 8.30 am to 5 pm with one hour for lunch.
10 All employees must work between 9.30 am and 4 pm, except for lunch time.
11 The building shuts at 5 pm.
12 All employees who are not office managers are paid overtime if they work later than 5 pm.
13 Office managers are paid extra money for working at weekends.
14 It is possible to have a two-week holiday in summer and a two-week holiday in
winter.