IELTS Reading lesson: Skimming and Scanning

Skimming and scanning are two very effective (yet different) strategies for speed-reading.

Skimming Scanning
●      Matching headings ●      Note/ Sentence completion
●      Summary completion ●      ●      True/ False/ Not given or Yes/ No/
Diagram Labelling Not given
●      Matching information

Skimming

Skimming means quickly reading the text to get only its main idea. To skim effectively, you need to read only a part of the material.

You have already encountered skimming: when reading a long chapter of a book, or doing a research on a long article. In such case, you
would probably read the first sentences of each paragraph, dropping down to the end of the paragraph.

How to skim?

1. Read the first paragraph attentively to get an idea of what will be discussed in the text.
2. Read the first (and sometimes the second) sentence of each paragraph - they give the main idea of the paragraph.
3. After you have read the first sentences, your eyes should drop down to the end of the paragraph, looking for important pieces of
information, such as dates and names.
4. Read the last paragraph attentively as it may contain the summary.

Here’s a picture that illustrates skimming process:

Scanning

Scanning means searching for specific phrases in the text to answer some questions.

Underline!
The questions on IELTS Reading test often include dates, names, numbers, new terms or other key words. So it’s a very good idea
to underline those key words while reading, so you could find the answers in the text more easily.

How to scan?

1. Underline the important information while reading the text (dates, numbers, names etc.)
2. When you read the question, identify the key word and scan the text for it. This way you’ll find the answer more quickly.

Scanning process looks like this:

IELTS Reading process
- Skim
- Scan
- Close Reading
- Correct answer
 Practice
Striking Back at Lightning With Lasers  According to the text, every year
lightning
Seldom is the weather more dramatic than when thunderstorms strike. Their electrical A   does considerable damage to
fury inflicts death or serious injury on around 500 people each year in the United States buildings during thunderstorms.
alone. As the clouds roll in, a leisurely round of golf can become a terrifying dice with B   kills or injures mainly golfers in the
death – out in the open, a lone golfer may be a lightning bolt’s most inviting target. And United States.
there is damage to property too. Lightning damage costs American power companies C   kills or injures around 500 people
more than $100 million a year. throughout the world.
D   damages more than 100 American
But researchers in the United States and Japan are planning to hit back. Already in power companies.
laboratory trials they have tested strategies for neutralising the power of thunderstorms,
and this winter they will brave real storms, equipped with an armoury of lasers that they
will be pointing towards the heavens to discharge thunderclouds before lightning can
strike.

Skimming Practice

I really don’t know why this book is so popular. I mean, I suppose it is going to appeal to young girls who
want danger and romance, but I found this book really tedious. For a start, the characters were really
unconvincing. The author went out of her way to add lots of details about the characters, but I found Q1: How did Kerry feel about the book? 
these details really pointless. I thought that some of the facts she presented about the main characters
would become significant in some way later in the novel, but they didn’t. They were just worthless bits of tedious
information. I also was disappointed that, although this book is meant to be about kids at high school,
the writer seems to have no recollection at all about what it’s like to be 17. The main character thought
and acted like a 32-year old. It just wasn’t believable. I’m not saying Teresa Wilson is a bad writer. She
can obviously string words together and come up with a story that is appealing to a large number of
people, but she lacks anything original. There is no flair. It just uses the same sort of language as you can
see in many other mediocre novels.

Scanning Practice
I really don’t know why this book is so popular. I mean, I suppose it is going to appeal to young girls who
want danger and romance, but I found this book really tedious. For a start, the characters were really Q1: Which age group will like this book?
unconvincing. The author went out of her way to add lots of details about the characters, but I found Young girls
Q2: Who is Teresa Wilson? A bad writer
these details really pointless. I thought that some of the facts she presented about the main characters
Q3: What does “mediocre” mean in the
would become significant in some way later in the novel, but they didn’t. They were just worthless bits of
last line?
information. I also was disappointed that, although this book is meant to be about kids at high school,
the writer seems to have no recollection at all about what it’s like to be 17. The main character thought The same sort of language
and acted like a 32-year old. It just wasn’t believable. I’m not saying Teresa Wilson is a bad writer. She
can obviously string words together and come up with a story that is appealing to a large number of
people, but she lacks anything original. There is no flair. It just uses the same sort of language as you can
see in many other mediocre novels.
 Are electric cars really eco-friendly?
1. What is the general idea?
Electric-car drivers are saving the planet, right? Their vehicles produce none of the pollutants that dinosaur- produce none of the pollutants that
burning, fossil-fuel-powered machines do. That is the standard view, and governments around the world dinosaur-burning, fossil-fuel-powered
provide incentives to encourage the uptake of this new technology. machines do

governments around the world provide

That is why a Tesla owner got a rude shock when he went to import his vehicle into Singapore - the first
incentives to encourage the uptake of this
person to do so. The Tesla Model S is a 100% electric vehicle. It does not have an exhaust to emit from. So
new technology.
what happened?

Instead of an expected rebate of around S$15,000 (US$10,800) he received a fine of the same amount for
being a gross polluter. The company commented the incident, "The Model S that our customer imported into 2. What is the aim of this text?
Singapore left our factory only two years ago with energy consumption rated at 181 Wh/km. This qualifies as
the cleanest possible category of car in Singapore and entitles the owner to an incentive rather than a fine." A. To discourage people from visiting
Singapore
The Singapore authorities calculated the ‘carbon cost’ of generating the electricity that will be used to charge B. To prove that electric cars are less
the car. This is the elephant in the trunk of electric vehicles. Where and how the power is produced is not eco-friendly than fossil-fuel-powered
often considered, but perhaps it should be. Let’s move the elephant up to the passenger seat and address it machines
directly. C. To show that we need to count the
emissions of power stations to see
The authorities in Singapore apparently found the Tesla in question consumes 444 watt-hours of electricity how green an electric car is.
per km (Wh/km) in tests. Without wanting to get too maths-heavy, the number of 444Wh/km does seem
high. And as we still need power stations to produce such amount electric energy, the environmental impact 3. When the owner of the electric car went
is not so small as it seemed to be. to Singapore, he received

A. a rebate of around US$10,800

But what about the bigger picture - should we be factoring in the emissions of power stations when working
out how green an electric car is? The logical answer is yes. Emissions shifted elsewhere are still emissions, and B. a fine of around US$10,800
CO2 impacts the global atmosphere wherever it is released.
C. a fine of around US$15,000

4. To prove that electric car was a gross

polluter, the authorities in Singapore
calculated the ...carbon cost................... of
generating the electricity to charge the car.
 MAKING TIME FOR SCIENCE
  True/False/Not Given
Chronobiology might sound a little futuristic – like something from a science fiction novel, perhaps – but it’s
actually a field of study that concerns one of the oldest processes life on this planet has ever known: short-
term rhythms of time and their effect on flora and fauna.
1. Chronobiology is the study of
how living things have evolved
This can take many forms. Marine life, for example, is influenced by tidal patterns. Animals tend to be over time. F
active or inactive depending on the position of the sun or moon. Numerous creatures, humans included,
are largely diurnal – that is, they like to come out during the hours of sunlight. Nocturnal animals, such as 2. The rise and fall of sea levels
bats and possums, prefer to forage by night. A third group are known as crepuscular: they thrive in the affects how sea creatures behave.
low-light of dawn and dusk and remain inactive at other hours.
NG
When it comes to humans, chronobiologists are interested in what is known as the circadian rhythm. This
3. Most animals are active during
is the complete cycle our bodies are naturally geared to undergo within the passage of a twenty-four hour the daytime.
day. Aside from sleeping at night and waking during the day, each cycle involves many other factors such F
as changes in blood pressure and body temperature. Not everyone has an identical circadian rhythm. 4. Circadian rhythms identify how
‘Night people’, for example, often describe how they find it very hard to operate during the morning, but we do different things on different
become alert and focused by evening. This is a benign variation within circadian rhythms known as a days. choose one
chronotype.
T
5. A ‘night person’ can still have a
Scientists have limited abilities to create durable modifications of chronobiological demands. Recent
therapeutic developments for humans such as artificial light machines and melatonin administration can healthy circadian rhythm.
reset our circadian rhythms, for example, but our bodies can tell the difference and health suffers when we NG
breach these natural rhythms for extended periods of time. Plants appear no more malleable in this 6. New therapies can permanently
respect; studies demonstrate that vegetables grown in season and ripened on the tree are far higher in change circadian rhythms without
essential nutrients than those grown in greenhouses and ripened by laser. causing harm. choose one
F
Knowledge of chronobiological patterns can have many pragmatic implications for our day-to-day lives.
7. Naturally-produced vegetables
While contemporary living can sometimes appear to subjugate biology – after all, who needs circadian
rhythms when we have caffeine pills, energy drinks, shift work and cities that never sleep? – keeping in have more nutritional value.True
synch with our body clock is important.
The average urban resident, for example, rouses at the eye-blearing time of 6.04 a.m., which researchers
believe to be far too early. One study found that even rising at 7.00 a.m. has deleterious effects on health
unless exercise is performed for 30 minutes afterward. The optimum moment has been whittled down to
7.22 a.m.; muscle aches, headaches and moodiness were reported to be lowest by participants in the study
who awoke then.

Evenings are important for winding down before sleep; however, dietician Geraldine Georgeou warns that
an after-five carbohydrate-fast is more cultural myth than chronobiological demand. This will deprive your
body of vital energy needs. Overloading your gut could lead to indigestion, though. Our digestive tracts do
not shut down for the night entirely, but their work slows to a crawl as our bodies prepare for sleep.
Consuming a modest snack should be entirely sufficient.