IELTS Reading Tips: IDENTIFYING MAIN IDEAS IN A TEXT

Are you preparing for IELTS? If yes this post is for you!

Identifying main ideas is a common task type you will come across in your IELTS READING section.

Tasks like MATCHING HEADINGS or GIVING A PARAGRAPH A BEFITTING TITLE is not avoidable in the test.

These are aspects of summary skills.

In this post, I will take you through everything you need to know about getting this task right, step by step.

Let's get started!

FIRST, SKIM THE WHOLE OF THE PASSAGE.

Skimming is a quick way of reading a passage for general understanding.

During this time, you should identify the number of paragraphs in the passage. The first and last paragraphs are usually the introductory and concluding paragraphs respectively.

In between these paragraphs are the body paragraphs. They can be 2, 3, or more than 4.

NEXT IS TO SCAN EACH PARAGRAPH ONE AFTER THE OTHER.

Scanning has to do with fishing out the main ideas in paragraphs.

It entails looking out for specific details about the list of headings given to you. At this stage, you will have some clues about what each of the paragraphs is talking about. These are the main ideas!

HOWEVER, THE MAIN IDEAS IN A PASSAGE CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO TWO:

1. THESIS STATEMENT

2. TOPIC SENTENCE

👉 WHAT IS A THESIS STATEMENT?

This is the main idea in the introductory paragraph of a passage. It is a statement that summarizes the whole of the passage or tells you the topic you are about to read.

Also, with the thesis statement, you can predict what a passage is all about.

👉THE TOPIC SENTENCE

The topic sentence is the main idea in the body paragraph of an essay. It is the key sentence in the paragraph that other sentences rely on.

These other sentences are called SUPPORTING IDEAS, I will talk about this in another post.

The topic sentence can come at the start, middle or end of the paragraph but usually at the beginning.

So, when looking out for main ideas in a passage, take note that they are the thesis statements in the introduction or topic sentences in the body paragraphs.

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THANKS FOR READING!!!

Hammed O. Lawal