Tricks revision

One key word or phrase is swapped for a synonym, while the rest of the sentence keeps almost the same shape. This is the lightest kind of paraphrase — only the vocabulary changes, the grammar barely moves.

⚠️ But note: this clean, same-structure swap is actually the rarer case. Far more often, IELTS rewrites the whole sentence — that is Trick 2, and that is the frequent style. Learn this one first because it is the easiest to see, then expect Trick 2's fuller paraphrase far more often.

Line the two sentences up side by side. If the order of ideas matches and only the words differ, it is a synonym swap — trust the meaning and mark it. If the whole structure has moved, switch to Trick 2.

Sometimes the whole sentence is rebuilt — active becomes passive, or the clause order flips — but the underlying facts stay identical. Watch out: sometimes a "restructured" option secretly changes the meaning too — that's a trap.

Do not compare word-for-word. Ask one question: are the underlying facts the same, and does the meaning point the same way? If yes, it is a valid restructure. If the direction has flipped (as in the Try it below), it is the trap.

Correct options are usually paraphrased, so an option that repeats the passage's exact words is not automatically right. Test-writers often reuse a striking phrase from the passage in a distractor and then change what is said about it — the wrong person, the wrong time, the opposite direction. The same applies to numbers: a figure like 75% or 1995 that appears in both the passage and an option proves only that you have found the right area — you still have to check that the option says the same thing about it.

When an option matches the passage word-for-word or number-for-number, treat it as a warning light, not a green light: check the other options first, and confirm the exact-match option still says the same thing the passage does before you trust it.

A single adverb — hardly, fully, often, always, sometimes, rarely, previously, nearly — can completely reverse a sentence's meaning, even when every other word is identical. Two sentences can read almost the same and mean opposite things, so an option that looks like a match is not automatically the answer.

Before you accept a look-alike option, put its adverbs against the passage's. If a degree, frequency, or time adverb has changed — partly↔fully, rarely↔frequently, sometimes↔always, previously↔now — the meaning has changed with it. Same shape, opposite sense = trap.

Words like however, in contrast, therefore, despite, and as a result tell you what KIND of information is about to follow — a contrast, a cause, a result, a concession. They help you find the part of a paragraph that answers the question, which you then read carefully.

Reading has 60 minutes for three passages and no extra transfer time, so you cannot read everything with the same slow care. Signal words show where the writer turns, and many questions — especially on the writer's view — are decided right after a however, yet or even so.

In Multiple Choice, more than one option can be true according to the passage — but only ONE actually answers the exact question asked. Before choosing, don't ask "is this true?"; ask "does this answer this question?"

Underline the exact focus of the question stem (why / when / who / what effect). Then test each option against that focus, not against the passage in general. Discard any option that is true but does not address the stem.

Rewrite the question's own sentence in your introduction using synonyms and a different sentence structure — change the key noun and verb, but keep the meaning and add no data.

Words copied from the question are not counted towards your 150 words, and they give the examiner no evidence of your own vocabulary for Lexical Resource. A paraphrased opening shows control from the first line. Keep it to one sentence — the introduction earns little on its own, so the overview and the selected details matter far more.

Before writing anything else, look at the data as a whole shape, not individual numbers, and ask: what are the one or two most obvious things anyone would notice at a glance? Those become the Overview — no specific numbers yet.

The public Task Achievement descriptors are explicit: Band 7 needs "a clear overview of main trends, differences or stages", while an answer with no clear overview fits Band 5 — however accurate the numbers are. The overview may come straight after the introduction or at the end, but it must be easy to find, so give it its own short paragraph.

Never describe data in the order it's given — row by row, year by year. Instead, group data points that share a pattern (two similar countries, or a before-vs-after split) and describe the group together in one sentence.

The Task Achievement descriptors describe Band 5 as recounting detail "mechanically". Listing number after number shows you have not selected or compared anything, and it also weakens Coherence and Cohesion, because the paragraphs have no logical organisation — even if every number is accurate.

Comparison language isn't interchangeable. "More than double," "nearly triple," and "roughly half" each describe a specific mathematical relationship — pick the phrase that matches the actual ratio, not just a general sense of "a lot more" or "a lot less."

Examiners check for accuracy, not just vocabulary variety — using "double" for something that's actually triple is a factual error that directly costs Task Achievement marks, no matter how fluent the sentence sounds.

Every body-paragraph sentence should make a comparative point first, then use the number as evidence for it — not state a bare number with no framing.

Band 7 Task Achievement asks you to "clearly present and highlight key features". A point-first sentence does exactly that, and it naturally produces the comparison language and grouping that Tricks 3 and 4 depend on. The numbers still matter: key features must be supported with accurate data.

Modifying a movement verb or noun with an intensity word — an adverb before the verb ("rose sharply") or an adjective before the noun ("a sharp rise") — must match how steep the actual change is on the chart. Use a three-tier scale: dramatic, moderate, or gentle.

This earns marks in two criteria at once: Task Achievement (a mismatched intensity word is a factual misrepresentation of the data) and Lexical Resource (varied, precise vocabulary scores higher than repeating "increased" five times).