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IELTS Academic

Summaries, sentences, notes and tables

Completion questions: word limits, grammar and synonyms.

15 minutes · A free lesson from Reading

Completion questions give you a summary, notes, sentences or a table with gaps. Either you copy words from the passage (within a word limit), or you choose from a box of options.

Lesson quiz

Check what you have learned. Choose an answer to see whether it is right, and why.

Quick check: The passage says “the farms use LED lighting”. The gap allows NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage. Which answer is acceptable?

  1. the LED lighting
  2. electric lights
  3. LED lighting
Show the answer

C: LED lighting — Three words is over the limit, and “electric lights” is not in the passage.

Quick check: Several words in the box fit the grammar of a gap. How do you choose?

  1. Pick the one that fits the meaning of the passage
  2. Pick the longest one
  3. Pick the first one that fits
Show the answer

A: Pick the one that fits the meaning of the passage — Only one option fits the meaning.

Quick check: How must words copied from the passage be spelt?

  1. Any way that sounds right
  2. Exactly as in the passage
  3. In capital letters
Show the answer

B: Exactly as in the passage — A misspelt word is marked wrong.

Quick check: What should you decide first about each gap?

  1. How many letters it has
  2. Whether it is the last gap
  3. What kind of word it needs: noun, verb, adjective or number
Show the answer

C: What kind of word it needs: noun, verb, adjective or number — Check singular or plural too.

Practise: summary completion
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