IELTS Reading – Summary Completion

Here are some tips, strategies and articles with summary completion questions.

summary completion basics

In these types of questions, you will be given a summary (usually of part of the passage) and you have to fill in some missing words.

There are two types of summary completion tasks:

Using words from the text:
For these you have to use the exact words from the text. The instructions will tell you how many words to write. Don’t go over that number and don’t change the form of the words.

Using words from a list:
For these, you will be given a list of words to choose from. These words are often synonyms of the words in the text. Use the words from the list, not the text.

Complete the summary with one word or a number from the article.

In a famous psychology 1.__________ by Darley and Batson, students had to walk past a man who needed 2.__________. The psychologists wanted to know who would stop. It was found that only 3.__________ percent of people stopped to help when they were in a hurry, suggesting that 4.__________ are important in determining how we behave, and being in a hurry 5.__________ the likelihood that people will stop to help.

Summary Completion example from the article In a Rush.

Tips for summary completion questions

The questions follow the order of the text.
You will usually find the answer to question 2 after the answer to question 1 etc.
Be careful with spelling.
If you spell the word wrong, the answer will be marked wrong
Use grammar and context to help you.
Think about what type of word fits the gap – Is it a noun, verb or adjective? Is it a place, person, thing?
If there are two ideas in the sentence, this can help you.
Sometimes the sentence gives you another idea or example next to the blank – this will help you find the answer in the text. E.g. ‘… not only a great number of people, but also a great deal of _______.‘ (‘great number of people’ will help you find the answer).

The strategies below are ones I recommend, but there are different ways to approach these questions. Try different strategies and use what works best for you.

Strategies for summary completion questions

NB. My preferred method for starting reading:
At the start of each passage, spend 2-3 minutes skimming the text. Think about (or write down) the main idea for each paragraph – this can help you find the answers more quickly.

Think about which part of the passage the summary comes from.
– Look at the first few questions, and then the text to see where the summary starts.
Look at the gap for question 1 and think about the type of word that is needed.
– Is it a noun, verb or adjective? Is it a place or a time or a reason? Can you guess the answer?
– If there is a list of words, often there will only be a few that could fit.
Underline / highlight keywords near the gap.
– These will help you to find the answers.
Scan the text for the keywords, synonyms and the answer you guessed.
– When you find them, read around to find the answer.
Check the grammar / context.
– Make sure the answer fits grammatically and makes sense.
– With a list of words, cross each answer off after you have found it.
Repeat for the next question.
– Remember that question 2 will usually come after question 1 in the text.