IELTS Reading Table Completion – Lessons, Tips

Zuhana

4 min read

Updated On Aug 14, 2024

Understanding IELTS Table questions
Strategies for answering the Table questions
Tips for Table IELTS questions
Sample Practice
Answers
FAQs

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Understanding IELTS Table questions

In the Reading section, a table is simply another method to describe graphs or charts. For this, learning a new type of language or finding a new method to organize things will not be required. The primary difference between table and other types of content questions would be in the way information is presented. In the instructions, you can find the number of words that you need to fill. Using the wrong number of words would lead to loss of marks, even if your answer is correct.

Strategies for answering the Table questions

There are a few table strategies, which have to be borne in mind while answering the questions. They are listed below:

Read all of the instructions cautiously. Even a small mistake can cost you marks. Be vigilant about the needed words to fill the gaps.
Comprehend the table’s layout to know the content and the subject.
Quickly go through the questions and passages to get the idea of the kind of information you would have to fill in gaps.
Navigate through the paragraphs and write down keywords and ideas next to every paragraph to find the information.
Go to the questions and choose the best keywords. Then, try to find them in the passage.
Keep in mind that you will also get some paraphrased sentences and synonyms. You must check the word limit while answering these.

Tips for Table IELTS questions

Some tips to answer the questions and obtain a high band in the IELTS examination are given below:

Make use of a step-by-step strategy that streamlines the questions of table completion.
Avoid panicking while giving the exam if you find anything unfamiliar; try solving questions using a step-by-step strategy.
The question order could be different from the given information in the reading passage.
Avoid using synonyms. Fill the gaps with all of the right words, or the answers will be marked incorrect.
Comprehend the word type that is missing in the answer, whether an adjective, an adverb, a verb or a noun. Tracing the right word will be much easier.
Try to find the matching meaning instead of finding the exact word.
First, find the location. And then figure out the details in the passage.
The sentence should be grammatically correct.

Sample Practice

By the early nineteenth century – the start of the railway age – men such as John McAdam and Thomas Telford had created a British road network totalling some 200,000 km, of which about one sixth was privately owned toll roads called turnpikes. In the first half of the nineteenth century, many roads in the US were built to the new standards, of which the National Pike from West Virginia to Illinois was perhaps the most notable. In the twentieth century, the ever-increasing use of motor vehicles threatened to break up roads built to nineteenth-century standards, so new techniques had to be developed.On routes with heavy traffic, flexible pavements were replaced by rigid pavements, in which the top layer was concrete, 15 to 30 centimetres thick, laid on a prepared bed. Nowadays steel bars are laid within the concrete. This not only restrains shrinkage during setting, but also reduces expansion in warm weather. As a result, it is, possible to lay long slabs without danger of cracking

Questions:

Complete the table below.

Use ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Time Period	Type of Roads
Early 19th century	Turn pikes also called as 1……… roads
First half of the 2………………. century	National Pike
20th century	flexible pavements were replaced by 3………….. pavements
Now	4……… bars are laid within the concrete

Answers

Time Period	Type of Roads
Early 19th century	Turn pikes also called as 1. toll roads
First half of the 2. nineteenth century	National Pike
20th century	flexible pavements were replaced by 3.rigid pavements
Now	4.steel bars are laid within the concrete

Explanation

For the first question, we find the answer in the first line which says “By the early nineteenth century – the start of the railway age – men such as John McAdam and Thomas Telford had created a British road network totalling some 200,000 km, of which about one sixth was privately owned toll roads called turnpikes”. So the answer is “Toll”.

For the second question, we find the answer in the second line which says “In the first half of the nineteenth century, many roads in the US were built to the new standards, of which the National Pike from West Virginia to Illinois was perhaps the most notable”. So the answer is “nineteenth”.

For the third question, we find the answer in the fourth line which says “On routes with heavy traffic, flexible pavements were replaced by rigid pavements”. So the answer is “rigid”.

For the fourth question. We find the answer in the fifth line which says “Nowadays steel bars are laid within the concrete”. So the answer is “steel”.

FAQs

What is a table chart?

A table chart is a method to present information. It contains numbers, words or a combination of both put in columns or boxes.

What skills are tested in a table?

In a table, the examiner will check the description of information presented in the table, comparisons and contrasts, reporting of impersonal topics without the personal opinion and use of adequate language to describe the table.

What is the structure of the table?

The structure includes introduction, overview, body and conclusion.

Do I have to use proper vocabulary?

In terms of grammar, proper sentence structuring and range of vocabulary will be checked.