IELTS Matching Features who said what, and who did not
Matching features gives you a list of people, studies, places or categories and a set of statements, and asks you to connect them. Unlike matching headings, options can be used more than once or not at all, and the questions do not follow passage order. Both of those change how you should work.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Practise matching features questionsWhat the task asks
You are given a box of options, usually labelled A to E, and a set of statements. You decide which option each statement belongs to. The instruction will tell you whether options may be used more than once, and it usually says they may.
The method
- 01
Scan for the options in the passage and mark them
The options are usually proper nouns, so they are easy to find. Marking every occurrence first turns the task into reading around known points rather than searching the whole passage repeatedly.
- 02
Work from the passage, not the statements
Take each marked name and read what is said about it, then look for the statement that matches. Going the other way means re-scanning for every statement.
- 03
Expect repeats and gaps
One researcher may account for three statements and another for none. A neat one-to-one distribution is the exception, so do not force one.
- 04
Ignore question order
Unlike most reading tasks, these do not follow the passage. The answer to the last question can be in the first paragraph.
Worked examples
Real questions from the practice bank with the reasoning written out. Cover the answer, decide, then read the explanation. Getting it right for the wrong reason is the thing that does not survive test day.
Kanda Manabushow
Answer: A
Paragraph D states Kanda Manabu 'measured an average anthropogenic heat flux of 200 watts per square metre during winter weekdays, exceeding the solar radiation reaching the ground at the same latitude.'
Singaporeshow
Answer: C
Paragraph G describes Singapore's Garden City programme, which 'requires that new buildings replace ground-level greenery lost to construction with equivalent area on rooftops, terraces, and façades.'
Charles Ketteringshow
Answer: C
Paragraph C states 'Charles Kettering's invention of the electric starter motor in 1912 eliminated the dangerous hand-cranking process, removing one of the key advantages electric cars had held.'
jiaozishow
Answer: B
Paragraph B states the imperial government took over the system and from 1024 issued the receipts as official currency, making it the first paper money taken over by an imperial government.
Where the marks go
Assuming each option is used exactly once
Read the instruction. It normally says options may be used more than once, and building a one-to-one grid will force at least one wrong answer.
Matching on topic instead of attribution
Two researchers can work on the same subject and disagree. The question is who made this specific claim.
Missing a pronoun chain
A passage names someone once and then says he, she or the team for three sentences. Those sentences still belong to that person.
Searching in passage order
These questions are not ordered. Mark the options first and work from them instead.
Frequently asked questions
Can an option be used more than once in matching features?+
Usually yes, and the instruction says so explicitly. Assuming one option per statement is one of the commonest ways to lose several marks at once on this type.
Do matching features questions follow the order of the passage?+
No. This is one of the few reading types where they do not, which is why marking every option in the passage first is faster than working question by question.
What is the difference between matching features and matching information?+
Matching features asks which person or category a statement belongs to. Matching information asks which PARAGRAPH contains a piece of information.
You know the method now. Do it under a clock.
Practise matching features questions in the real test layout, marked instantly, with the reasoning shown for every answer you get wrong.
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