IELTS Short Answer Questions answer the question, inside the limit
Short answer questions are the most straightforward reading type and still lose marks for avoidable reasons: exceeding the word limit, answering in your own words, or answering a slightly different question from the one asked. The reading is usually the easy part.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Practise short answer questions questionsWhat the task asks
You answer questions about the passage using words from the passage, within a stated limit, normally no more than two or three words. The questions follow passage order.
The method
- 01
Note the limit before you read
It governs the answer, and writing past it turns a correct answer into a wrong one.
- 02
Identify the question word
Who wants a person, when wants a time, why wants a reason. That tells you what kind of thing you are looking for before you start looking.
- 03
Use passage order
Answers appear in the same sequence as the questions, so each one narrows where the next can be.
- 04
Copy exactly
Spelling counts, and the words must come from the passage. Do not tidy the phrasing.
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.
What flight technique allows the albatross to travel thousands of kilometres with almost no flapping?show
Answer: dynamic soaring
Paragraph G states the albatross 'achieves this efficiency through a technique called dynamic soaring, in which it exploits wind speed differences at various altitudes to maintain flight with almost no flapping.'
A reduction in what, rather than improved end-of-life management, do many researchers now argue is the only intervention adequate to the scale of the plastic problem?show
Answer: primary plastic use
Paragraph G concludes that 'reduction in primary plastic use, rather than improved end-of-life management, is ... the only intervention adequate to the scale of the problem.'
Besides X-ray fluorescence, which imaging technique is mentioned for non-destructive painting analysis?show
Answer: infrared reflectography
Paragraph D states analyses 'have used X-ray fluorescence and infrared reflectography to map paint layers and underdrawings non-destructively.'
What two-word term did Müller and Pilzecker introduce in 1900?show
Answer: consolidation
Paragraph A states 'The term itself was coined by the German researchers Georg Elias Müller and Alfons Pilzecker,' referring to consolidation.
Where the marks go
Writing a full sentence
The limit is usually two or three words. A grammatical sentence that exceeds it is marked wrong.
Answering in your own words
Take the words from the passage. A correct paraphrase is not accepted here.
Answering a near-miss question
Read the stem twice. Asked which country and answering with a city is a common and expensive slip.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to write a full sentence?+
No, and you should not. The word limit makes a full sentence impossible in most cases, and there is no credit for grammatical completeness here.
Are short answer questions in passage order?+
Yes. That makes them one of the faster types once you have located the first answer.
Does spelling matter in short answer questions?+
Yes. The answer is copied from the passage, so a spelling mistake is a copying mistake and is marked wrong.
You know the method now. Do it under a clock.
Practise short answer questions questions in the real test layout, marked instantly, with the reasoning shown for every answer you get wrong.
Start practising