IELTS, Reading
IELTS Reading Multiple Choice
You choose the correct answer to questions about a passage.
Format and scoring
| Skill | Reading |
|---|---|
| How it's scored | One mark per correct answer. |
| Weight (estimate) | About 20% of your reading score |
How to answer Reading Multiple Choice
- 1Read the question and find the paragraph.
- 2Read that part closely.
- 3Eliminate options with extreme or unsupported claims.
Common mistakes
- Choosing an option that uses the passage's words but changes the meaning.
Sample question
Slow steaming
In 2007 a typical large container ship crossing from Asia to northern Europe travelled at around 24 knots. Within three years, many of the same vessels were sailing at 18 knots or less, a practice the industry calls 'slow steaming'. The change was not driven by environmental concern, at least initially. When fuel prices rose sharply in 2008 and the global financial crisis then reduced demand for shipping, operators found themselves with expensive fuel and more ships than cargo. Sailing slowly solved both problems at once. The physics behind the saving is striking. The power a ship needs to push through water rises roughly with the cube of its speed, so a modest reduction in speed produces a disproportionate fall in fuel consumption. Cutting speed by 20 per cent can reduce the fuel burned each day by almost half. Because the voyage then takes longer, the saving per journey is smaller tha…
According to the first paragraph, shipping companies first adopted slow steaming mainly because