Should I read the text or the questions first?

When answering Reading questions, it is not a good idea to read the whole text in detail before you look at the questions. You have limited time in the IELTS Reading test, so it's important that you know what you are looking for when you read the text.

The following is good general advice for approaching Reading questions. However, note that all students develop their own preferred ways of approaching the various tasks too.

• Read the title of the text to get an idea of the topic.
• Look at the questions.
• Identify if the questions focus on specific parts of the text or if the questions deal with the whole text.
• If the questions deal with the whole text, then skim the text to build up a general idea of where information is located.
• If the questions focus on a specific part of the text, then highlight keywords in the questions and look for the relevant part of the text. It's possible you won't need to read the whole text.