Matching headings asks for the main idea of each paragraph, not the most memorable sentence in it. The wrong headings are built from real details taken from the wrong paragraph, which is why candidates who read closely often score worse than candidates who read for shape. This page trains paragraph-level reading and gives you forty original items.
Before touching the passage, read the list and notice which headings are near-duplicates. Those pairs are where the marks are won.
Two headings often share a topic and differ in one word: causes against consequences, a description against a criticism. Underline that word.
Read the first sentence and the last sentence properly, and skim the middle. Most academic paragraphs announce their point at the top or close it at the bottom.
Summarise the paragraph in about six words before you look back at the list. If you go to the list first, the wording will pull you towards a detail.
Compare your six-word summary with the headings. The right heading covers the whole paragraph, not its first example.
Each heading is used once. Striking them out as you go turns the last few paragraphs into a much smaller choice.
Leave it, do the rest, then choose from what is left. Elimination solves more of these than rereading does.
If one paragraph is already matched for you, that heading is out of play. Candidates lose marks by reusing it.
Reread each chosen heading against its paragraph's first sentence. If a heading only fits half the paragraph, swap it with the leftover that fits the other half.
Not thisChoosing a heading because one of its words appears in the paragraph.
ThisChoosing the heading that summarises the paragraph as a whole.
Repeated words are the standard trap; the writer of the task puts them in the wrong heading on purpose.
Not thisMatching a heading to a striking example in the middle of the paragraph.
ThisMatching to the claim the example supports.
Examples illustrate the main idea; they are not the main idea.
Not thisAssuming the headings follow the order of the paragraphs.
ThisTreating the list as unordered.
Matching headings is one of the few IELTS reading tasks where order gives you nothing.
Not thisUsing a heading twice because it fits two paragraphs.
ThisDeciding which paragraph it fits better and finding another for the second.
Each heading is used at most once, so a duplicate guarantees at least two wrong answers.
Not thisReading every paragraph in full before answering anything.
ThisReading the opening and closing sentences first and only going deeper when they disagree.
There is no time to read the passage twice, and the main idea is usually signalled at the edges.
Not thisLeaving a paragraph blank because no heading seemed right.
ThisAssigning whichever heading is left after the others are placed.
The task is closed: something must go there, and an unused heading is often the answer you could not see.
Not thisChoosing 'The history of X' for a paragraph that gives one date.
ThisChecking whether the paragraph actually traces a development over time.
A heading promising history needs a sequence, not a single fact.
Not thisIgnoring the example paragraph at the top of the list.
ThisCrossing that heading out before you start.
Its heading cannot be reused, and forgetting that removes a free elimination.
40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.
1Complete the sentence.
3Complete the sentence.
6Complete the sentence.
7A paragraph opens: 'Three factors explain the decline.' What kind of heading should you look for?
One good answer
A heading about the reasons or causes of the decline, because the paragraph is going to list explanations rather than describe the decline itself.
9Complete the sentence.
11Complete the sentence.
13Complete the sentence.
15Explain why reading the headings before the passage is worth the time.
One good answer
It tells you which ideas the passage is organised around and which pairs of headings are nearly identical, so you know what to look for and where the difficult decisions will be.
17Complete the sentence.
19Complete the sentence.
21Complete the sentence.
23Complete the sentence.
24You have chosen a heading that fits the first half of a paragraph but not the second. What should you do?
One good answer
Treat it as probably wrong and look at the unused headings for one that covers both halves, because the correct heading has to describe the whole paragraph.
26Complete the sentence.
29Complete the sentence.
31Complete the sentence.
32Why does matching headings often take longer than other reading tasks, and how do you protect your time?
One good answer
Because the options are long and several are close in meaning, so each decision takes thought. Protect the time by reading the headings once at the start, answering the obvious paragraphs first and using elimination for the rest.
34Complete the sentence.
37Complete the sentence.
39Complete the sentence.
40Summarise your working order for a matching headings task in one sentence.
One good answer
Read the headings and mark the similar pairs, then for each paragraph read the first and last sentences, summarise it in your own words, choose a heading, cross it off, and return at the end to the paragraphs you skipped.
Note
Pick Two Activity is an independent tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, the British Council, IDP, ETS, Duolingo or any other exam board. Exam names are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to describe the exam you are preparing for. Every question on this page is original practice written by us: we do not provide, copy or reproduce official exam papers.
Do it first. It forces you to work out the shape of the passage, which then makes the detail tasks quicker to locate. Leaving it until last means doing that thinking under time pressure.
The list is normally longer than the number of paragraphs, so expect two or three to be spare. Never treat an unused heading as a sign that you have made a mistake.
They will differ somewhere: one gives causes and the other consequences, or one describes and the other evaluates. Compare the last sentence of each paragraph, which is usually where the difference shows.
Write three or four words in the margin, not a full sentence. It is fast, it stops the options steering you, and it makes the final coverage check much quicker.
Yes. Some passages are divided into lettered sections that run to several paragraphs. The method is the same, but read the opening of every paragraph in the section before deciding.
Around seven or eight minutes, including the first read of the list. If one paragraph has taken more than a minute on its own, move on and solve it by elimination.