IELTS academic reading note completion

Table of contents

1. IELTS academic reading note completion
2. IELTS academic reading note completion - Strategies & tips to solve
3. Skills required to solve note completion question
4. Common challenges faced while answering note completion question
5. Note completion skill-building exercise 1
6. Note completion skill-building exercise 2 
7. Note completion skill-building exercise 3 
8. Answers for skill-building exercises
9. Conclusion 
   

The IELTS academic reading note completion question type is more complicated than other question types. So, you have to read the tips and suggestions thoroughly to avoid basic mistakes. If you are focused and motivated, you will have no trouble in answering the note completion question type. In the note completion question, the passage will be given followed by some incomplete notes. You need to understand the notes to pick the right keyword. Then, you have to compare the keyword with the passage to locate the exact text and identify the correct answer. 

Note completion is one of the regular question types in the IELTS academic reading test. In the note completion question, you will be provided with one or more paragraphs followed by a few notes with blanks. You are asked to complete the notes with the suitable word from the given passage. 

IELTS academic reading note completion question type is one of the most significant IELTS academic reading question types. If you wish to clear the note completion question easily, read the entire post as we covered everything about the note completion question type. We can say that this will be more useful for you to get a good score in the IELTS academic reading module.

IELTS academic reading note completion - Strategies & tips to solve 

To complete the note completion question flawless, check out the master tips and strategies listed below. Our IELTS academic reading note completion tips and strategies can help you mentally prepare and boost your confidence.

1. In the note completion question, some important points or information from the given passage are presented in the form of notes.
2. You are asked to complete the notes with missing information from the part of the passage.
3. Note completion question type is quite similar to the table and flowchart completion question type. So, the approach to finding the answers is similar.
4. The incomplete notes you see at the bottom of the paragraph are usually in order. But, sometimes, it may not be in sequence with the intention of making the task more difficult.
5. Read the instructions carefully so that you can avoid basic mistakes. 
6. Remember you do not exceed the word limit.
7. Notice the headings and subheadings as it helps you to get the correct text in the passage.
8. Read the passage and question precisely to understand the in-depth meaning which helps you to fill in the answers quickly.
9. Identify the keyword to spot the correct portion in the passage. 
10. Note that you should not change the word form. Your chosen word must be the same as in the passage. 
11. Check that your answer is grammatically correct and relevant to the particular incomplete note.
12. Do not repeat the word which is already in question. Also, be aware of synonyms, compare the keyword and pick the perfect word from the passage
13. Predict the correct word that completes the note before looking in the passage. 
14. You will find the instruction like NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS/OR NUMBERS at the top of the question. Remember that and start answering the questions.

The above-mentioned IELTS academic reading note completion tips and strategies, will honestly help you in answering the note completion question more effectively than before.

If you are interested to read more about the IELTS academic reading tips, click here - IELTS academic reading tips

Skills required to solve note completion question

IELTS academic reading note completion test is to check whether you have good grasping quality and ability. These are some skills that you should have to solve the note completion question. They are,

• You must read the instructions properly and note them down for your reference
• Read the passage and question clearly before you look for answers
• The important thing is time management. Don’t waste your time by reading the entire passage. 
• Look for the relevant text that matches the question note.

Common challenges faced while answering note completion question 

When you answer the note completion question, these are some common problems that you may encounter. If you avoid the same, you can do the test even better. They are,

• Skipping the instructions given.
• Looking for the answers without complete knowledge about the passage
• Not finding keywords and searching the answers using the word prior to the blanks
• Changing the word form
• Not looking for synonyms

Note completion skill-building exercise 1 

Answer Questions 1-7 which are based on the reading passage below.

Economic Apartheid

A new report from the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University shows that wealth creation is remarkable, one might say, criminally, unequal. Follow this hierarchy at the top of the wealth pyramid: the richest 1 percent of adults alone owned 40 percent of global assets in the year 2000; the richest 2 percent owned more than half of global household wealth, and the richest 10 percent of adults accounted for 85% of the world total. That leaves very little for the remaining 90 percent of the global population. Could it be any worse? Yes, the rich are still getting richer, more millionaires are becoming billionaires.

As to the world's lower class: the bottom half of the world's adult population owned barely 1 percent of global wealth, defined as net worth: the value of physical and financial assets fewer debts. Over a billion poor people subsist on less than one dollar a day. Every day, according to UNICEF, 30,000 children die due to poverty - that's over 10 million children killed by poverty every year! Global economic apartheid is killing people.

Here are data showing some of the variations among nations. Average wealth amounted to $144,000 per person in the U.S. in 2000, not as good as the $181,000 in Japan, but better than most others: $127,000 for the U.K., $70,000 for Denmark, $37,000 for New Zealand, $1,400 in Indonesia and $1,100 in India. Averages, of course, are very deceiving.

The statistical measure of inequality is the Gini value, which measures inequality on a scale from zero (total equality) to one (complete inequality). For income, it ranges from .35 to .45 in most countries. Wealth inequality is usually much higher, typically between .65 and .75. This reflects the greater difficulty in accumulating wealth (capital) than increasing income. Two high wealth economies, Japan and the United States show very different patterns of wealth inequality, with Japan having a low wealth Gini of .55 and the U.S. having around .80. The incomes of the top fifth of the Japanese population are only three times that of the bottom fifth, compared to nine times in the U.S. Japan has little economic apartheid compared to the U.S., yet both countries have a huge number of wealthy people. Of the wealthiest 10 percent in the world, 25 percent are American, and 20 percent are Japanese. These two countries are even stronger among the richest 1 percent of individuals in the world, with 37 percent residing in the U.S. and 27 percent in Japan. The point is that despite high numbers of very wealthy people, economic apartheid is absent in Japan and abysmal in the U.S.

We can explain the difference between Japan and the U.S. People can save and accumulate wealth for future economic security or can borrow and spend like mad to accumulate possessions. According to a 2006 report, only 41 percent of American families save regularly, making wealth creation difficult. America's national savings rate - which includes corporate savings and government budget deficits - is only about 13.6% of gross domestic product, compared to 25 percent in Japan.

U.S. economic apartheid shows that a self-proclaimed great democracy with considerable personal freedom can risk deep social instability from class warfare as it approaches a two-class system. We need to see economic apartheid as lethal and repulsive as racial apartheid.

Questions 1- 7 

Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/ OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Global Wealth Distribution

• According to a UN report, the world’s wealth distribution is drastically 1 ________
• In 2000, the wealthiest 1% had 40% of global wealth, while 10% owned 2 _________
• In contrast, just 1% of riches was shared by the 3 ___________.
• More than a billion people survive on less than a dollar daily.
• Poverty causes the death of more than 4 _______ children annually.

Wealth imbalance among nations:

• In 2000, per capita wealth in Japan and America were $181,000 and $ 144,000 respectively, but a mere $1100 in India.
• Inequality is measured in terms of 5 ______, which ranges from 0 to 1.
• Japan has less 6 _______ than the U.S. though both have a large number of very rich people.
• Americans tend to save less, leading to less wealth accumulation.
• The U.S. example indicates that more 7 ______ can result in serious social imbalance.

Check answer for this exercise-1

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Note completion skill-building exercise 2 

Answer questions 1-7 which are based on the reading passage below.

WEATHER PREDICTIONS

Predicting the weather is a complex process. Forecasts can lack accuracy due to the chaotic character of the atmosphere and our inability to comprehend the processes. However, over the years, weather forecasts have become more detailed with improved accuracy. A technological advantage is the development of apps that offer information regarding the weather immediately, thus giving opportune warnings in times of a crisis.

Before the forecast with icons of the sun or the rain is posted on a website or texted via the mobile phone, a rather complicated procedure takes place. In order to understand the weather patterns and present an accurate forecast, massive data is collected and processed. There are several variations to be considered, and it is also important to correctly measure them. 

Data from observations of atmospheric pressure, temperature, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, and precipitation are collected regularly through trained observers, automatic weather stations, or anchored floats or buoys.

With the advancement in technology, radars and weather satellites are also now widely used. Before making a forecast, meteorologists must ‘get in touch with the weather.’ This means that at the start of the shift, forecasters glance at the weather patterns of the previous day. Then the current weather is given a closer look. Says Bernie Rayno, AccuWeather meteorologist, ‘If you don’t know what happened yesterday, and why, then the chances of you being able to forecast the future are less.’ 

Just like removing layers from the outside towards the core, the weather forecasters begin with the larger movements in the atmosphere and then gradually move inwards to the smaller details. A surface map is frequently used by meteorologists as it gives them an idea as to why a particular weather phenomenon is happening. They can see the location of the key factors in the phenomenon such as cloud cover, precipitation, low pressure, and high pressure as they study the map. A storm system and its movement can be tracked by identifying the low-pressure areas, while high-pressure areas show good weather.

In the next step of weather investigation, observations gathered from surveillance are recorded into the computer models. These models imitate the atmosphere using various weather parameters such as temperature, humidity, and pressure. Supercomputers are needed to solve complex equations which decide how the condition of fluid changes with time. The input is processed by the models using data assimilation, and the generated output is then used to give the basis of a weather forecast.

While it’s true that more often than we would like, we are caught in a downpour without an umbrella because the forecast predicted a sunny day; when it comes to tornadoes and hurricanes, the predictions are eerily exact, saving thousands of lives and property. 

Questions 1-7 

Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Steps of Daily Weather Forecast

• Data collection by:
• trained observers
• 1 _________
• radars 
• weather stations and satellites
• Next, weather conditions of the 2 ________ day are referred
• To make a forecast, current weather parameters are observed 
• first, bigger atmospheric 3 _________ are identified, then small details are noted
• a 4 __________ is often used to: 

- understand the cause of a weather phenomenon and get the 5______ of the responsible parameters such as cloud cover, precipitation 
- track the progression of a 6 _________ by identifying low-pressure areas

• the collected information is fed into the 7 ________ which simulate the atmosphere
• the data is processed and the output forms the weather forecast

Check answer for this exercise-2

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Note completion skill-building exercise 3

Answer questions 1-7 which are based on the reading passage below.

A brief history of chocolate

Different chocolate manufacturing processes were also invented along the way. One of the three biggest processes to change the way in which chocolate was made and consumed was the addition of milk, instead of water, to chocolate. This idea, credited to Sir Hans Sloane, further reduced cacao bitterness and improved taste. Sir Sloane kept his discovery a trade secret for some time before selling the recipe to a London apothecary (which later on became the property of the Cadbury brothers). Condensed and powdered milk eventually replaced whole milk, allowing for a smoother and far sweeter product than before; milk chocolate is by far the most popular chocolate item in America today.

Another improvement in manufacturing came with the making of liquid chocolate into semisolid edible bars, allowing the item to become much more portable and not as perishable (solid chocolate has a shelf-life of about a year). The secret to bar-making comes from cacao butter, the fatty part of the cacao bean. When the bean is ground up, about 55% of the resulting paste is cacao butter. This fat percentage, though seemingly high, is still too low to make soft (and edible) bar chocolate, yet way too high for powdered chocolate (such 15 is used to make hot chocolate). Heavy-duty presses are used to remove about half of the cacao butter from the paste, after which the purified butter is added into "untouched" raw paste, making bar chocolate that is about 75% cacao butter, and semi-solid at room temperature. The stripped paste, devoid of about half of its fat content, solidifies into a hard cake that is pulverised into cacao powder.

The third, and major, improvement in chocolate manufacturing came with the discovery of the conching method - the mixing of chocolate over a period of several days in order to allow volatiles and moisture to evaporate, resulting in a more pleasing, smoother taste to the final product. Conching is credited to Rudolph Lindt (of Lindt & Sprungli fame), who found out that a batch of chocolate left mixing for several days became much smoother in texture and taste than one allowed to solidify immediately.

Despite modern improvements to the processing of chocolate, the actual harvesting of the cacao bean has remained virtually unchanged since the days of the Mayans and Aztecs and are still cultivated in tropical climates, within 10 to 20 degrees of the Equator.

Questions 1-7

Complete the notes below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Developments in the Chocolate Manufacturing Methods

Three major changes took place in the manufacturing process of chocolate:

First:- water replaced by 1 ___________

• tasted better with 2 ______________diluted 
• texture and taste further improved by adding condensed and powdered milk instead of 3 ______________

Second:- producing 4 ______________ pieces of chocolate that can be eaten instead of the drinking chocolate

• increased 5 ____________ and convenient to carry

Third:- introduction of 6

• extended 7 ___________ leading to evaporation of volatiles and water
• more satisfying taste and mellowed texture

Check answer for this exercise-3 

Check more IELTS academic reading note completion practise questions

Answers for skill-building exercises 

• Answers for skill-building exercise 1

(Note: The text in italics is from the reading passage and shows the location from where the answer is taken or inferred. The text in the regular font explains the answer in detail.)

1. Unequal 

Explanation: Paragraph 1 - A new report from the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University shows that wealth creation is remarkable, one might say, criminally, unequal.

2. 85%

Explanation: Paragraph 1 - … and the richest 10 percent of adults accounted for 85% of the world total …

3. bottom half 

Explanation: Paragraph 2 - As to the world's lower class: the bottom half of the world adult population owned barely 1 percent of global wealth, …

4.  10 million

Explanation: Paragraph 2 - ... that's over 10 million children killed by poverty every year! 

5. Gini value

Explanation: Paragraph 4 - The statistical measure of inequality is the Gini value, which measures inequality on a scale from zero (total equality) to one (complete inequality).

6. economic apartheid/ wealth inequality

Explanation: Paragraph 4 - Two high wealth economies, Japan and the United States, show very different patterns of wealth inequality,...
Japan has little economic apartheid compared to the U.S., yet both countries have a huge number of wealthy people.

7. personal freedom 

Explanation: Paragraph 6 -U.S. economic apartheid shows that a self-proclaimed great democracy with considerable personal freedom can risk deep social instability …

• Answers for skill-building exercise 2 

(Note: The text in italics is from the reading passage and shows the location from where the answer is taken or inferred. The text in the regular font explains the answer in detail.)

1. anchored floats/ buoys 

Explanation: Paragraph 3 - Data from observations of atmospheric pressure, temperature, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, and precipitation are collected regularly through trained observers, automatic weather stations, or anchored floats or buoys.

2. Previous 

Explanation: Paragraph 3 - Before making a forecast, meteorologists ... This means that at the start of the shift, forecasters glance at the weather patterns of the previous day.

3. movements 

Explanation: Paragraph 4 - ... the weather forecasters begin with the larger movements in the atmosphere and then gradually move inwards to the smaller details.

4.  space map 

Explanation: Paragraph 4 - A surface map is a tool frequently used by meteorologists as it gives them an idea as to why a particular weather phenomenon is happening. 

5. location 

Explanation: Paragraph 4 - They can see the location of the key factors in the phenomenon such as cloud cover, precipitation, low pressure and high pressure as they study the map.

6. storm (system) 

Explanation: Paragraph 4 -  A storm system and its movement can be tracked by identifying the low-pressure areas, ...

7. computer models 

Explanation: Paragraph 5 - In the next step of weather investigation, observations gathered from surveillance are recorded into the computer models.

• Answers for skill-building exercise 3

(Note: The text in italics is from the reading passage and shows the location from where the answer is taken or inferred. The text in the regular font explains the answer in detail.)

1. milk 

Explanation: Paragraph 1 - One of the three biggest processes to change the way in which chocolate was made and consumed was the addition of milk, instead of water, to chocolate.

2. bitterness 

Explanation: Paragraph 1 - This idea, credited to Sir Hans Sloane, further reduced cacao bitterness and improved taste.

3. whole milk 

Explanation: Paragraph 1 - Condensed and powdered milk eventually replaced whole milk, allowing for a smoother and far sweeter product than before;...

4. semi-solid 

Explanation: Paragraph 2 - Another improvement in manufacturing came with the making of liquid chocolate into semi-solid edible bars,...

5. shelf-life

Explanation: Paragraph 2 - Another improvement in manufacturing came with the of liquid chocolate into semi-solid edible bars, allowing the item to become much more portable and not as perishable (solid chocolate has a shelf-life of about a year).

6. conching (method) 

Explanation: Paragraph 3 - A third, and major, improvement in chocolate manufacturing of the conching method...

7. mixing (period)

Explanation: Paragraph 3 - A third, and major, improvement in chocolate manufacturing came with the discovery of the conching method - the mixing of chocolate over a period of several days ...who found out that a batch of chocolate left mixing for several days became smoother in texture and taste than one allowed to solidify immediately.

Also, check the IELTS academic reading flow chart completion

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Conclusion 

The tips, strategies, and exercises explained in this post will help to develop your ability and confidence in answering the IELTS academic reading note completion question. Hope this post will be beneficial for you to reach your desired score in the IELTS academic reading task.