I came across this rule back in 2008, while reading 101 Helpful Hints for IELTS Academic Module written by Garry Adams and Terry Peck. This book is highly recommended if you are looking for IELTS resource, it has dozens of pages containing hints, tips and Practice test and games for all sub-tests. I will post a link to Amazon for this book at the end of the entry.
The rule is “Always give the monkey exactly what he wants”. If the monkey asks for a banana, you must give him a banana and not an apple. This is a great rule to follow, it’s simple and direct. Yet failure to follow this rule is one of the main reasons why candidates do not score as well as they thought they should.
The book even gives advice on how to know the type of information the test is asking you to give. Knowing this will give you a better chance of giving the correct answer.
You must also know what you have to do with the answer. If you need to complete a sentence, make sure to take grammar into consideration. If there is a limit to the number of words you may use, your answer must not contain more than that maximum number of words and grammar should again be considered. If you are to name two items that you must hear on the tape or find in the reading passage, answer with only two items even if the there are more than 2 possible answers.
Follow the golden rule and improve your scores.
For other tips visit the other categories: Basic Tips, Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.
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