Duration: 90 minutesModule: General Training ReadingFocus: How the GT paper is built · the 15/20/25 budget · the GT band table · matching information · TFNG
Objectives
Describe the shape of the General Training Reading paper: three sections, 40 questions, 60 minutes.
State the GT time budget — 15 / 20 / 25 minutes — and explain why it is not an even split.
Read the GT band table and explain why 30 out of 40 is not a band 7 on this paper.
Recognise the text types used in Section 1 and the questions built from them.
Answer matching-information questions by predicting the paraphrase rather than matching words.
Apply the TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN decision rules to short everyday texts.
0:00 – 0:10
Warm-Up: The 90-Second Noticeboard
Ninety seconds. Five facts. Do not read the noticeboard — hunt it. Your eyes are looking for numbers, capital letters and times, and nothing else.
01:00
Scan timer — plus 30 seconds if you need it
Community Noticeboard — Ward 11
WATER SUPPLY. The mains supply to Blocks C and D will be shut off on Thursday 12 March between 09:00 and 16:00 while the pump is replaced. Blocks A and B are not affected. Tankers will be stationed at the car park entrance from 10:00.
REFUSE COLLECTION. Collection days change from 1 April. Household waste will be collected on Tuesdays and Fridays; recycling on Saturdays only. Bins left out on the wrong day will not be emptied.
LOST. Grey cat, white front paws, answers to Bagh. Missing since 28 February. Contact flat 7C or ring 9841-227-503. Small reward offered.
HALL BOOKINGS. The community hall may be booked for private functions at Rs 2,500 per half-day. Bookings must be made at least 14 days in advance through the caretaker, who is in the office on Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00–13:00.
Find these five facts
Which two blocks lose their water supply?
On which day is recycling collected?
What is the cat's name?
How much does a half-day hall booking cost?
How many days in advance must a booking be made?
C and D
Saturdays (recycling only)
Bagh
Rs 2,500
14
If you finished inside 90 seconds you are already scanning. If you went over, ask yourself honestly: were you reading whole sentences? That is the habit to break today, and it is worth about five marks a paper.
0:10 – 0:25
How the General Training Reading Test Is Built
You cannot budget your time if you do not know the shape of the paper. Memorise this table — it decides your whole strategy, and it is different from what the Academic students in the next room are learning.
Feature
The fact
What it means for you
Structure
Three sections, not three passages
The sections get harder as you go. Section 3 is a different animal from Section 1.
Section 1
Two or three short texts — notices, adverts, timetables, listings. "Social survival."
Roughly 14 questions. Should take you 15 minutes, no more.
Section 2
Two texts about work — job adverts, contracts, staff handbooks, training material. "Workplace survival."
Roughly 13 questions. About 20 minutes.
Section 3
One long general-interest article, close to Academic difficulty.
Roughly 13 questions. Give it the remaining 25 minutes.
Questions
40 questions, 1 mark each. No negative marking.
A Section 1 question is worth exactly as much as a Section 3 question — and takes a third of the time.
Time
60 minutes total. On paper there is no extra transfer time.
If you are on paper, write answers straight onto the answer sheet.
Question types
The same 14 types as Academic.
Every question-type technique transfers. It is the texts and the marking that change.
The number that changes everything
General Training Reading is marked on a stricter scale than Academic, because the texts are easier. Thirty correct answers out of 40 is a band 7 on Academic — and a band 6 on General Training. You need 34 for a 7.
Read that again. Ten wrong answers is a band 6. This is why "GT is the easy one" is a dangerous thing to believe, and why every practice test you mark with an Academic table is lying to you.
Correct / 40
40
39
37–38
36
34–35
32–33
30–31
27–29
23–26
GT band
9
8.5
8
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
Academic band
9
8.5
8
8
7.5
7
7
6.5
6
Your time budget: 15 / 20 / 25
Fifteen minutes on Section 1, twenty on Section 2, twenty-five on Section 3. Write those three numbers at the top of your question paper on test day. The single most common way GT candidates lose marks is spending twenty-five careful minutes on the easy notices and then rushing the long article where the hard marks live.
0:25 – 0:50
Section 1: What "Social Survival" Actually Means
Section 1 is built from the English you would meet in a week of ordinary life in an English-speaking country. Not textbooks — the small print of daily life.
You are given several short texts labelled A–E and a list of statements. For each statement you write the letter of the text it belongs to. This is the most common Section 1 question type and it is pure scanning.
The method — four steps
Read the statements first, not the texts. Underline the one idea in each statement that will be findable.
Predict the paraphrase. If the statement says "at no cost", the text will say free, no charge, or funded by. It will almost never say "at no cost".
Scan all texts for that idea, one statement at a time. Do not read text A in full and then look for statements about it — that is the slow way round.
Do the easy ones first. Statements with a number, a name or a day in them are findable in seconds. Leave the abstract ones until the field has narrowed.
Predict the paraphrase
For each statement, write the words you expect to actually see in the text. Then reveal.
"…is suitable for people with no previous experience."
"…requires payment before the start date."
"…cannot be cancelled once booked."
"…provides equipment for participants."
beginners welcome · no prior knowledge needed · open to all levels · suitable for absolute beginners
fees payable in advance · must be paid on booking · deposit required · payment due at registration
non-refundable · no refunds · bookings are final
all materials supplied · laptops provided · equipment available on site · tools included
Notice how far the real wording sits from the question wording. Paraphrase recognition is reading comprehension in IELTS — everything else is a technique for finding the place to apply it.
0:50 – 1:10
True / False / Not Given in Short Texts
The same three-way decision you would meet on the Academic paper, but on much smaller texts — which makes NOT GIVEN both easier to spot and easier to talk yourself out of.
Answer
When to write it
The test
TRUE
The text says the same thing, in different words.
Can you point at the sentence that proves it?
FALSE
The text says the opposite, or something that cannot both be true.
Can you point at the sentence that contradicts it?
NOT GIVEN
The text simply does not say. It may be obviously true in real life — irrelevant.
You have searched and there is no sentence either way.
The trap that costs the most marks
NOT GIVEN is not the same as "I did not find it". Before you write NOT GIVEN, you must have looked in the right place. The commonest error is a candidate who cannot find the information because they were scanning for the wrong word, and writes NOT GIVEN out of tiredness rather than judgement.
The second commonest: writing FALSE for something the text merely doesn't mention. FALSE requires a contradiction that you can put your finger on.
Quick decisions
Text: "The gym is open to members from 06:00 to 22:00 on weekdays. Non-members may use the pool only, and must pay a Rs 400 day fee. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult at all times."
The gym closes at 22:00 on Saturdays.
Non-members cannot use the weights room.
The day fee for non-members is Rs 400.
Children under 16 are not allowed in the pool.
Members must show a card at reception.
NOT GIVEN — the text gives weekday hours only. It says nothing about Saturday. Tempting to say TRUE by assumption; resist it.
TRUE — "may use the pool only" excludes everything else, including the weights room. This is a contradiction by implication, which still counts.
TRUE — stated directly.
FALSE — the text says they must be accompanied, which means they are allowed. The statement contradicts it.
NOT GIVEN — plausible in real life, absent from the text.
1:10 – 1:30
End-of-Class Drill — Section 1 Practice
A full Section 1-style set: five short course listings, twelve questions, fifteen minutes. That is the pace you need. The drill is below — start the timer, work through it, then reveal.
Before you start
Read the questions first. Underline the findable idea in each. Then hunt. Do not read the five listings through from top to bottom before looking at a single question — that is fifteen minutes gone before you have earned a mark.
Vocabulary from today
Tap a word to reveal its meaning. These are the terms General Training texts use again and again.
before the time when something happens. Bookings must be made 14 days in advance.
knowledge you already have before starting. No prior knowledge is assumed.
you cannot get your money back.
part of the price paid early to hold a booking.
depending on / limited by. Places are subject to availability.
a document showing who you are, such as a passport or citizenship card.
given to you, usually at no extra cost.
the act of being present. A certificate is issued on completion, subject to attendance.
Wrap-up
Wrap-Up & Homework
Three things to take away. First, the shape: 3 sections, 40 questions, 60 minutes, and a time budget of 15 / 20 / 25. Second, the number: 34 out of 40 for a band 7 — not 30. Third, the habit: read the questions before the text, predict the paraphrase, and hunt.
Tonight's homework is a second Section 1 set, timed. Aim to finish inside fifteen minutes even if it costs you a mark or two — pace is the skill we are building this week.