Homework · Day 4

Academic Vocabulary · Mock Test Prep

Estimated time: 30 minutes Due: Before Day 5 (mock test) Submit by: Email (button at bottom)

What you'll do tonight

  1. Write a 150-word paragraph using 10 IELTS academic words.
  2. Self-test on the 10 most common paraphrase pairs from this week.
  3. Run through the mock-test prep checklist.
  4. Submit by email.

Exercise 1 — Academic paragraph (10 words)

Pick any topic you're interested in (a hobby, your country's history, an environmental issue, anything). Write a 150-word paragraph that uses at least 10 of the academic words below. Tick each one as you use it.

Academic word bank (tick as used)
  • ☐ contrast
  • ☐ increase
  • ☐ theory
  • ☐ process
  • ☐ factor
  • ☐ evidence
  • ☐ significant
  • ☐ demonstrate
  • ☐ consequence
  • ☐ primarily
  • ☐ establish
  • ☐ assume
  • ☐ promote
  • ☐ reduce
  • ☐ obtain
  • ☐ involve

Topic:

Your paragraph (aim for ~150 words):

Which 10 words did you use?

Exercise 2 — Paraphrase self-test

Quick fire — write any synonym/paraphrase that comes to mind. No looking up.

  1. important →
  2. often →
  3. old (e.g. old building) →
  4. get bigger →
  5. get smaller →
  6. cause (verb) →
  7. show (verb) →
  8. think (academic) →
  9. begin →
  10. main →

Any reasonable answer scores. Sample: important → significant, vital, crucial · often → frequently, commonly · old → ancient, long-standing · get bigger → increase, expand, rise · get smaller → decrease, decline, drop · cause → lead to, trigger, bring about · show → demonstrate, indicate, reveal · think → believe, argue, claim · begin → commence, initiate · main → primary, key, principal

Exercise 3 — Mock test prep

Before tomorrow
  • Sleep. 7–8 hours minimum. Reading stamina collapses fast when tired.
  • Eat. Real food, not just coffee. 60 minutes of concentrated reading burns through you.
  • Bring: two pens, a pencil, water, paper for rough notes if needed.
  • Print the passages if you can — annotating on paper is faster than digital for most people.

Tick which strategies you'll actually use tomorrow.

  1. I'll spend the first 1–2 minutes skimming each passage.
  2. I'll allocate 20 minutes per passage and watch the clock.
  3. If I get stuck on a question for >90 seconds, I'll move on.
  4. For TFNG, I'll choose Not Given when no info is in the passage — not just when I'm unsure.
  5. For MCQ, I'll eliminate two wrong options before picking.
  6. For sentence completion, I'll respect the word count and copy words exactly.
  7. For matching headings, I'll cross out used headings.
  8. I'll transfer answers as I go — not at the end (Reading has no extra transfer time, unlike Listening).

Free practice resources

Extra free practice for tonight — each link opens in a new tab. These are free online resources (no purchase needed); a few may ask you to create a free account.

Ready to submit?

Send your paragraph and checklist responses by email. See you tomorrow for the mock!