# IELTS Reading Multiple Choice: Strategy and Example | topin IELTS guidesReading multiple choice Where IELTS Academic Reading Formats Choose one letter from A to D, or choose two or three letters from a longer list Order Questions follow the order of the passage Marks One mark per question; in multiple-answer sets each correct letter scores one mark Tests Detail, main ideas and sometimes the writer's purpose ## How it works Each question is either a direct question or a sentence to complete, followed by the options. You find the relevant part of the passage and choose the option that matches its meaning. In 'Choose TWO letters' sets, the letters can be written in either order. ## Worked example Passage: When a museum removed the labels from half of its paintings for a month, visitors spent longer in front of the unlabelled works. The curators had expected the opposite, assuming that people would lose interest with nothing to read. Interviews suggested that, without a label to tell them what they were seeing, visitors looked more closely to decide for themselves. The museum has not yet decided whether to make the change permanent. What did the curators expect before the experiment? 1. AA Visitors would look more closely at the unlabelled paintings. 2. BB Visitors would spend less time at the unlabelled paintings. 3. CC Visitors would complain about the missing labels. 4. DD Visitors would read the remaining labels more carefully. Show the answer B The curators 'expected the opposite' of visitors spending longer, and assumed people 'would lose interest', which means spending less time. A describes what actually happened, not what was expected. C and D are never mentioned. ## A method for Reading multiple choice 1. 1 ### Read the stem, not the options Read the question stem first and underline what it asks: an expectation, a result, a reason, the writer's purpose. Then find the part of the passage it refers to. 2. 2 ### Answer in your own words Read the relevant lines and form your own answer before looking at the options. This protects you from options that are designed to sound plausible. 3. 3 ### Test each option against the text For every option, find the exact words in the passage that support or rule it out. An option is correct only if the passage supports all of it. 4. 4 ### Watch for true but irrelevant options Some options state something the passage does say, but they do not answer the question asked. Check that your choice answers the stem, not just that it is true. ## Traps to avoid * Choosing an option that is true in the passage but answers a different question, like option A in the example. * Picking the option that repeats the most words from the passage, which is often a distractor. * Options with extreme words such as always, never or only when the passage is more cautious. * Choosing an option that is half right, where one detail is changed or added. ## Reading multiple choice FAQs How many options are there in IELTS Reading multiple choice? Single-answer questions usually have four options, A to D. Multiple-answer questions give a longer list and ask you to choose two or three letters. Does the order matter when I choose two letters? No. In a 'Choose TWO letters' set you can write the two correct letters in either order. Do Reading multiple choice questions follow the passage order? Yes. The questions come in the same order as the information in the passage. ## Try Reading multiple choice under real timing Your first full-length IELTS mock is free, with every section included. [Take the free mock ](/ielts/login)