Academic/General Training Module by Adam Smith First Published in 2015

 
 

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 IELTS
 JOURNAL 
 
76 
9. Summary, note, table, flow-chart completion 
 
Task Type & Format 
With this task type, candidates are given some type of summary of a section of 
the text, and are required to complete it with information drawn from the text. 
Note that the summary will usually be of only one part of the passage rather 
than the whole. The given information may be in the form of; several connected 
sentences of text (referred to as a summary), several notes (referred to as 
notes), a table with some of its cells empty or partially empty (referred to as a 
table), a series of boxes or steps linked by arrows to show a sequence of events, 
with some of the boxes or steps empty or partially empty (referred to as a flow-
chart). 
The answers will not necessarily occur in the same order as in the text. However, 
they will usually come from one section rather than the entire text. 
There are two variations of this task type. Candidates may be asked either to 
select words from the text or to select from a list of answers. 
Where words have to be selected from the passage, the instructions will make it 
clear how many words/numbers candidates should use in their answers, e.g. ‘NO 
MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage’, ‘ONE WORD 
ONLY’ or ‘NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS’. If candidates write more than the 
number of words asked for, they will lose the mark.
Numbers can be written using figures or words. Contracted words are not 
tested. Hyphenated words count as single words. 
Where a list of answers is provided, they most frequently consist of a single 
word. 
Because this task type often relates to precise factual information, it is often 
used with descriptive texts. 
Task Focus 
This task type assesses the candidate’s ability to understand details and/or the 
main ideas of a section of the text. In the variations involving a summary or 
notes, candidates need to be aware of the type of word(s) that will fit into a 
given gap (for example, whether a noun is needed, or a verb etc.).