Sentence completion type in IELTS academic reading may ask for NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER or sometimes A WORD only or NOT MORE THAN TWO WORDS. In some cases, candidate may be asked to complete an incomplete statement.

So how do you solve these problems?

To answer a question that asks for NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS, it is best to identify the KEYWORD in the question. This keyword will be used to find the section or area in the passage where your can find the answer. If you are asked to write the word/s taken from the passage, don't forget to spell the word/s correctly.

If you are asked to complete a statement, it would help if key ideas from that incomplete statement are identified. Then, scan the passage to find for similar ideas, and choose the best one from the given possible answers. You need to be careful though because the number of choices here are more than the number of questions.

For you to save time, it is not necessary for you to go back at the beginning because the information occurs in text order.

Remember that you only have 60 minutes to answer 40 questions from 3 different passages, so you need to utilize certain strategies like this.