Reading skill

Reading for gist

Gist means the general meaning of a text. Reading for gist is reading quickly to get the main idea, without understanding every word.

Why it matters

In IELTS you do not have time to read every word. If you stop on each new word, you run out of time and you lose the meaning. Reading for gist trains you to move fast and still understand the main idea.

How to do it

  • Read the title and any subtitle first. Predict what the text is about.
  • Skim each paragraph quickly. Let your eyes find the keywords.
  • Do not stop on words you do not know. Keep going.
  • After one quick read, ask yourself: what was the main idea?

The 20 / 80 idea

You do not need 100 percent of the words. Often a small number of keywords carries most of the meaning. If you understand those keywords, you understand the gist, and that is usually enough to answer many questions.

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