IELTS Summary Completion Practice
IELTS Academic · Academic Reading · 40 free exercises
You fill gaps in a summary of part of the passage, either with words taken from the text or from a supplied list. The word limit is strict and the grammar of the sentence tells you a great deal about the answer before you find it.
How to approach it
- Obey the word limit exactly. "NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS" means three words is wrong even if the meaning is right.
- Predict the part of speech from the gap — noun, verb, adjective — before you go hunting.
- Copy the word exactly as it appears in the passage. Changing its form usually makes it wrong.
- The summary paraphrases the passage, so match meaning rather than searching for identical words.
All Summary Completion exercises
Cambridge IELTS 11 Academic, Cambridge University Press
- 'This Marvellous Invention' — Test 4, Passage 3
- Crop-growing skyscrapers — Test 1, Passage 1
- Great Migrations — Test 3, Passage 2
- Neuroaesthetics — Test 2, Passage 3
- Preface to 'How the Other Half Thinks' — Test 3, Passage 3
- Reducing the Effects of Climate Change — Test 1, Passage 3
- Research using twins — Test 4, Passage 1
- The Story of Silk — Test 3, Passage 1
- What destroyed the civilisation of Easter Island? — Test 2, Passage 2
Cambridge IELTS 12 Academic, Cambridge University Press
- Bring Back the Big Cats — Test 8, Passage 2
- Collecting as a Hobby — Test 5, Passage 2
- Cork — Test 5, Passage 1
- Flying Tortoises — Test 7, Passage 1
- Music and the Emotions — Test 7, Passage 3
- The Benefits of Being Bilingual — Test 6, Passage 3
- The History of Glass — Test 8, Passage 1
- The Intersection of Health Sciences and Geography — Test 7, Passage 2
- The Lost City of the Incas — Test 6, Passage 2
- UK Companies Need More Effective Boards of Directors — Test 8, Passage 3
- What's the Purpose of Gaining Knowledge? — Test 5, Passage 3
Cambridge IELTS 13 Academic, Cambridge University Press
- Book Review: The Happiness Industry — Test 4, Passage 3
- Bringing Cinnamon to Europe — Test 2, Passage 1
- Case Study: Tourism New Zealand Website — Test 1, Passage 1
- Cutty Sark: The Fastest Sailing Ship of All Time — Test 4, Passage 1
- How Baby Talk Gives Infant Brains a Boost — Test 3, Passage 2
- Oxytocin — Test 2, Passage 2
- Saving the Soil — Test 4, Passage 2
- The Coconut Palm — Test 3, Passage 1
- Whatever Happened to the Harappan Civilisation? — Test 3, Passage 3
- Why Being Bored Is Stimulating — Test 1, Passage 2
Cambridge IELTS 14 Academic, Cambridge University Press
- Alexander Henderson (1831–1913) — Test 2, Passage 1
- Assessing the Threat of Marine Debris — Test 4, Passage 3
- Back to the Future of Skyscraper Design — Test 2, Passage 2
- Motivational Factors and the Hospitality Industry — Test 1, Passage 3
- Saving Bugs to Find New Drugs — Test 3, Passage 2
- The Growth of Bike-Sharing Schemes Around the World — Test 1, Passage 2
- The Importance of Children's Play — Test 1, Passage 1
- The Power of Play — Test 3, Passage 3
- The Secret of Staying Young — Test 4, Passage 1
- Why Companies Should Welcome Disorder — Test 2, Passage 3