• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

IELTS with Fiona

IELTS Made Easier

Members Academy
Log in

  • Home
  • Resources
  • Lessons
  • My courses
  • FAQs
  • About me
  • What’s New
You are here: Home / Gapped Summaries

Gapped Summaries

IELTS Reading What destroyed the civilisation of Easter Island

28-Day Planner: Day 8 [gapfill questions]

The reading is a good example of a theory-evidence structure (discursive): like most academic texts, it seeks to find an answer to a question.

Find the full text with Matching Headings questions here.

Listen to my podcast for full explanations.

Gapped summaries are often one of the ‘easier’ parts of the Reading. Why?

  • The summary usually focuses on just one or two paragraphs, so you don’t need to look through the whole text.
  • The summary usually has a HEADING – this helps you quickly find the paragraph(s) with the answers.
  • The gaps are words taken from the text – so even if you don’t know what all the words mean, you can find them!
  • The gaps are usually in the same order as they appear in the original text.
  • The sentences surrounding the gaps use SYNONYMS to summarise the paragraph, and these synonyms will lead you to the right answer.

8 tips for gapped summaries

1) Use the text TITLE to work out the structure of the whole Reading.

e.g. What destroyed the civilisation of Easter Island

This title of the text tells us to expect an answer.

In this text we have different theories from different specialists.

2) Use the SUMMARY HEADING to find the right paragraph

The heading of the Gapped Summary gives us ONE answer to the title’s question: it tells us Jared Diamond’s View.

Use CAPITAL LETTERS e.g. in this example, the name ‘Jared Diamond’ helps us quickly find the paragraph which has Diamond’s view.

3) Use synonyms

Look around the gap for synonyms to help you find the sentences which contain the answer.

4) Decide what type of word you need. Do you need a verb, noun, adjective or number?

5) Use your general knowledge to make quick ‘educated’ guesses.

6) Make sure you always keep the ‘s’ on plural forms.

7)  Copy the words exactly as they appear in the text.

8)  The words usually come in the same order as they appear in the text, so don’t waste time looking for answers in different places.

A practice Gapped Summary

Read the Gapped Text below and compare it with the original text beneath:

Gapped Text:

IELTS Reading Easter Island Gapped Summary

Original Text:

Easter Island Snipped

Here are the gapped sentences so you can see them more clearly.

21. Diamond believes that the Polynesian settlers on Rapa Nui destroyed its forests, cutting down its trees for fuel and clearing land for __________

The islanders cleared the forests for firewood and farming.

22. When the islanders were no longer able to build the ____________ they needed to go fishing…

As trees became scarce and they could no longer construct wooden canoes for fishing…

23.…they began using the island’s ____________ as a food source.

…they ate birds.

24.…the methods of transporting the statues needed not only a great number of people, but also a great deal of _____________.

…they laid the moai on wooden sledges, hauled over log rails, but that required both a lot of wood and a lot of people.

Answers
  • Gapped Text in black.
  • Original Text in blue.

21. Diamond believes that the Polynesian settlers on Rapa Nui destroyed its forests, cutting down its trees for fuel and clearing land for (FARMING).

The islanders cleared the forests for firewood and FARMING.

22. When the islanders were no longer able to build the (CANOES) they needed to go fishing…

…they could no longer construct wooden CANOES for fishing…

23.…they began using the island’s (BIRDS) as a food source.

…they ate birds.

24.…the methods of transporting the statues needed not only a great number of people, but also a great deal of (WOOD). 

…they laid the moai on wooden sledges, hauled over log rails, but that required both a lot of WOOD and a lot of people.

 

Useful synonyms

  • wrecked = destroyed
  • firewood = fuel
  • construct = build
  • ate = (used) as a food source
  • required = needed
  • a lot of = a great number of (countable), a great deal of (uncountable)

IELTS Key vocabulary

  • ancient civilisation
  • settlers
  • descendants
  • cutting down trees (=deforestation)
  • trees became scarce
  • pollen
  • fragile
  • remote
  • isolated
  • fertilised by volcanic ash
  • decreased crop yields
  • soil erosion
  • accelerate = speed up

Get the full Reading (Matching Headings) plus a list of essential vocabulary here.

This topic is part of the Ancient Civilisations topic in the Members Academy 28 Days of IELTS Vocabulary Course.

Get more Reading tips here.

How to manage your time in the IELTS Reading Test.

How to answer True/False/Not Given questions

How to match headings to paragraphs

How to match statements to people

How to do gapped summaries

How to use text structures – a ‘discursive’ structure

How to use text structures – a ‘chronological’ structure

How to manage your time better in the IELTS Reading Test

IELTS Made Easier

Primary Sidebar

Would you like to support my website?

In order to make sure you get a fantastic experience on my website I don’t use any advertising, and all the costs are paid for out of my own pocket.

If you’d like to help me keep these materials free for everyone, you are more than welcome to buy me a coffee! Many many thanks in advance.

Buy me a coffeeBuy me a coffee

RSS My latest podcasts

  • IELTS Reading/Writing: Driverless Cars 🚘 January 11, 2021
  • IELTS Reading: Motivational Factors and the hospitality industry 👩‍🍳🧑‍🍳 December 29, 2020
  • IELTS Writing: How to hedge in Task 2 🌳🌳 December 20, 2020

Categories

  • Academic Writing Task 1
  • Grammar
  • GT Writing Task 1
  • IELTS Advice
  • IELTS General Training
  • IELTS Listening
  • IELTS Reading
  • IELTS Speaking
  • IELTS Vocabulary
  • IELTS Writing Task 2

Tags

Academic Reading P1 Academic Reading P2 Academic Reading P3 Agriculture Animals Buildings choosing from list Civilisation Crime education Finance gap-fill listening gap fill reading Gap Fill with answers grammar GT letters GT Reading GT Task 1 Health History ielts tips informal writing Inventions labelling a diagram Matching Headings matching people Matching Statements multiple choice listening multiple choice reading Nature pronunciation Research Speaking Tables Technology TFNG The Arts The environment The Future Transport travel Water work writing task 2 YNNG

What my students are saying:

IELTS with Fiona reviews Charmian

Charmian

From 6.6 to 8!!! Can you believe it? Thanks for everything!

Members Academy student

IELTS with Fiona
5
2020-01-13T09:09:01+00:00

Members Academy student

IELTS with Fiona reviews Charmian
From 6.6 to 8!!! Can you believe it? Thanks for everything!
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/charmian/
IELTS with Fiona reviews Shreyas

Shreyas

I was overwhelmed to receive my IELTS results. I got overall of 7.5 in my IELTS exam. Thank you once...

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona
5
2020-01-13T09:06:30+00:00

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona reviews Shreyas
I was overwhelmed to receive my IELTS results. I got overall of 7.5 in my IELTS exam. Thank you once again for all resources.
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/shreyas/
IELTS with Fiona reviews Sancia

Sancia

I was stuck in writing with 6.5 and with just 2 weeks of preparation from your notes I scored 7.5....

General Training 28-Day Challenge student

IELTS with Fiona
5
2020-01-13T08:43:00+00:00

General Training 28-Day Challenge student

IELTS with Fiona reviews Sancia
I was stuck in writing with 6.5 and with just 2 weeks of preparation from your notes I scored 7.5. I don't have enough words to thank you.
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/sancia/

Ipek

I’ve got a very busy life and IELTS Academy was time-saving for me that it involves everything about IELTS in...

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona
5
2019-12-03T18:16:09+00:00

Academy Member

I’ve got a very busy life and IELTS Academy was time-saving for me that it involves everything about IELTS in one place. Fiona is an excellent teacher with passion and kindness to all of her students. She helped me a lot with IELTS and I improved my scores significantly in a very short time. Some days I had no spare time for studying and I listened her podcasts when I was driving to work and it also helped me a lot! I strongly recommend this course to all IELTS candidates.
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/ipek/
IELTS with Fiona reviews Ipek

Lily S

The Academy gave me clear guidelines, study materials and methods to lead me into a high IELTS performance. As I...

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona
5
2019-12-03T18:12:42+00:00

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona reviews Ipek
The Academy gave me clear guidelines, study materials and methods to lead me into a high IELTS performance. As I have a super busy career and family life, my study time is very limited. When I first decided to take an IELTS test, I even didn't know where to start. After studying with Fiona for a while, in the first IELTS test, I got Band 8! Thank you so much for your hard work and your professionalism, Fiona!!!
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/lily-s/
5
IELTS with Fiona

Work out your current score

IELTS Band Score Calculator

Popular Posts

  • How to use formal language in IELTS Task 2
  • How long will it take to increase my IELTS score?
  • How to show concession in IELTS Writing Task 2
  • How to use conditionals in IELTS Writing
  • Grammar for IELTS: How to write complex sentences

Recent posts

  • How to write an email to someone you don’t know
  • How to use ‘rise’ and ‘raise’
  • How to use have/get something done
  • What is ‘hedging’ in academic writing?
  • Words ending in -able or -ible

Come and see what’s going on

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Products

  • IELTS Speaking Mock Test Speaking Mock Test $45.00
  • IELTS Writing Feedback IELTS Writing and Speaking Assessment $99.00
  • Get 8 IELTS Writing Feedback Videos $200.00
  • IELTS Speaking Course syllabus Speaking Course and Mock Test $99.00
  • IELTS WRITING FEEDBACK IELTS Writing Assessment and Feedback Task 1 and Task 2 $50.00

Looking for something specific?

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube
  • About me
  • Contact me
  • IELTS Band Score Calculator
  • IELTS Test 28-Day planner
  • Resources
  • My IELTS 10-minute lessons

Copyright © 2021 — IELTS Exam Training Courses • Privacy Policy • Disclaimer • All rights reserved

This site uses cookies: Find out more.