Conquer IELTS Reading in 80 Days

Author: Jiang Tao, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Many people ask me where the secret of my reading skills lies, and countless letters inquire about the passing techniques for IELTS reading. My usual response to these questions has been to evade them. As a result, some have questioned my abilities, while others, after several failed attempts to seek guidance, have written to gently ask if I am just famous for nothing. I replied, saying yes. Because I truly don’t know how to make these high school-level students suddenly realize and achieve IELTS Band 7 after listening to my advice.
Do IELTS reading have reading techniques? The answer is yes, but the key lies in the fact that for any English exam, your true level of proficiency is always the most important. So-called techniques and problem-solving approaches are merely weapons. If your innate abilities are strong and well-developed, you can wield these weapons with great skill. But if your abilities are weak and frail, even the most legendary ancient weapons like the Dragon-Slaying Sword would be reduced to a pile of rusty scrap.
Who doesn’t remember studying Chinese and finding the main idea of paragraphs in high school? Yet everyone dreams of achieving the ability to read at the speed of "striking the enemy’s head from a thousand miles away" overnight. It’s laughable, pitiful, but true. The guiding philosophy of this reading workbook is to first build strength and then discuss techniques. Otherwise, it’s just empty talk!
As for the authority of the reading materials, you can rest assured—they are mostly sourced from major mainstream media in the U.S. and the U.K. The questions are carefully selected and refined based on past IELTS exam topics. I don’t advocate blindly memorizing the "secret tips" () popular online. For reading, without the original text as a reference, these tips are useless. Knowing the background and questions but being unable to understand the original text means you still don’t get it.
Regarding the skill training in the next 60 days, it is entirely built upon the solid foundation laid in the first 60 days. For the summary of techniques, we dare to say it is currently the most comprehensive and persuasive. When arranging the questions, we fully considered the learners’ ability to absorb, adopting a step-by-step, theory-practice integrated approach to facilitate better understanding and retention.
The process of writing this book was a happy one. During its creation, I constantly relished the joy of creation. However, this sense of achievement came at the cost of destroying my biological clock and body. My father, who would wake up early to fry eggs for me, and my mother, who lived far away yet occasionally sent me vitamins, if heaven were to give me another chance to start over, I would still desperately hope to be their child, saying four words: "I love you," and adding a time limit—forever!
One day, when I become famous, don’t be surprised. The reason is simple: I am just a little more honest, a little more diligent, and a little more caring than most people.