Reading for meaning

As you’ve probably experienced, it can sometimes be difficult to understand meaning in IELTS reading, and this can sometimes be caused by indirect sentences, where the meaning is (intentionally) not immediately clear.

“Public healthcare, on the other hand, has nothing like the resources available to those with private healthcare.”

Public healthcare has



a) more resources than private healthcare

b) very different resources to private healthcare

c) fewer resources than private healthcare

The correct answer is C. Hopefully the context helped you find the answer, but this is not always the case in the IELTS test, so test your skills!

Ways to prepare

Prefixes/Suffixes

Untitled Slide

• Miscommunication, even among speakers of the same language, can often lead to arguments.
• Before going to war, governments should carefully consider the possible impact of anti-war protesters.
• The Olympic Games first began in pre-Christian times, nearly 3000 years ago.
• After completing university courses, some postgraduates find themselves unable to get a good job.
• Very few people can maintain a good relationship with their ex-husband or ex-wife

Guessing meaning from context

It had been raining hard through the night so the ground was saturated.