✅ IELTS Reading: Matching Information — 100% Working Formula
🔹 Name of the method:
SCAN → MAP → MATCH (SMM Method)
This works for Match Information / Which paragraph contains the following information.
---
✅ STEP 1: SCAN (Not read!)
👉 Do NOT read the whole passage first.
That’s where students waste time and panic.
What to scan:
Read only the questions first, not the passage.
Underline or mentally mark:
Key nouns
Actions
Results / consequences
Unique ideas
❌ Ignore grammar words
✅ Focus on meaning words
---
Example Question:
> Concerns about long-term environmental damage that may not be reversible.
🔍 Keywords:
long-term
environmental damage
not reversible
---
✅ STEP 2: MAP (Paragraph scanning)
Now scan the paragraphs one by one, NOT line by line.
You are looking for:
synonyms
paraphrases
cause–effect ideas
📌 Example mapping:
Question idea Possible paragraph clue
long-term damage “irreversible”, “permanent”, “cannot be restored”
environment “ecosystem”, “marine life”, “habitat”
👉 You are NOT matching words
👉 You are matching ideas
---
✅ STEP 3: MATCH (Confirm & Move On)
Once you find a paragraph that:
clearly discusses the same idea
NOT just a similar word
✔️ Match it
🚫 Do NOT recheck unless unsure
Move forward — never reread everything.
---
⚠️ COMMON TRAPS (VERY IMPORTANT)
❌ Trap 1: Same word ≠ same meaning
Example:
Question: environmental damage
Text: economic damage
→ ❌ WRONG match
---
❌ Trap 2: One paragraph ≠ one question
One paragraph can match multiple questions.
---
❌ Trap 3: Order trap
Questions do NOT follow paragraph order.
---
✅ GOLDEN RULE (EXAM HACK)
👉 If you can replace the question with the sentence from the paragraph and it still makes sense — that’s your answer.
---
📌 MINI EXAMPLE (Real Style)
Question:
> 2. Concerns about long-term environmental damage.
Paragraph:
> “Once disturbed, deep-sea ecosystems may take centuries to recover, and in some cases, recovery may never occur.”
✔ Match = YES
✔ Answer = that paragraph
---
🧠 QUICK MEMORY TRICK (3C METHOD)
C – Catch keywords
C – Compare meaning (not words)
C – Confirm once, move on
---
🚦 DOs & DON’Ts
✅ DO:
Read questions first
Use elimination
Trust paraphrasing
❌ DON’T:
Translate in your head
Read full passage line by line
Panic if you don’t understand 1 sentence
