Paragraph Structure

Before we look at the reading techniques, it is important to understand the basic structure of a paragraph as this will give you a better idea of how to locate the main idea and supporting details. The passages in the IELTS reading test (particularly in Part 3) will consist of a number of paragraphs or sections, and most of them will follow a similar structure.

Topic sentence: the first sentence, which usually contains the main idea of the paragraph.
Supporting sentences: these are sentences that include explanations, evidence, examples of the main idea.

Each paragraph contains one main idea related to the topic of the passage. This main idea is introduced in the topic sentence, which is usually, but not always, the first sentence of the paragraph. The information in the topic sentence helps you form your idea of what the paragraph is about; that is, the main idea. The other sentences in the paragraph are called supporting sentences because they support the main idea by explaining information or by giving evidence or examples.

Look at the following example paragraph and identify its main idea.

Culture and Learning Every culture has its own distinctive conventions regarding what should be learned and how learning should take place. These conventions form a largely unquestioned base to the culture’s systems of primary, secondary and tertiary education. In one culture, students may be encouraged to collaborate with their fellow students, while in another culture this activity may be prohibited. In some societies, students are discouraged from asking questions, while in others they may be required to do so as part of their formal assessment. In some countries, a university lecturer provides students with all the information that they are required to learn; in others, students are required to collect data independently.