Step 1 · Question
Choose the best heading: (i) The rapid growth of scooter sharing (ii) Doubts about a green reputation (iii) Scooters as a replacement for cars
Step 2 · Answer
ii. Doubts about a green reputationStep 3 · Where the main idea is
"their environmental record is mixed" in the first sentence, supported by the two reasons that follow.
Step 4 · Why the tempting answer is wrong
Heading iii uses "replacement" and "cars", words that appear in the paragraph. But the paragraph says scooters mostly did not replace cars. It is a detail used against the claim, not the main idea.
1Why keyword matching fails
Test writers know students scan for repeated words, so a wrong heading often shares a word with the paragraph while the right heading uses different words entirely. If a heading only matches one detail, it is probably a trap.
Ask: if this paragraph had a title, what would it be? Then find the heading closest in meaning to your title.
2A method that works under time pressure
- Do Matching Headings before the other questions on that passage. Reading for main ideas helps you with everything else.
- Read the first two sentences and the last sentence of each paragraph. The main idea is usually there.
- Cross out the example heading if one is given. It will not be used again.
- Start with the paragraphs you are sure about and leave the hard ones until the list is shorter.
Practice questions
Choose the best heading for each paragraph from the list: (i) A problem with early designs (ii) How the idea spread abroad (iii) An unexpected benefit for users (iv) The origins of an invention (v) Concerns about cost (vi) Plans for the next decade. One heading is not used.
- 1
Paragraph A: The first folding bicycle was patented in the 1890s for soldiers who needed to carry bikes across rough ground. Its inventor had served in the army and saw how much time was lost moving equipment on foot.
Answer: iv. The origins of an invention
The paragraph explains where the idea came from and why it was created.
- 2
Paragraph B: Those early models were heavy and the hinge often failed under load. Riders complained that the frame wobbled at speed, and many were sent back to the factory within weeks.
Answer: i. A problem with early designs
Every sentence describes a fault in the first models.
- 3
Paragraph C: By the 1970s, folding bikes were being made in Britain, Japan and Taiwan, and commuters in crowded cities began taking them onto trains.
Answer: ii. How the idea spread abroad
The focus is on the bikes being produced and used in several countries.
- 4
Paragraph D: Surveys of regular users found something designers had not intended. Many said that cycling part of the way to work improved their mood for the rest of the day.
Answer: iii. An unexpected benefit for users
"Something designers had not intended" signals an unplanned advantage.
- 5
Paragraph E: Manufacturers now aim to cut the weight of a standard model by a third before 2035, using new materials that are still being tested.
Answer: vi. Plans for the next decade
The paragraph is about future goals. Heading v, about cost, is the one not used.
Up next
Reading question types
All 11 types and how to approach each
Written by the AdmitVerse team. Last reviewed on . AdmitVerse is not affiliated with IELTS, the British Council or IDP. For official rules and test dates, see ielts.org.