Ielts part 3 Reading test continued … Filling in the answer sheet

Look at the linking word so, which has been highlighted in the text. Think about what it means in the text.
Choose the correct answer.
Horses are built for power. Their muscular bodies are heavier in the front than in the back, making them well balanced to pull heavy loads. Yet they can also be agile and quick – fit to carry out difficult tasks at top speed. So for more than a thousand years, we have called on the power of horses to cultivate the land and manage livestock.
The linking word so is used to:

• 
  give an example of something.
  
• 
  make a contrast with something.
  
• 
  explain the reason or consequence for something
  

Identifying writers’ opinions

An understanding of the purpose of linking words will also help you to answer questions in the Reading test. In the Academic Reading test, candidates might also be asked to identify a writer’s opinion (in Yes / No / Not given questions).

Look at this example question.
Horses are built for power. Their muscular bodies are heavier in the front than in the back, making them well balanced to pull heavy loads. Yet they can also be agile and quick – fit to carry out difficult tasks at top speed. So for more than a thousand years, we have called on the power of horses to cultivate the land and manage livestock.
... write:
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
27 The writer believes that horses are useful because of their physical characteristics.
The answer is YES. The use of the word so indicates that the statement is giving the consequence of horses’ physical abilities





See the group headings matched to the correct parts of the table.

giving reasons because as since	making a contrast on the other hand however but and yet	adding information moreover as well as this in addition furthermore	indicating time since that time previously a year later
giving an example for example such as like	listing opinions and arguments firstly finally in the first place	describing a result that's why therefore so	introducing paraphrasing in other words