True False Not given
Perhaps the question type that gives most pain to most IELTS candidates is the True/False/Not given question type. Here are some pointers to help you improve your IELTS band score with a link to some specific practice on this type of question.
The question types
In fact there are two question types here:
True/False/Not given: fact based
Yes/No/Not given: opinion based
In each case you need to decide if the information in the text agrees with the information in the question. You should note that in the “Yes/No/Not given” questions, you are normally asked to look for the writer’s opinions rather than facts.
Note the key skill
The key skill here is to understand that you are interpreting the text and the question. This means that you need to read very closely and pay attention to what the writer means. Don’t think of it as a skimming question, rather a question where you need to read the text and the question closely and decide what the writer means.
How to get the answers right
True/Yes
There is information in the text that agrees exactly with the statement in the question. Note that you will almost certainly need to look for synonyms here and match meaning and not words.
False/No
There is information in the text that is directly opposite to or contradicts the statement in the question. Again note that you will also need to think about meaning here. You should pay careful attention to “little” words that qualify or change meaning such as: some , all, often, occasionally
Not Given
This is the one that normally causes the most problems. Something is not given if there is no information about it in the text. Do not spend ages looking for Not Given answers because you will waste time.
Guessing intelligently
This is probably the hardest question type. Don’t despair though you have a good chance of guessing correctly. In fact the questions are hard because you have a one in three chance of guessing! Here is my suggestion
if you find information in the text about the statement in the question: guess True or False but remember to read the whole question and not just match words in it
if you find no information in the text about the statement guess Not Given - don’t waste time. Typically, answer are Not Given when they match just one or two words in the question
if you have no idea, then guess Not Given. You have a one in three chance of being right and you may have no idea because it isn’t there!
Perhaps the question type that gives most pain to most IELTS candidates is the True/False/Not given question type. Here are some pointers to help you improve your IELTS band score with a link to some specific practice on this type of question.
The question types
In fact there are two question types here:
True/False/Not given: fact based
Yes/No/Not given: opinion based
In each case you need to decide if the information in the text agrees with the information in the question. You should note that in the “Yes/No/Not given” questions, you are normally asked to look for the writer’s opinions rather than facts.
Note the key skill
The key skill here is to understand that you are interpreting the text and the question. This means that you need to read very closely and pay attention to what the writer means. Don’t think of it as a skimming question, rather a question where you need to read the text and the question closely and decide what the writer means.
How to get the answers right
True/Yes
There is information in the text that agrees exactly with the statement in the question. Note that you will almost certainly need to look for synonyms here and match meaning and not words.
False/No
There is information in the text that is directly opposite to or contradicts the statement in the question. Again note that you will also need to think about meaning here. You should pay careful attention to “little” words that qualify or change meaning such as: some , all, often, occasionally
Not Given
This is the one that normally causes the most problems. Something is not given if there is no information about it in the text. Do not spend ages looking for Not Given answers because you will waste time.
Guessing intelligently
This is probably the hardest question type. Don’t despair though you have a good chance of guessing correctly. In fact the questions are hard because you have a one in three chance of guessing! Here is my suggestion
if you find information in the text about the statement in the question: guess True or False but remember to read the whole question and not just match words in it
if you find no information in the text about the statement guess Not Given - don’t waste time. Typically, answer are Not Given when they match just one or two words in the question
if you have no idea, then guess Not Given. You have a one in three chance of being right and you may have no idea because it isn’t there!
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