The question types

In fact there are two question types here:

1. True/False/Not given: fact based
2. 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 just as a skimming question, rather a question where you need to read parts of the
text and the whole 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
1. 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
2. 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
3. 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!
 Some examples of how the questions work
Macallan is one of the four top selling brands of malt whisky in the world. It is made in
barrels made of Spanish oak that have previously been used for sherry because this adds
sweetness to its flavour.
True
Macallan is globally successful.
This is true because top selling brands of malt whisky in the world matches globally
successful.
False 
Macallan is made in metal containers.
This is false because the text says it us made in  barrels of Spanish oak. Because oak is a
wood this contradicts the words int he question metal containers. Note that you need to think
about meaning
Not Given
Macallan is made in Spain.
There is no information about where it is made. Be careful of the trap of seeing the
words Spanish and made  in the text. Usually with Not Given answers you will find some
words in the text that match words int he question without matching the meaning of
the whole question.
A difficulty – Not Given
The “Not Given” variation is probably what makes this type of question so difficult. How can
you deal with this problem? You need to understand that:
 “Not given” does not mean no words in the question are used in the text. Typically,
you will find some of words from the question in the text – they simply don’t answer the
whole question
 You cannot add information that is probably true: you can only use the information
given in the text
Some practical tips
1. Read the whole question. Do NOT focus on key words. Think about the meaning of
the question.
2. Be especially careful with words such as “often” and “some”. They can change the
meaning of the question dramatically.
3. Be careful with questions beginning “The writer says”: here you need to think about
the writer’s opinions and not about facts.
4. The questions will follow the order of the text: if you can’t find answer 12, you know
it must be somewhere between 11 and 13.
5. Do not spend too long on any one question. If the answer is “Not Given”, there may
be nothing for you to find.
6. One possibility is to mark all the “True” answers and all the “False” answers and then
guess “Not Given” for the others.
A suggested procedure
Here is my suggested procedure:
1. Read the instructions carefully and note whether you are being asked to look for facts
or opinions.
2. Look at all the questions and see what topics they ask about. You may note key words
here, but only to identify the correct part of the text to read.
3. Skim the text to identify which paragraphs you need to read more closely. Note that
the questions will follow the order of the text and so the answer to question 10 will follow the
answer to question 11
4. Mark on the question paper which paragraphs relate to which question: eg, write 11
against paragraph E
5. Refocus on the question and read the whole question: be careful with tricky words
like “usually”
6. Underline the words in the text that give you the answer. This helps you concentrate
and also allows you to change your mind, if you find a better answer later.
A variation is to mark the “True” answers first as they tend to be the easiest and then go back
to the “False” and “Not given” later.

Read more: True False not given: an IELTS reading tutorial http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-

reading/true-false-not-given-a-tutorial/#ixzz3dolfHDqv 
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

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IELTS Reading- True,False,Not Given Tips and Strategy

By Christopher Pell 1 Comment

‘True, False, Not Given’ questions requires you to identify if information in a text is true or
not.

You will be given a number of factual statements and you have to check in the text if it they
are true or not.

This is probably the most difficult question on the reading paper.

This post will:

  look at example questions
 discuss common problems
 define ‘True’, ‘False’ and ‘Not Given’
 give you tips and advice
 provide you with a strategy to use on exam day

In this article when I refer to ‘statements’ I am talking about the questions, not the text in the
main reading article.

Example Question

This sample is taken from ielts.org and more sample reading questions can be viewed here.

As you can see above, you will be given a number of factual statements and asked to look at
the text and decide if the statement is true, false or not given.

Common Problems
The biggest problem here is the ‘not given’ option. Most students are not used to answering
questions like this and it causes them lots of problems because they are not sure what to look
for. They also spend too much time making sure that it is ‘not given’ and this affects the rest
of their test.

Students also fail to understand exactly what each statement means and therefore cannot
identify if it is true or false. Many focus on keywords instead of understanding what
the statement as whole means.

Another common mistake is identifying keywords in the statements and then trying to find
words that exactly match them in the text. You can do this, but more often the words will be
synonyms.

Finally, some students fail to understand exactly what true, false and not given actually mean
and get confused.

Now lets look at solving these common problems.

What do TRUE, FALSE and NOT GIVEN mean? 

The most important thing to remember is what the words ‘true’, ‘false’ and ‘not given’
actually mean and therefore what IELTS wants you to write.

 If the text agrees with or confirms the information in the statement, the answer
is TRUE
 If the text contradicts or is the opposite to the information in the statement, the answer
is FALSE
 If there is no information or it is impossible to know, the answer is NOT GIVEN

True means that the meaning is the same. It is just similar then is is FALSE. Remember that

we are dealing with factual information so there is no room to say it is similar or nearly the
same. 

Lots of students have argued with me during practice and said the statement is true because it
‘kind of’ means the same. There is no ‘kind of’ with these questions, only facts.

Very important- Just because an answer is NOT GIVEN does not mean there are no words
in the statements that match words in the text. This is something that confuses people, if
words match then it must be TRUE orFALSE, right? Not really. This is not a good way to
think about these questions because there probably will be matching words for NOT
GIVEN answers, they just don’t have enough information to answer the question as a whole.
Top 10 Tips

1. Ignore anything you already know about the topic and don’t make assumptions. Base
your answers on the text only.
2. Identify any words that qualify the statement, for example some, all, mainly, often,
always and occasionally. These words are there to test if you have read the whole
statement because they can change the meaning. For example, ‘Coca-Cola
has always made its drinks in the U.S.A.’ has a different meaning from ‘Coca-Cola
has mainly made its drinks in the U.S.A.’
3. Be careful when you see verbs that qualify statements, such as suggest, claim, believe
and know. For example, ‘The man claimed he was a British citizen,’ and ‘The man is a
British citizen’ mean two different things.
4. There will be at least one of all three answers. If you don’t have at least one ‘true’,
‘false’ or ‘not given’ you have at least one answer wrong.
5. Don’t skim and scan the text to find the final answer. You will have to read the
appropriate part of the text very carefully in order to understand what the author means.
6. Don’t look for words that exactly match those in the statements. You should also look
for synonyms. Remember that you are matching meaning, not words.
7. If you can’t find the information you are looking for, then it is probably ‘not given’.
Don’t waste time looking for something that is not there.
8. If you have no idea what the answer is put ‘not given’. You probably have no idea
because the answer is not there.
9. Answers are in the same order they appear in the text. Do not waste time going back.
Keep on reading.
10. YES/NO/NOT GIVEN questions are slightly different because they deal
with opinion. TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN questions deal with facts.

Strategy 

This is my suggested strategy. There are many different strategies and you should use the one
you feel comfortable with. You can also adapt this strategy to what suits you.

1. Always read the instructions carefully and make sure you know if it is a
TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN or YES/NO/NOT GIVEN question.
2. Read all the statements carefully, trying to understand what the whole sentence means
rather than simply highlighting keywords. Watch out for qualifying words such
as some or always. 
3. Try to think of what synonyms might be in the text. This will help you identify the
matching part of the text.
 4. Match the statement with the correct part of the text.
5. Focus on the statement again and then carefully read the matching part of the text to
establish if it is true or false. Remember the meaning should exactly match that of the
statement if it is true.
6. Underline the words that give you the answer, this will help you focus and you can
check back later. Again, be careful there are no qualifying words in the text.
7. If you can’t find the answer, mark it as ‘not given’ and move on to the next question.
8. If you are really unsure or can’t find the answer, mark it as ‘not given’.

Make sure you’ve read the general strategies for answering the reading section. For the true/false/not
given or yes/no/not given type questions, the strategies are similar:
 skim questions
 identify keywords
 scan
 read carefully
 choose answer carefully
With this type of question it’s important to clearly understand the different  choices. Most people are
clear about identifying whether a statement is TRUE or YES. If the statement agrees with the
information or reflects the views of the writer, then it is True or Yes.

The difficulty is between False/No and Not Given. Here’s the difference:

NO if the statement clearly CONTRADICTS (is the OPPOSITE of) the claims of the writer.
NOT GIVEN  if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this. You may find some information
in the passage around the ideas of the statement – but there are no specific words that either clearly
reflect or contradict the writer’s views on this idea in the passage.
FALSE if the statement clearly CONTRADICTS (is the OPPOSITE of) the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no CLEAR specific information about the statement that neither agrees nor
contradicts the information in the statement.

So here are the Techniques for answering T/F/NG and Y/N/NG:

1. Read each statement carefully and look for key words in each statement that you can scan for in the
passage. Prepare to look for similar words or expressions to those key words (they most likely won’t
be the exact same words).
2. Take note of  comparisons ( is like, more… than, less… than, bigger, etc) or qualifying
expressions (a lot, many, little, not, most, some, much, slightly, never, sometimes, often, etc.)
3. Once you have located the right sentences about the statement – READ CAREFULLY and compare it
to the statement.
4. If you can clearly see the statement reflects what’s written in the passage, choose TRUE.
5. If you’re unsure – check to see if it says the opposite. If it’s not clear to be the opposite, you can guess
Not Given.
For example, in the following Y/N/NG statement you see:
“The destruction of land for food and firewood is linked to desertification.” (From IELTS TestBuilder 2)
Key words I identify: destruction of land, firewood, desertification
Actual sentences in the corresponding passage that I found by scanning for my key words or similar
words:

Transport systems including roads within and between cities need to be constructed or upgraded to create
motorways; green fields are turned into airports; virgin forest is stripped to provide food andfirewood. In
poorer regions, this newly exposed land becomes desert, completing the cycle of destruction.
I had  scanned the reading passage and found “firewood” and “destruction”. I also scanned “desert”,
which is part of the word “desertification”, which means “making land that was once fertile with
vegetation into a desert”.  If you didn’t know this vocabulary word, you could try to guess the
connection between “desert” and “desertification” since the statement is about destruction of land.

After locating these sentences, I read carefully around the words to match the statement to the
information in the passage.

As you can see, from the passage, it says that forest is stripped for food and firewood and then
becomes desert. It also mentions ” completing the cycle”. Different parts of a cycle are all linked to
each other. Therefore, I see the statement clearly reflects the claims of the writer as its written in
these sentences. So the answer is YES.

Here’s another example of a T/F/NG question from “The History of Salt”:

“The first tax on salt was imposed by a Chinese Emperor.”

Key words I identified: first tax, Chinese Emperor

When I scanned for these words I found:

In 2200 BC, the Chinese Emperor Hsia Yu levied one of the first known taxes. He taxed Salt.

Reading carefully, take note of the difference between “THE first tax” as in the statement, and “one of
the first known taxes” as in the passage. “One of the first known” is NOT the same as “the (absolute)
first.” Therefore the answer is FALSE.

Help with IELTS #3 – tips for

the Academic Reading test
In the third in our series of blog posts designed to help you prepare your students for
IELTS, Pauline Cullen, author of The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS, offers some
tips on dealing with the Academic Reading test.
When you are preparing your students for the Academic Reading test, it’s very important
to remember what its purpose is. The IELTS test is specifically designed to assess and
measure the different reading skills needed for university study. If you just see the
reading test in terms of answering questions and getting them right or wrong, then it’s
easy to forget this.
When I talk to teachers and students, they say that they prefer certain reading test
questions. However, True/ False/Not Given questions (T/F/NG) are almost always
among the least favourite, so today I hope I can make you think about them differently. I
actually like T/F/NG questions, and I like teaching students about them because they
have a very positive ‘washback’ effect to the EAP classroom. This means that the
reading skills you need to focus on to answer the questions are important skills for EAP.
True/False/Not Given – References in reverse
In EAP, we teach students that when they write an academic assignment they must give
references to support their claims and ideas. T/F/NG (and Y/N/NG – Yes/No/Not Given)
questions are really a way of practising that in reverse. The questions ask you to say
whether the reading passage:
• provides supporting evidence for an idea (True)
• says the opposite of an idea (False)
• does not have enough information to check whether an idea is true or false (Not
Given).

Tips for students

To help your students understand how these questions work, tell them to see the
sentences in the questions as ideas or claims that a student has made in an academic
assignment. The reading passage is the reference material that the student has listed in
their bibliography. So for this type of question, their task is really to check whether the
reading passage is an appropriate source (TRUE) or whether it contradicts the ideas or
claims (FALSE) or doesn’t mention the ideas at all (NOT GIVEN).
Another important tip is to teach your students that these questions are always in the
same order as the information in the passage. This means that they are not expected to
search the whole passage for the information. The questions will contain some clues
about where to look and check. But, just as we teach our EAP classes to paraphrase
ideas and not simply copy words from their source materials, the questions may not use
exactly the same words as in the question.
Lesson 3: 
IELTS True False Not Given
Objectives: to practice answering IELTS True False Not Givenquestions.

This lesson explains how to answer True and False questions for IELTS.

You also have a Not Given option with this type of task.

Firsly, you will be presented with a list of facts.

You then have to look at the text in order to decide if the facts are true, false, or not
given.

Below are some tips and strategies to help you answer this type of question.

Tips
 If the fact you are given is clearly in the reading it is True
 If the reading says the opposite of the fact you've been given it is False
 If it is not true or false, it is Not Given

 
Strategies to answer the questions
 The questions follow the order of the text.
 Read the question carefully to make sure you fully understand what it is saying.
 Scan the text to find where the answer is using key wordsfrom the question
 When you find where the answer is, read the text carefully to identify if you think it
is T, F or NG.
 The questions will probably use synonyms rather than the words in the text.
 Look out for controlling words such as “only”, “all’, “never” etc. For example, if the
fact in the question says 'some' and the fact in the text says 'all', then it is F.
 Do not spend a long time looking for the answer to one question; it is probably NG, if
you cannot find it.
 Make sure you use the correct code; 'Yes', 'No', 'No Information' is sometimes used
(these question are slightly different and you look for opinions rather than facts).

 
Example
Look at this statment, taken from the first sentence in the reading below:

Chiles originate in South America and have been eaten for at least 9,500 years.
Here are some example IELTS True False Not Given statements with answers:

1. Chiles come from South America - T

2. People began eating Chiles in the last few centuries - F
3. South Americans were the first people to start eating Chiles - NG

Number one is clearly true. Notice the use of the synonym 'come from' used

instead of 'originates'. It is common to use different words.

Two is clearly false as it was 9,500 years ago, not a few 100 years ago.

Three is not in the text. Be careful about making assumptions then thinking it is

true. It is quite probable the South Americans began eating Chiles first as they
originated there; however, you can't be sure of that and the text does not tell you
that.

___________________________________________________

 
IELTS True False Not Given - Practice
Now, read the following text and answer the questions to the right of the reading
using the drop down menu to choose either True, False, or Not Given.

An explanation of the answers is provided below.

Do the following statements agree with the information in the text? Mark them:
T if the statement agrees with the text
F if the statement does not agree with the text
NG if there is no information about this in the text

Chilies
Chiles originate in South America and have been eaten for at least 9,500 years.
Organised cultivation began around 5,400BC. Christopher Columbus was the
first European to encounter chilies, when he landed on the island of Hispaniola
in 1492. He thought it was a type of pepper and called it the “red pepper”, a
name still used today. After their introduction to Europe they were an
immediate sensation and were quickly incorporated into the diet. From there
they spread to Africa, India and East Asia.

The reason for the chili’s “hotness” lies in a chemical called Capsaisin.
Capsaisin causes temporary irritation to the trigeminal cells, which are
the pain receptors in the mouth, nose and throat. After the pain messages
are transmitted to the brain, endorphins, natural pain killers, are released
and these not only kill the pain but give the chili eater a short lived
natural high. Other side effects include: an increased heart rate, a running
 nose and increased salivation and sweating, which can have a cooling
effect in hot climates.

The reason for the presence of Capsaisin is thought to be to deter animals

from eating the fruit. Only mammals feel the burning effects; birds feel
nothing. As birds are a better method of distributing the seeds, which
pass intact through their guts, Capsaisin would seem to be a result of
natural selection.

The smaller chilies tend to be the hottest. This may reflect the fact that
they tend to grow closer to the ground and are therefore more vulnerable
to animals. The heat of a chili is measured on the Scoville scale. The
hottest types such as the Habenero and the Scotch Bonnet rate between
100,000 and 300,000, the world famous Tabasco sauceÒ rates at 15,000
to 30,000, about the same as the Thai prik khee nu, while the popular
Jalapeno is between 5,000 and 15,000. Powdered chili is 500 to 1,000
and the mild capsicins and paprikas can range between 100 and 0.

325 wds

___________________________________________________

IELTS True False Not Given - Answers Discussion

Question 1

Chilies became popular as soon as they were brought into Europe - T

After their introduction to Europe they were an immediate sensation and were

quickly incorporated into the diet.
There two statements are clearly saying the same thing. Notice the use of
synomyms:

Became popular = sensation

As soon as = immediately
Brought into = introduced
___________________________________________________

Question 2

Capsaisin damages the mouth - F

Capsaisin causes temporary irritation the trigeminal cells.

This is false as the statement says 'damage'. This is not the same as a 'temprary
irritation'.

___________________________________________________
Question 3

Chilies can be part of a birds diet - T

Only mammals feel the burning effects; birds feel nothing. As birds are a better
method of distributing the seeds, which pass intact through their guts
This is true as this section in the reading clearly tells us birds feel nothing (when they
eat them) and they distribute them around when it leaves their body. So clearly
chiles are eaten by birds. In other words, they can be a part of a birds diet.

Question 4

All large chilies grow high off the ground - NG

The smaller chilies tend to be the hottest. This may reflect the fact that they tend to
grow closer to the ground and are therefore more vulnerable to animals.
We are told here that small chiles grow closer to the ground. It can be assumed then
that many of the large ones are higher off the ground.

However, it says 'all large chiles'. We are not given any information to say all of
them grow high off the ground. It's possible some don't, so we don't know which
means it is Not Given.

___________________________________________________

Question 5

People breed chilies for their heat - NG

The heat of a chili is measured on the Scoville scale.

Again, this is Not Given. We are given some information about heat in this sentence
and those that follow.

But these are just descriptions about how they are hot. We are not told specifically
that this is the reason they are breeing them.