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IELTS Reading: True, False, Not Given / Yes, No, Not Given Question
In this question you will be given a list of statements. You will need to identify which statement is true, which one is false, and which statement cannot be determined whether it is true or false. Remember, you need to answer the questions completely based on the reading text.
You might face either Yes, No, Not Given or True, False, Not Given questions in IELTS Reading section. The idea of both of these question types is same. All you need is just check whether the statement is supported by the reading passage or not. This question tests your skill how convincingly you have gone through the reading passage.
Example
Source: Cambridge English IELTS Past Papers
In the example above, you are given four statements. You are asked to identify whether these statements agree with the passage, or not. Remember, your answer has to be there in the passage, and the answer must be a complete true/false/not given or yes/no/not given answer. There is no partial true/not/not given or yes/no/not given answer in this question.
Your answer might agree with the reading text, or disagree with it, or even it might be neither. If it agrees, answer the statement is true, otherwise answer the statement is false. If the statement neither agrees nor disagrees with the reading text, your answer should be Not Given.
Common Problems
Spending Time for a Not Given Answer
Many students spend too much time in case of Not Given question. It happens because this answer is not given in the question. Therefore, regardless how hard you keep searching for the answer in the reading text, you will never find the answer there. That means most of the time you will see that you searched for an answer for quite a long time in the reading text, but haven't found any True/False solution. It happens simply because the answer is not there in the reading text.
Looking for The Exact Word
Another major mistake that many students make is, looking for the exact same word that appeared in the question sentence. They always tend to forget that in the reading text there will be always synonyms and paraphrases rather than the exact same word that is used in the question sentence.
Solution Tips
Answers in Order
This is a order question. Remember this million dollar information. This is a big advantage for you if you know this information. Because you don't have to go back again for finding the answer of the next question.
Taking much time? Answer, Not Given
Look, there is no point of spending time just to make sure that the answer is not given in the passage. You should stop looking for the answer just when you realize that you are about to spend more time than usual. Because you can simply guess that it's Not Given, otherwise you would have already got the answer.
Be aware of qualifying words
You know your answer has to be completely supported by the reading passage, not partially. Therefore be aware of the qualifying words like however, mainly, some, occasionally, nevertheless, but etc. If you see these types of qualifying words in a sentence, take a closer look again before you decide your answer. Because these words can change the meaning of a sentence.
Look for synonyms and paraphrases
Always stay alert about synonyms and paraphrases. Don't go after matching keywords from the questions to the reading text. Rather look for the synonyms and paraphrases. Remember, you have to find the meaning that agrees/disagrees, not the words. This is our common advise for all types of question. In fact, we want to remind you about this every time, so that you don't forget this most frequent mistake that many students make. You will never believe how many students lose so much of their important scores only because of this common mistake.
Check the other questions for IELTS Reading section: