The True/False/Not Given exercise on the IELTS Reading exam allows you to use the same strategy as in Multiple Choice (scanning for keywords), but it is important the test-taker knows the question prompt or its possibilities before scanning. You will be asked on the IELTS exam:

Do the following statements match the information given in a given Reading Passage?

 

TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE – if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this

A true answer corresponds with positive correspondence between the answer statement and the text. A False answer corresponds with an OPPOSITE statement, as it directly contradicts the answer statement. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW that it is the ‘MEANING’ of the statement is the OPPOSITE or CONTRADICTS the answer statement. After all, it is the meaning of the answer statement that we compare to the text with this type of question. If the exact or opposite match for the answer statement cannot be found, the correct answer will be NOT GIVEN.

Note: I caution readers here NOT to make a false inference from the information in the text as the information will either agree or be the opposite (even with paraphrases or synonymous language), so Not Given is an obvious answer if the answer statement information cannot be verified or denied.

Because this is the most difficult exercise on the IELTS Reading exam (Matching Headings notwithstanding), test takers should know precisely how to proceed to get correct answers:

Procedure:

1. Read the answer statement and understand what information you are looking for
2. Scan the text to locate the area (usually just one sentence) of the answer statement
3. Read the sentence above and below your targeted sentence
4. Ask yourself if the information matches or is the opposite only.
5. If you cannot answer a positive or opposite match, read the three sentences again
6. If you cannot answer, answer NOT GIVEN on your answer sheet.

Things to remember for TRUE, FALSE, and NOT GIVEN

–          Highlight keywords in the Answer statement before moving to the text (be aware that synonyms will be used for keywords)

• Answers follow the text in order (answer 2 will be below answer 1 in the text)
• Usually all three answers are tested, so you will use TRUE, FALSE, and NOT GIVEN on your answer sheet
• There are usually 4 or 5 questions

Finally, the creators of the test work to keep test-takers off balance by creating ‘doubt’ in the meaning of the text and/ in the answer statements. To do this they use modal verbs like should (not), ought to (have) (not), may have (not), might have (not), must (not), and could (not), which all work towards different degrees of certainty. For example, note the difference in ‘certainty’ between (1) The story must be true (95%), and (2) The story might be true (50%). The only way to validate TRUE/FALSE/ NOT GIVEN answer statements is to ask questions as if the statement ‘is’ TRUE first while checking for paraphrase or synonyms being used, and then seek the OPPOSITE (contradicts) meaning to see if it is FALSE.

The use of modal verbs of necessity and certainty

This type of Modal verb shows the ‘degree’ of necessity. There are generally 5 degrees that reflect the attitudes of the speakers towards the actions that they are describing. In the IELTS Reading exam, modal verbs are used to ‘unsettle’ the reader or make what you are reading less certain in your mind.

Models of Necessity

Obligation -100% (reads as a statement of fact because it is 100 %	You must  You have to You got to
Advice -75%	You had better  You should (have) You ought to (have)
Expectation – 40%	You are supposed to  You are to
Suggestion – 20%	You could (have) to  You might (have) to
No Obligation -0 %	You don’t have to  You didn’t have to

 

Modals of Certainty

Speculation about the Present	It must be true  It has got to be true It may/might/could be true	It can’t be true  It must not be true It might/may not be true
Speculation about the Past	It must have been true  It had to have been true   It may have been true It might have been true It could have been true	It can’t have been true  It couldn’t have been … It must not have been … It may not have been … It might not have been …
Speculation about the Future	We should leave soon  We ought to leave soon We may leave soon We might leave soon We could leave soon	We may not leave soon We might not leave soon

 

Note: The underlined Modal verbs in the same box above can act as synonyms mentioned in the answer text and/ the text.

The best way to answer questions that use modal verbs is to assume the statement is written as a statement of fact (without modals) by crossing out the necessity or certainty (or any words that create doubt) and just answer the question as either TRUE or FALSE first (if you can’t answer to either of these, the answer is NOT GIVEN).

For example,

If the answer statement says: Some railroads may have normal traffic flow on them.

Cross out the doubt, in this case, the modal verb ‘may’. So, the answer statement looks like this:

Some railroads may have normal traffic flow on them. This makes the statement easier to understand, so look in the text for a statement that allows for the railroad to have normal traffic.

Here is another answer statement with a modal verb and comparative crossed out:

You should not arrive more than half an hour before your allocated starting time.

Here, you would look for a statement in the text that says ‘you arrive half an hour (30 minutes) before the event’.

Finally, eliminate the ‘future’ auxiliary verb ‘will’, and it makes the meaning clearer, so you can confidently move to the text knowing what you are looking for.

Your Worker Identity Card will be sent to you before the event.

Chain Reaction will charge you for the return of your bike.

Note: Once you have taken the ‘doubt’ out of each answer statement, try to find in the text if the statement is TRUE or FALSE only (remembering a FALSE answer will say the opposite of what is in the answer statement). If you cannot answer to the positive or the negative, the answer is NOT GIVEN. This makes this type of question very easy to answer.

 

In the following examples, answer True, False, or Not Given:

1. Emotions can help investors make proper decisions. (True, False or Not Given)
2. To invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ, usual business insights, or inside information. What is needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework.
3. Animals were often used as trade and, therefore, used as a form of currency (True, False or Not Given).
4. How did money originate, and where? The Babylonians were the first to develop actual money when they started to use gold and silver about 2500 B.C.E. In the following centuries, many other items came to be used as currency.

iii.                Tortillas are easily found all around the world (True, False or Not Given).

3. Tortillas are round and look like pancakes. People can eat them with any meal. People make them from corn or wheat flour. People can now find tortillas in supermarkets in many other places in the world.
4. When Paul Bunyan was born, he might have been very strong (True, False or Not Given).
5. There are many funny stories about the American legend Paul Bunyan. Some stories say he was an enormous man and very strong. It is said that when he was born, he was the largest baby in the whole world.
6. People generally plan their activities around full moon periods (True, False, or Not Given).
7. It is often said that a full moon causes many bad things to happen. More crimes, disasters, and accidents occur during the time when the moon is full, so many people take extra care during these times. People have been known to plan their lives around phases of the moon; for example, it is believed by some that certain phases of the moon are related to the best times for certain activities.
8. The brain is an uncomplicated organ that has billions of neurons attached to it (True, False, or Not Given).
9. The brain is a complex organ. It weighs only about three pounds, but it controls all our behaviour, our motor functions, and the five senses, to: see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. Doctors have estimated that the brain has 100 billion nerve cells, called neurons. A piece of brain tissue the size of a grain of sand has 100,000 neurons.

vii.              In many places, barcode scanning is considered a complex technological invention (True, False, or Not Given).

7. Today, barcode technology does more than just move customers quickly through stores. It allows easy tracking of products, prices, inventory, and even shopping patterns, which makes store management simpler than in the past. The technology is also in libraries, post offices, and even hospitals, where similar scanning can help keep track of patients, medications, and procedures.

viii.            There is information available that proves laughter can be a remedy.

8. Doctors have known for many centuries what laughter can do: Laughter can improve how a sick person feels; a sick person often feels much better when he or she laughs. However, growing evidence has revealed the fact that laughter actually helps to cure a patient.

Answers:

 

1. False. (synonymous language used: the ability to keep emotions from corroding (wearing away the intellectual framework used to choose stock).
2. Not Given

Explanation: emotional stock choices are a poor way to choose stocks because it corrodes the intellectual framework; thus, the opposite is true or contradicts the statement.

3. Not Given.

Explanation – the text never mentions animals, nor animals for trade.

4. True. (Synonymous language in many other places in the world).

Explanation: People can now find tortillas in supermarkets in many other places in the

world.

5. Not Given.

Explanation: The text does not mention that he was strong when he was a baby.

6. Not Given. (synonymous language “People have been known to plan their lives around phases of the moon”, or, “some say that certain phases of the moon are related to the best times for certain activities” – the moon has several phases (8 phases).

Explanation: The text does not specifically say ‘Full Moon’, only phases of the moon.

7. False. Synonymous language “The brain is a complex organ” – the statement says uncomplicated.

Explanation: the text directly contradicts the statement – uncomplicated.

8. Not Given. The text only mentions barcodes make certain kinds of work easier.

Explanation: The text never says that technology is a ‘complex technological    

invention’.

9. True. Synonymous language – Cure with remedy

Explanation. The text mentions “growing evidence has revealed the fact that

laughter actually helps to cure a patient”.