True / False / Not Given: Telling False from Not Given

True: the statement agrees with the information in the passage. The text says the same thing, even if the wording differs.

False: the statement contradicts the passage. The text says the opposite, or something that cannot both be true alongside the statement.

Not Given: the passage neither confirms nor denies it. There's no information either way, so you cannot decide. This is the answer students dodge because it feels uncertain, but uncertainty is exactly what it signals.

Here's the question to ask every time: 'Can I find a line in the passage that disagrees with this statement?' If yes, it's False. If you only find silence, it's Not Given.

Think of it like a courtroom. False is a witness who directly says 'no, that didn't happen'. Not Given is no witness at all. Absence of proof is not the same as proof against.

A worked example. Statement: 'The festival is the oldest in the region.' If the passage says it's 'one of several old festivals' but never ranks them, you have no contradiction, so it's Not Given. If the passage names a different, older festival, now you have a contradiction, so it's False.

The usual trap is reasoning from your own knowledge or from what feels likely. The statement sounds wrong, so you mark False. But IELTS only cares about this passage, not the real world or common sense.

Another trap is the 'extreme' word. Statements with 'all', 'never', 'only', 'the most' feel false because they're strong. Sometimes they are False, but often the passage just doesn't go that far either way, which makes them Not Given.

Train yourself to demand evidence. Before writing False, physically locate the contradicting words. If you can't underline them, it isn't False.

First, read the statement and underline the key idea, especially any names, numbers, dates or strong words. These tell you what to hunt for.

Second, scan the passage for that part of the text. The questions follow the order of the passage, so the next answer is usually below the last one you found.

Third, compare meaning, not vocabulary. The passage will paraphrase. 'Cheap' might appear as 'low-cost'; 'rose' as 'increased'. Decide: does the text agree, contradict, or stay silent? Then commit and move on.

After every practice set, review the Not Given ones you got wrong and write down the exact line you wrongly thought contradicted the statement. You'll spot your own pattern fast.

Don't spend three minutes agonising over one item. If you genuinely can't find a contradiction after a careful scan, that's your evidence: mark Not Given and keep going. Hesitation eats the time you need for the rest of the test.

Note that 'Yes / No / Not Given' is the same skill applied to opinions and claims rather than facts. Treat it identically: No means contradicted, Not Given means absent.