True, False or Not Given: five traps and how to avoid them
The five most common reasons learners choose the wrong answer in T/F/NG questions, with short examples of each trap.
By IELTSora teaching team · Updated · 2 min read
Trap 1: using your own knowledge
The answer depends only on the passage. A statement can be true in real life and still be NOT GIVEN if the passage doesn't say it.
Trap 2: matching words instead of meaning
Finding the same words in the passage does not make a statement TRUE. Read the whole sentence: the passage may say the opposite with those same words.
Same words, opposite meaning
Passage: "Few early visitors found the island easy to reach."
Statement: Early visitors found the island easy to reach.
Answer: FALSE. "Few" reverses the meaning.
Trap 3: ignoring qualifiers
Words like some, most, all, often, always, never, only, mainly and may change a statement completely. "Most" in the passage and "all" in the statement means FALSE.
Trap 4: confusing FALSE and NOT GIVEN
Choose FALSE only if the passage clearly says something that contradicts the statement. If the passage simply doesn't mention it, the answer is NOT GIVEN.
- Ask: can I point to a sentence that says the opposite? Yes → FALSE.
- Ask: is the topic mentioned but this detail missing? → NOT GIVEN.
Trap 5: spending too long
T/F/NG answers follow the order of the passage. If you can't find one after a minute or two, choose NOT GIVEN as a reasonable guess, mark it, and find the next one. It will be later in the text.
Practise with a checking routine
After a practice set, go back to every NOT GIVEN answer you chose and find the part of the passage that covers the topic. Ask yourself what extra information would make the statement TRUE or FALSE. If you can name it, and it isn't in the text, your NOT GIVEN was right. Doing this for two or three passages trains you to see the gap between what the passage says and what it leaves out.