In the IELTS Reading test, a common question type is to decide whether some statements agree with the writer (Yes), contradict the writer (No) or whether there is no evidence to suggest either (Not Given). Here is a brief guide to deal with this question type.
This kind of question is very similar to True, False and Not Given ones, but the difference is that the statements look at the opinion of the writer of the article rather than fact. These answers also normally appear in order in the article.
Questions 6-10 Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writing in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet, write YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this 6 Children from monocultures learn foreign languages more slowly than those from multicultural societies. 7 Learning 3 languages at school does not have a negative effect on personality. 8 The arguments presented by John Smith are not relevant in a modern context.9 More countries will have multiple official languages in the future 10 The results from the classroom studies in Toulouse can be seen in other cities.
One of the advantages of starting with these questions first in your article is that the answers usually appear in order in the text. That means that you can try to answer the questions in any order – preferably the ones that are easy to locate first.
Look at the following list of questions. Which ones would you do first?
6 Children from monocultures learn foreign languages more slowly than those from multicultural societies.
7 Learning 3 languages at school does not have a negative effect on personality.
8 The arguments presented by John Smith are not relevant in a modern context.
9 More countries will have multiple official languages in the future.
10 The results from the classroom studies in Toulouse can be seen in other cities.
If you look carefully, there are some words which can be located in the article very quickly:
John Smith (Question 8)
Toulouse (Question 10)
Once you have found the location for Questions 8 and 10, you can read the section carefully and then decide on your answer. You can then try Question 9 (which would appear somewhere between Questions 8 and 10 in the article) and then Question 7 and 6 (which would appear before Question 8).
Once you have located the answer in the text, it is important to read the section carefully. When looking at the statements, make sure you look for key words that can easily be contradicted. These are quite commonly verbs, adverbs, adjectives or words that show proportion. As a first step, try to work out if the statement supports the writer (same as they key word) or contradicts the writer (opposite to the key word). Only use Not Given when you can’t decide between Yes and No – basically use it as your last option (not as a first option). Let’s look at the statements more closely:
6 Children from monocultures learn foreign languages more slowly than those from multicultural societies.
For the answer to be ‘Yes’, there has to be evidence they learn foreign languages more slowly.
For the answer to be ‘No’, there has to be evidence they learn foreign languages at the same speed or more quickly.
If there is no mention of speed, then use ‘Not Given’.
As you can see in this example, the comparative adverb (more slowly) is something that can be contradicted. The same can be said for adjectives:
7 Learning 3 languages at school does not have a negative effect on personality. 8 The arguments presented by John Smith are not relevant in a modern context.
Your choices would be either ‘not negative’ or ‘not positive’ for Question 6.
As for Question 7, they could be either ‘not relevant’ or ‘relevant’.
Again, if there is no mention of whether it has a positive or negative effect on personality, or no mention of whether the arguments are relevant or not relevant in a modern context, then use ‘Not Given’.
9 More countries will have multiple official languages in the future.
In this case, there is a proportion word. I you find evidence of more countries, the answer would be ‘Yes’, but if there will be fewer countries, the answer would be ‘No’. If they don’t mention the amount, then use ‘Not Given’.
10 The results from the classroom studies in Toulouse can be seen in other cities.
Here, the verb is the key word. The results can either be seen in other cities (Yes), not seen in other cities (No), or we have no idea whether they are or are not seen (Not Given).
The difference between ‘No’ and ‘Not Given’ is that a ‘No’ answer can be proven. There is evidence to support a contrasting view to the statement. ‘Not Given’ is used when you cannot find evidence to support OR contradict the sentence. Remember that the whole sentence needs to be mentioned in the article for it to be considered a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer. If only part of the sentence is mentioned, then the answer should be ‘Not Given’.