28-Day Planner: Academic Day 4
This lesson focuses on
- True/False/Not Given (TFNG)
It’s a good example of how the chronological structure (the order of events in time) can help you get the heading right e.g ‘the origins’ and ‘early kinds’ suggest that these paragraphs will be at the start of the passage.
Difficulty rating: 8/10!
Watch my video on how to solve TFNG Reading questions.
Listen to my Podcast for full text explanations
TFNG Reading Questions
This is a text about ‘snake oil’ – a term for the useless medicines, which were sold by travelling salesmen who claimed they were miraculous cures for everything.
Look at each (blue) extract below, and say if the statment which follows is True, False or Not Given.
Para A Selling ‘snake oil’ was almost as risky a business as cattle stealing; you might be run out of town if your particular medicine, as you realised it would, failed to live up to its claims.
34. ‘Snake oil’ sellers believed their product was effective.
Para A Consequently, the smarter ‘snake oil’ sellers left town before their customers had much chance to evaluate the ‘cure’ they had just bought.
35. Most people in the Wild West mistrusted ‘snake oil’.
Para B …those that weren’t harmless coloured water could be positively dangerous.
36. Some ‘snake oils’ were mostly water.
Para B What’s remarkable is that so many of the claims made for some of these remedies, or at least their ingredients, most of them, plant based, have since been found to have at least some basis in fact. One, Echinacea, eventually turned out to be far more potent than even its original promoter claimed.
37. All ‘snake oils’ contained Echinacea.
Para F He might though be surprised to learn how Echinacea is proving to be an effective weapon against all sorts of disease, particularly infections. German researchers had used it successfully to treat a range of infections and found it to be effective against bacteria and protozoa* (*a type of micro-organism).
38. Echinacea has been proven to kill microbes.
Para H. Most European studies have used liquid concentrates extracted from the tops of plants, whereas extraction in the USA has usually been from the roots. Today most manufacturers blend both, sometimes adding flowers and seeds to improve the quality.
39. The highest quality Echinacea is grown in America.
40. More than one part of the Echinacea plant has a medicinal use.
34. False
35. Not Given
36. True
37. False
38. True
39. Not Given
40. True
34. ‘Snake oil’ sellers believed their product was effective. FALSE
Para A Selling ‘snake oil’ was almost as risky a business as cattle stealing; you might be run out of town if your particular medicine, as you realised it would, failed to live up to its claims.
35. Most people in the Wild West mistrusted ‘snake oil’. NG
Para A Consequently, the smarter ‘snake oil’ sellers left town before their customers had much chance to evaluate the ‘cure’ they had just bought.
36. Some ‘snake oils’ were mostly water. TRUE
Para B …those that weren’t harmless coloured water could be positively dangerous.
37. All ‘snake oils’ contained Echinacea. FALSE
Para B What’s remarkable is that so many of the claims made for some of these remedies, or at least their ingredients, most of them, plant based, have since been found to have at least some basis in fact.
One, Echinacea, eventually turned out to be far more potent than even its original promoter claimed.
38. Echinacea has been proven to kill microbes. TRUE
Para F German researchers had used it successfully to treat a range of infections and found it to be effective against bacteria and protozoa* (*a type of micro-organism).
39. The highest quality Echinacea is grown in America. Not Given
40. More than one part of the Echinacea plant has a medicinal use.
Para H. Most European studies have used liquid concentrates extracted from the tops of plants, whereas extraction in the USA has usually been from the roots. Today most manufacturers blend both, sometimes adding flowers and seeds to improve the quality.
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