The IELTS Reading text below is an example of a ‘discursive’ text (one which explores opinions about a topic). It has a theory-evidence structure, which you can use to help you find the information more quickly (see the video below and a similar Reading text about Easter Island)
This lesson focuses on using synonyms to answer True/False/Not Given questions.
Learn more about IELTS question types on the IELTS.org website.
How to answer True False Not Given questions
- The True and False answers are always in the text – you never need to use your own general knowledge (though sometimes it might help you guess the answer before you find it in the text).
- There is always at least one True, one False and one Not Given answer.
- The statements are usually in the same order as they appear in the text.
- If you find the right part of the text but you can’t find the answer, the answer is Not Given.
- There are common tricks that you can learn to recognise (quantifiers, comparisons, subjective opinions)
True False Not Given Tips
- Turn the statement into a question – this will help you see if the answer is actually NOT GIVEN in the text.
- Use keywords in the statements (e.g. capital letters, names or dates) to quickly find the part of the text you need.
- Look for synonyms of the statements to find TRUE answers.
- Look for antonyms (opposite words) from the statements to find FALSE answers.
Pulling strings to build pyramids
Read each statement, then read the paragraph (they go in the same order as the text) and choose:
- TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
- FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
- NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1 It is generally believed that large numbers of people were needed to build the pyramids.
The pyramids of Egypt were built more than three thousand years ago, and no one knows how. The conventional picture is that tens of thousands of slaves dragged stones on sledges. But there is no evidence to back this up.
2 Clemmons found a strange hieroglyph on the wall of an Egyptian monument.
Now a Californian software consultant called Maureen Clemmons has suggested that kites might have been involved. While perusing a book on the monuments of Egypt, she noticed a hieroglyph that showed a row of men standing in odd postures.
3 Gharib had previously done experiments on bird flight.
Intrigued, Clemmons contacted Morteza Gharib, aeronautics professor at the California Institute of Technology. He was fascinated by the idea. ‘Coming from Iran, I have a keen interest in Middle Eastern science’ he says. He too was puzzled by the picture that had sparked Clemmons’s interest.
4 Gharib and Graff tested their theory before applying it.
Gharib and Graff set themselves the task of raising a 4.5-metre stone column from horizontal to vertical, using no source of energy except the wind. Their initial calculations and scale-model wind-tunnel experiments convinced them they wouldn’t need a strong wind to lift the 33.5-tonne column.
5 The success of the actual experiment was due to the high speed of the wind.
Earlier this year, the team put Clemmons’s unlikely theory to the test, using a 40-square-meter rectangular nylon sail. The kite lifted the column clean off the ground. ‘We were absolutely stunned’ Gharib says. The instant the sail opened into the wind, a huge force was generated and the column was raised to the vertical in a mere 40 seconds.’
The wind was blowing at a gentle 16 to 20 kilometers an hour, little more than half what they thought would be needed.
6 They found that, as the kite flew higher, the wind force got stronger.
What they had failed to reckon with was what happened when the kite was opened. There was a huge initial force – five times larger than the steady state force’ Gharib says. This jerk meant that kites could lift huge weights, Gharib realised.
7 The team decided that it was possible to use kites to raise very heavy stones.
Even a 300-tonne column could have been lifted to the vertical with 40 or so men and four or five sails. So Clemmons was right: the pyramid builders could have used kites to lift massive stones into place. ‘Whether they actually did is another matter,’ Gharib says. There are no pictures showing the construction of the pyramids, so there is no way to tell what really happened. The evidence for using kites to move large stones is no better or worse than the evidence for the brute force method’ Gharib says.
1 It is generally believed that large numbers of people were needed to build the pyramids. True
The pyramids of Egypt were built more than three thousand years ago, and no one knows how. The conventional picture is that tens of thousands of slaves dragged stones on sledges. But there is no evidence to back this up.
(conventional = what everyone accepts/understands/believes to be true)
2 Clemmons found a strange hieroglyph on the wall of an Egyptian monument. False
Now a Californian software consultant called Maureen Clemmons has suggested that kites might have been involved. While perusing a book on the monuments of Egypt, she noticed a hieroglyph that showed a row of men standing in odd postures.
(she found the hieroglyph while reading a book about the monuments of Egypt – she did not see the hieroglyph on the monument itself)
3 Gharib had previously done experiments on bird flight. Not given
Intrigued, Clemmons contacted Morteza Gharib, aeronautics professor at the California Institute of Technology. He was fascinated by the idea. ‘Coming from Iran, I have a keen interest in Middle Eastern science’ he says. He too was puzzled by the picture that had sparked Clemmons’s interest.
(Did Gharib do any experiments on bird flight before this experiment? We cannot answer this Yes or No from the text, so it is NOT GIVEN)
4 Gharib and Graff tested their theory before applying it. True
Gharib and Graff set themselves the task of raising a 4.5-metre stone column from horizontal to vertical, using no source of energy except the wind. Their initial calculations and scale-model wind-tunnel experiments convinced them they wouldn’t need a strong wind to lift the 33.5-tonne column.
5 The success of the actual experiment was due to the high speed of the wind. False
Earlier this year, the team put Clemmons’s unlikely theory to the test, using a 40-square-meter rectangular nylon sail. The kite lifted the column clean off the ground. ‘We were absolutely stunned’ Gharib says. The instant the sail opened into the wind, a huge force was generated and the column was raised to the vertical in a mere 40 seconds.’
The wind was blowing at a gentle 16 to 20 kilometers an hour, little more than half what they thought would be needed.
(the wind speed was NOT high – it was gentle).
6 They found that, as the kite flew higher, the wind force got stronger. Not Given
What they had failed to reckon with was what happened when the kite was opened. There was a huge initial force – five times larger than the steady state force’ Gharib says. This jerk meant that kites could lift huge weights, Gharib realised.
(The initial (first) force was huge. What happened as the kite flew higher? We don’t know).
7 The team decided that it was possible to use kites to raise very heavy stones. True
Even a 300-tonne column could have been lifted to the vertical with 40 or so men and four or five sails. So Clemmons was right: the pyramid builders could have used kites to lift massive stones into place. ‘Whether they actually did is another matter,’ Gharib says. There are no pictures showing the construction of the pyramids, so there is no way to tell what really happened. The evidence for using kites to move large stones is no better or worse than the evidence for the brute force method’ Gharib says.
Listen to the Podcast here:
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