True/False/Not Given Questions

Let’s start with the basics.

True =  The statement is the same as the text (you have to find synonyms that say the same thing as the statements)

False = The statement contradicts/says the opposite of the text (you have to find evidence that the statement is wrong or NOT TRUE)

Not Given = The text does not say if the statement is True or False (in real life, it could be true OR false, but there is no answer in the text)

Remember!

• The answer is 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 always 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.
• True/False/Not Given are the same as Yes/No/Does Not Say.

Strategy

• Make sure you understand the statement.
• 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.
• Turn the statement into a question – this will help you see if the answer is actually NOT GIVEN in the text.
• Write T/F/NG on the answer sheet to save time – you don’t need to write them in full.

True 

Read this paragraph from a text about how the pyramids were built:

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.

Now look at statement 1.

1 It is generally believed that large numbers of people were needed to build the pyramids. 

Underline the synonyms (similar words or words with the same meaning):

Synonyms:

It is generally believed  = The conventional picture

large numbers of people = tens of thousands of slaves

So is the statement True or False?

Correct answer: TRUE (the statement has exactly the same meaning as the text).

False

Follow the same strategy for the next statement:

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.

Look at Statement 2:

2 Clemmons found a strange hieroglyph on the wall of an Egyptian monument. 

So is Statement 2 True or False?

The sentence in the text contradicts (says the opposite of) Statement 2:

• ‘while perusing a book’ is not the same as ‘on the wall of an Egyptian monument‘ 

 So of course the answer is FALSE.

 ***If you want to check if the answer is NOT GIVEN, turn the statement into a question:

 Did Clemmons find the hieroglyph on the wall of an Egyptian monument?

Where did Clemmons find the hieroglyph? Was it on the wall of an Egyptian monument?

The answer is in the text – she found the hieroglyph in a BOOK. So the answer is GIVEN, but the statement is not correct. So it is FALSE.

Not Given

Look at the next paragraph of the text (remember that the statements/questions will go in the same order as the information in the text):

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.

3 Gharib had previously done experiments on bird flight.

Ask yourself the question. Did Gahrib do experiments on bird flight before he met Clemmons?

Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t. We don’t know, so the answer is NOT GIVEN.

To conclude…

• NOT GIVEN is very different from FALSE. 
• FALSE answers say the opposite or give incorrect information, so you need to read very carefully to see if you can find any evidence of opposite or incorrect information.
• NOT GIVEN answers do not have the opposite information. They may say something related to the topic, but it will not give us an answer to the ‘question’ in the statement.