Essential IELTS Reading tips for True, False, Not Given Questions. Learn the best techniques to deal with both TFNG and YNNG.This presentation offers practice exercises and highlights common problems students face in IELTS reading. www.manyagroup.com/ielts

1. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
Get a sneak peak at
IELTS strategies
for Reading

2. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
Getting Started
There are two types of exam: Academic or General Training. Before you begin preparing, you need to
find out:
1. What score you need; and
2. Whether you need to take the General Training IELTS or Academic IELTS exam.
The institute that requires your IELTS certificate can provide you with this information. The types of
question that you receive in the Academic reading exam are exactly the same as the question types
that you get in the General Training exam. However, the passages of text that you must read are
different.
General Training students will have to read a combination of long and short texts of both a general
and work-specific nature.
In comparison, Academic students must interact with three long texts of an academic nature.
The IELTS reading exam is divided into three sections of increasing difficulty. This test requires you to
answer 40 questions in 60 minutes.

3. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
Types of Questions
1) Matching Headings Questions
2) True False Not Given/Yes No Not Given Questions
3) Summary Completion/Flow Chart Question
4) Multiple Choice Questions
5) Sentence Completion
6) Short answer questions
7) Labelling a diagram
8) Sentence Completion

4. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
1) Matching Headings Questions:
Task: Choose a heading from the list which matches a section or paragraph in the passage
Skills:
 understanding the aim of a section
 identifying the difference between a main idea and supporting points
 understanding aims of paragraphs and sections
 understanding general content of paragraphs or sections
Tips:
 Read the headings before you read the passage
 there are often more headings than you need
 analyse the headings before trying to match them to sections or paragraphs
 answers are often numerals(i, ii, iii, iv, etc.)-read instructions carefully to check
 answers do not come in order
Types of Questions

5. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
The lost giants of Australian fauna
A) Australia's wildlife is unique. The vast majority of the animals that live there are not found anywhere
else – and things were no different 1 million years ago during the Pleistocene: the age of the super-sized
mammal. Before humanity became Earth's undisputed superpower, giant beasts of all shapes and sizes
dominated every continent, but the Pleistocene mammals of Australia were different. Some of them could
grow to the size of small cars, or possessed teeth longer than knife blades.
Find a suitable heading for this paragraph.
a) Extinction of monstrous creatures
b) The largest mammal
c) Myths and reality
d) Incredible creatures of Pleistocene Australia
e) Importance of animal protection
f) Giant lizards
g) Arrival of Australian Aboriginals
h) Mystery the giants' disappearance

6. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
Explanations
Paragraph A
After reading this paragraph we can clearly see that its main idea is to describe the wildlife in Australia during
Pleistocene. This idea is briefly written in the first sentence:
Australia's wildlife is unique.
So we can immediately cross out the irrelevant headings:
a) Extinction of monstrous creatures (there is nothing written about animals' extinction in the first paragraph)
b) The largest mammal
c) Myths and reality (the text just gives information about the animals, it says nothing about whether it is real)
d) Incredible creatures of Pleistocene Australia
e) Importance of animal protection (animal protection is not mentioned)
f) Giant lizards (nothing about lizards)
g) Arrival of Australian Aboriginals (nothing about Aboriginals)
h) Mystery the giants' disappearance (we're not given any information about animals' disappearance)
So we're left with two headings. But despite that super-sized mammal is mentioned in the text, the main focus of this
paragraph is Australia's wildlife during Pleistocene. So the correct answer is Incredible creatures of Pleistocene
Australia.

7. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
2) True False Not Given/Yes No Not Given Questions
Task: Decide if the information or writer's opinion in the question statements can be found in the passage
Skills
 Identifying specific information in the passage
 scanning and understanding information (T/F/NG questions)
 Understanding the opinions of the writer (Y/N/NG questions)
Tips
 Understand the meaning of each answer
 Yes / true = the same information is found in the passage
 No / false = the opposite information is found in the passage
 Not given = the information is not found in the passage
 Paraphrase the statements before trying to locate the answers
 Answers come in order

8. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
Example 1
The majority of the earth’s glaciers are located near the poles. The reason glaciers are generally formed in
high alpine regions is that they require cold temperatures throughout the year. In these areas where there
is little opportunity for summer ablation (loss of mass), snow changes to compacted fim and then
crystallized ice. During periods in which melting and evaporation exceed the amount of snowfall, glaciers
will retreat rather than progress. While glaciers rely heavily on snowfall, other climatic conditions including
freezing rain, avalanches, and wind, contribute to their growth.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 1–5 on your
answer sheet, write
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. All glaciers exist near the north and south poles of the earth. __________
2. ...
The statement “All glaciers exist near the north and south poles of the earth.” is FALSE because the sentence
in the text is “The majority of the earth’s glaciers are located near the poles.”

9. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
Example 2
In 1990, smoking caused more than 84,000 deaths, mainly resulting from such problems as pneumonia, bronchitis and
influenza. Smoking, it is believed, is responsible for 30 percent of all deaths from cancer and clearly represents the most
important preventable cause of cancer in countries like the United States today.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?
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. Thirty percent of deaths in the United States are caused by smoking-related diseases __________
2. ...
The statement is “Thirty percent of deaths in the United States are caused by smoking-related diseases”. The correlating
reading passage is: “Smoking, it is believed, is responsible for 30 percent of all deaths from cancer.”
A lot of students might have quickly answered this question as a TRUE because the ignore the words “deaths from
cancer”. However, the correct answer is FALSE as only 30 percent of deaths from cancer in the United States are
caused by smoking-related diseases. Some students might have answered this question as “NOT GIVEN” because.
However, logically, if smoking accounts for 30% of deaths from cancer, then it is responsible for less than 30% of
total deaths from all diseases. So the answer is FALSE.

10. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
3) Summary Completion/Flow Chart Question:
Task Completing a summary by filling in the gaps using words from the passage or words given in a box
Skills
 scanning for specific information in the passage
 understanding ideas and supporting points
 selecting appropriate words
Tips
 identify the type of word needed for each gap (noun/verb/adjective etc)
 locate the information in the passage in order to choose the right word
 if you choose words from the passage check how many words can be used for each answer
 answers usually come in order
 the summary must be grammatically correct which can help you in choosing the right word for the gap

11. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on the reading passage below.
The Dover Bronze-Age Boat
It was 1992. In England, workmen were building a new road through the heart of Dover, to connect the
ancient port and the Channel Tunnel, which, when it opened just two years later, was to be the first land
link between Britain and Europe for over 10,000 years. A small team from the Canterbury Archaeological
Trust (CAT) worked alongside the workmen, recording new discoveries bought to light by the machines.
In 2002, on the tenth anniversary of the discovery, the Dover Bronze-Age Boat Trust hosted a conference,
where this meeting of different traditions became apparent. Alongside technical papers about the boat,
other speakers explored its social and economic contexts, and the religious perceptions of boats in Bronze-
Age societies. Many speakers came from overseas, and debate about cultural connections was renewed.
Detailed proposals to reconstruct the boat were drawn up in 2004. Archaeological evidence was beginning
to suggest a Bronze- Age community straddling the Channel, brought together by the sea, rather than
separated by it. In a region today divided by languages and borders, archaeologists had a duty to inform the
general public about their common cultural heritage.

12. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
Questions 1-5
Complete the chart below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer. Write your answers in
boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
Key events:
1992- the boat was discovered during the construction of a 1……………
2002-an international 2…………… was held to gather information
2004- 3……………. for the reconstruction were produced
2007- the 4…………… Of BOAT 1550BC took place
2012- the Bronze-Age 5…………… featured the boat and other objects
• Look for main keywords, here years will help you to locate the answers. For Example: 1992, 2002,
2004, etc.

13. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
4) Multiple Choice Questions:
Task: Choose the correct answer to a question or the correct ending to a sentence from usually 3 or 4
possible options.
Skills
scanning for specific Information
understanding information in the passage
Process of Elimination
Tips
Paraphrase the information in the question and options
locate the precise information in the passage
answers come in order
answers are usually letters (A. B, C or D)- read the instructions carefully to check

14. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
Example:
Rice That Fights Global Warming
More than half the global population relies on rice as a regular part of their diet. But rice paddies have a downside for the planet too: they produce as much as 17
percent of the world's total methane emissions. That is even more than coal mining emissions, which make 10 percent of total! So Christer Jansson, a plant
biochemist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, spent the past 10 years developing SUSIBA2, a genetically modified rice plant that emits almost no
methane.
Multiple choice question:
1. What is the negative effect of rice?
a) It is regular part of more than half of the world population’s diet.
b) Rice paddies emit more methane than coal mining industry.
c) Its plantations produce 17% of the world’s total methane emissions.
d) Rice has genetically modified sort SUSIBA2, which is harmful for health.
In this question key words are “rice” and “negative effect”.
Now let's consider all the answers:
Answer A gives us true, but completely opposite information from what we're looking for. The first sentence tells us that
More than half the global population relies on rice as a regular part of their diet.
But it is a positive effect! And we're looking for the negative one. So this answer is false.
Answer B also gives us true information, but it is not what you’re asked about. Look at the third sentence, which contains information that answer B uses:
That is even more than coal mining emissions, which make 10 percent of total!
This sentence is used only to highlight the negative effect, not to state it.
Answer C is correct. The second sentence clearly states the negative effect:
But rice paddies have a downside for the planet too: they produce as much as 17 percent of the world's total methane emissions.
downside = negative effect
As you see, it's very important to search key words or their synonyms in the text.
Answer D is irrelevant: it was not written anywhere that SUSIBA2 is harmful. This answer uses some words from the text just to confuse you.
Don't be caught by irrelevant answers! If you see that answer contains information that contradicts the text or was not stated at all, it’s
an irrelevant answer.

15. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
Time Management
Tip 1 – Scan through the questions first
Tip 2 – Go through the introduction and conclusion first and body of the passage at last
Tip 3 – Don’t read every word and sentence
Tip 4 – Underline main points
Tip 5 – Answer each question within 60 seconds

16. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
Important Tips
1. Don’t expect to understand every word
2. Read the instructions VERY carefully
3. Don’t panic
4. Ignore anything you already know about the topic
5. Practice “Slow and Fast”
6. Be careful when transferring your answers
7. Leave no blanks

17. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
Computer Delivered IELTS
• There is no difference in the content, format or level of difficulty and scoring of the
computer-delivered IELTS test. The type of Academic Reading questions asked,
thus, remain the same as in the paper-based test.
• You cannot underline the sentences with pencil but can drag and highlight a
sentence.
• The screen is bifurcated in two columns with questions appearing on the right and
passage on the left.
• Pen and paper will be provided for making notes and some rough work.

18. ‘Saraswati before Lakshmi’
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