Your practical starting point
Choose True when the passage supports the statement, False when it contradicts it, and Not Given when the needed information is missing. Read the instructions carefully: questions about a writer’s views use a different response set.
Contradiction and missing information are different
For questions asking whether statements agree with information in a text, distinguish a supported claim from a contradicted claim and from one the text cannot settle. The absence of a detail does not automatically make a statement false.
The wording of the statement matters. Numbers, conditions and qualifiers can change a claim. A familiar word appearing in both the passage and the question is a useful clue for locating evidence, but it is not enough to decide the answer.
Read an original short practice passage
This passage and its questions were created for learning and are not official IELTS test material. The short text isolates the decision process; a full test passage will place information in a more demanding context.
Read the whole passage before looking at the answers. Then identify the exact information needed to confirm or contradict each statement.
The community library closes at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On other weekdays, it closes at 5 p.m. Members may borrow up to three books at a time and must return them within fourteen days.
Statement 1: The library closes at 7 p.m. on Thursdays.
Statement 2: Members may borrow five books at a time.
Statement 3: The library first opened in 2005.
Compare your answers with the evidence
The first statement is True: the closing time on Thursdays is explicitly provided. The second is False: a maximum of three books contradicts permission to borrow five at once. The third is Not Given: the opening year is not mentioned.
Do not use an imagined history of the library to decide the third statement. You do not need to prove that 2005 is impossible. You need to recognise that the passage does not provide the information required to decide whether the claim is correct.
1 — True: Thursday is one of the two days with a 7 p.m. closing time.
2 — False: five exceeds the stated borrowing limit of three.
3 — Not Given: no opening year is supplied.
Use a small evidence-checking routine
Locate the relevant part of the passage, then read around it. Check whether a later sentence changes the condition or introduces an exception. Decide which relationship the statement has to the information you found.
A word such as “all” or “only” deserves attention, but it is not a shortcut to a particular answer. Check whether the text supports that precise strength of claim. Likewise, different wording can express the same meaning; a question need not copy the passage exactly.
- Identify the specific claim in the statement.
- Find the relevant part of the text.
- Check numbers, time references, conditions and qualifiers.
- Ask whether the evidence supports it, contradicts it or leaves it undecided.
- Use the answer labels required by that question’s instructions.
Review the reason, not only the label
After practice, write a short explanation for each decision. If you can give only “it sounded right”, return to the passage. An answer review is more useful when it identifies the evidence you missed.
Use official practice resources for further work and follow their instructions. This brief exercise is not a complete Reading test or a reliable estimate of a band score. If you need guided preparation, ask how reading errors and their causes are reviewed in class.
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Common questions
Does an unfamiliar statement always mean Not Given?
No. Locate the relevant information and check the meaning. An unfamiliar paraphrase may still be supported or contradicted.
Can I use my general knowledge?
Base this decision on the passage. Outside knowledge cannot replace information the task requires from the text.
Are Yes, No and Not Given the same labels?
Follow the task instructions. Those labels concern agreement with a writer’s views or claims; do not substitute a different response set.
Further practice and sources
The examples and exercises are original illustrative material. Any fictional scenarios are labelled in the article. For supporting guidance and practice:
Source links do not imply endorsement of Spantach Academy.
Continue with our daily Communicative English routine or practise asking for clarification.