Every IELTS Reading test, no matter Academic or General has tasks of this kind. Lots of students tell me (and I agree) that this is a very confusing task.

For those who has no idea what I am talking about, I’ll explain – this task has a statement, and your job is to say is it True, False or Not Given in the reading passage.

How do you “attack” it? First learn the rule:

•If the statement clearly appears in text – it is True
•If the text clearly says the opposite of statement – it is False
•If you didn’t find the statement to be True or False – it is Not Given
For example:
“Smoking is dangerous and can lead to cancer” – T, F, NG

1) If the text clearly says that “smoking is dangerous and leads to cancer” than the answer is T.

2) If the text says that “No research showed evidence that smoking is dangerous and leads to cancer” than the answer is F.

3) If the text says “The research included smoking people of both genders of ages 30 to 45″ and nothing else about smoking – your answer is NG.

Don’t make these mistakes:

•Don’t assume anything based on your knowledge and experience, read the text! It is the oldest trick in the book and they use it a lot in IELTS.
•Don’t “over think” your answer – you could start building long logical sequences that will take you to the wrong answer.


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9 free resources to help you get a better score
What do you do to get a higher score in the IELTS Reading test? Increase your speed by reading more texts, that’s right. But not just any texts – there is a certain kind of reading passages you will find in IELTS more often.

Many of you were asking me: “What should I read?” and here’s the answer: reading passages in the previous IELTS tests came from the following sources:

1. The Economist – a weekly newspaper focusing on international politics and business news and opinion.

2. The Economist Technology quarterly

3. New Scientist – a weekly science and technology news magazine, considered by some to be the world’s best, with diverse subject matter.

4. American Scientist – an illustrated bimonthly magazine of science and technology.

5. The Geographical Journal – publishers of original research and scholarship in physical and human geography.

6. Interscience – online editions of scientific, technical, medical and professional journals


7. Australian geographic – an entertaining and fact-filled reference for anyone who loves and is fascinated by Australia and things Australian.

8. The British museum – online publications

9. Illustrated London News – a pictorial example of a historic social record of British and world events up to the present day.

In all of these websites there are articles you can read online (no need to subscribe, they are free) . This way you will get familiar with the style and level of articles you are likely to see in a real IELTS exam. Practice in reading using these resources and you will kill two birds with one stone, improve your speed and expand your vocabulary.