Lessons / Reading / Yes / No / Not Given
IELTS Reading
Yes / No / Not Given
The same three verdicts, but about the writer's opinions instead of the facts.
The instructions, word for word as the test writes them
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the passage?
Write:
YES — if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO — if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN — if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
What this task is
The writer clearly holds this view = YES.
The writer's claims and the statement fight = NO.
You cannot tell what the writer thinks = NOT GIVEN.
Where True/False/Not Given checks facts, this checks views. That is why it lives on Passage 3, the one with a writer who takes positions. And here is the skill it really tests: a view the writer reports is not a view the writer holds. "Some researchers argue that..." tells you what some researchers think. What the writer thinks may follow, may be the opposite, or may never be stated at all. In that last case, the answer is NOT GIVEN.
The traps
These are built in on purpose. Know them by name and half the danger is gone.
The passage describes a position vividly. The statement hands that position to the writer. Unless the writer signals agreement, that is NOT GIVEN. This exact trap appears deliberately, usually at least once per group.
"It may be that", "the evidence suggests", "Ferreira argues". These small words carry the strength and the ownership of every claim. A statement that strips the hedge overclaims, and overclaiming is NO.
What to do next time
- Hunt for evaluative language. "Rightly", "it is hard to accept", "more convincing". That is where the writer's own voice lives.
- Ask two questions, in order. Does the writer address this at all? Only then: agree or disagree? Skip the first question and the NOT GIVENs get lost.
- The verdicts follow passage order, and groups balance all three. The same discipline as True/False/Not Given applies.
Now meet it under a clock. Start a free mock. Every yes / no / not given question you get wrong comes back with the sentence that proves the answer, and the reason the trap was tempting.