IELTS Reading Question Types Decoded | Part 1: T/F/NG and Y/N/NG
- Yupa Hiranyamay
- 12 hours ago
- 11 min read
In the previous blog, many of you voted for one question type in particular:
True / False / Not Given and Yes / No / Not Given
And honestly, that is not surprising. These are among the most confusing question types in IELTS Reading because students often:
overthink the statements
assume information
confuse “False” with “Not Given”
or answer based on general knowledge instead of the passage
The good news?
These questions follow a very clear logic once you understand what IELTS is actually testing.
What Is the Difference Between These Two Question Types?
At first glance, both question types look almost identical. But there is one important difference.
True / False / Not Given focuses on facts and information. You must compare the statement with the information given in the passage.
Yes / No / Not Given focuses on the writer’s views, opinions, or beliefs. Here, you are identifying whether the writer agrees, disagrees, or does not mention the idea.
Why Do Students Struggle With These Questions?
Most mistakes happen because students:
search for exact words instead of meaning
use outside knowledge
assume information that is not clearly stated
panic when wording is paraphrased
misunderstand the difference between “False” and “Not Given”
IELTS is testing precision here. Not assumptions.
The Most Important Rule is your answer must come only from the passage. Not from:
your opinion
your background knowledge
or what “sounds logical”
Even if something is true in real life, if the passage does not clearly say it, the answer may still be Not Given.
Understanding the Logic -
1. TRUE
The statement agrees with the information in the passage.
The meaning is the same, even if the wording is different.
Example -
Passage: “Many employees now prefer remote work because it offers greater flexibility.”
Statement: Remote work is popular because employees have more flexibility.
Answer: TRUE
The wording changes, but the meaning remains the same.
2. FALSE
The statement directly contradicts the information in the passage.
Example -
Passage: “The company reduced working hours to improve employee wellbeing.”
Statement: The company increased working hours to improve productivity.
Answer: FALSE
The statement says the opposite of the passage.
3. NOT GIVEN
This is where most students struggle.
Not Given means the information is simply not available in the passage.
The passage may discuss the topic generally, but it does not clearly confirm or deny the statement.
Example -
Passage: “The company introduced flexible work policies in 2022.”
Statement: Employees were happier after the new policies were introduced.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
The passage mentions the policies, but says nothing about employee happiness. You cannot assume the outcome.
A Common Mistake Students Make
Many students think: “If the information is not true, it must be False.” That is not correct.
Remember:
FALSE = the passage clearly says the opposite
NOT GIVEN = the passage does not provide enough information
This single distinction changes many IELTS Reading scores.
Strategy -
1. Locate the relevant part of the passage. The answers usually follow the order of the passage. Do not read the entire passage repeatedly. Find the section connected to the statement.
2. Focus on meaning, Not exact words. IELTS frequently paraphrases information. The statement and the passage may use completely different vocabulary while expressing the same idea. Always compare meaning, not wording.
3. Do not assume anything, this is extremely important. If the passage does not clearly support the statement, do not add your own interpretation. Stay strictly within the information provided.
4. Identify keywords carefully. Focus on:
names
dates
numbers
comparisons
opinions
strong words like always, only, all, never
These often help identify contradictions.
5. Be careful with extreme language. Words like:
always
completely
impossible
everyone
never
often make statements incorrect because the passage usually uses more balanced language.
Quick Difference: FALSE vs NOT GIVEN
A simple way to think about it:
FALSE = The passage disagrees
NOT GIVEN = The passage stays silent
This distinction is one of the biggest keys to improving accuracy.
Examples -
Now, let us understand this more clearly using real IELTS Reading examples from Cambridge practise tests.
True/ False/ Not Given
Reading Passage Natural ice remained the main form of refrigeration until late in the 19th century. In the early 1800s, ship owners from Boston, USA, had enormous blocks of Arctic ice towed all over the Atlantic for the purpose of food preservation. In 1851, railroads first began putting blocks of ice in insulated rail cars to send butter from Ogdensburg, New York, to Boston. Initially, this process was invented to keep Australian beer cool even in hot weather. But Australian cattlemen were quick to realize that, if they could put this new invention on a ship, they could export meat across the oceans. In 1880, a shipment of Australian beef and mutton was sent, frozen, to England. While the food frozen this way was still palatable, there was some deterioration. During the freezing process, crystals formed within the cells of the food, and when the ice expanded and the cells burst, this spoilt the flavor and texture of the food. The modern frozen food industry began with the indigenous Inuit people of Canada. In 1912, a biology student in Massachusetts, USA, named Clarence Birdseye, ran out of money and went to Labrador in Canada to trap and trade furs. While he was there, he became fascinated with how the Inuit would quickly freeze fish in the Arctic air. The fish looked and tasted fresh even months later. 1950s families were also looking for convenience at mealtimes, so the moment was right for the arrival of the 'TV Dinner'. Swanson Foods was a large, nationally recognized producer of canned and frozen poultry. In 1954, the company adapted some of Birdseye's freezing techniques, and with the help of a clever name and a huge advertising budget, it launched the first TV Dinner'. This consisted of frozen turkey, potatoes and vegetables served in the same segmented aluminum tray that was used by airlines. The product was an instant success. Within a year, Swanson had sold 13 million TV dinners. American consumers couldn't resist the combination of a trusted brand name, a single-serving package and the convenience of a meal that could be ready after only 25 minutes in a hot oven. By 1959, Americans were spending $2.7 billion annually on frozen foods, and half a billion of that was spent on ready-prepared meals such as the TV Dinner. Today, the US frozen food industry has a turnover of over $67 billion annually, with $26.6 billion of that sold to consumers for home consumption. The remaining 540 billion in frozen food sales come through restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals and schools, and that represents a third of the total food service sales. |
Questions 8-13 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 8-13 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
|
Answer and Explanation :
Answer 8
NOT GIVEN
Explanation: The statement in the question adds extra information: “made some Boston ship owners very wealthy.” However, the passage never mentions profits, wealth, financial success, or whether the business was profitable at all. So, although the passage talks about the transportation of ice, it gives no information about the ship owners becoming wealthy.
Keyword Matching:
ice transportation business → “blocks of Arctic ice towed all over the Atlantic”
Boston ship owners → “ship owners from Boston”
Students often think that transporting huge amounts of ice must have made people rich. But IELTS only tests what is written in the passage, not logical assumptions.
Answer 9
TRUE
Explanation: The passage clearly says that the freezing process negatively affected the taste of food.
Keyword Matching:
disadvantage → “deterioration”
affected the taste → “spoilt the flavor”
The idea in the question directly matches the information in the passage, even though different words are used.
Students sometimes search only for the exact word “taste.” IELTS often paraphrases:
taste → flavor
problem → disadvantage
damaged → spoilt
Answer 10
FALSE
Explanation: The passage mentions his original purpose for travelling to Labrador was not to study freezing techniques. He learned about them only after arriving there.
Keyword Matching:
travelled to Labrador → “went to Labrador”
in order to learn → purpose/reason for going
The statement changes the reason for his journey. The passage gives a different reason:
Question: to learn freezing methods
Passage: to trap and trade furs
Since the information directly contradicts the passage, the answer is FALSE.
Be careful with purpose words such as:
in order to,
because,
so that.
Changing the reason for an action often creates a FALSE statement.
Answer 11
TRUE
Explanation: A “huge advertising budget” means the company spent a lot of money promoting the product.
Keyword Matching:
invested a great deal of money → “huge advertising budget”
promotion → “advertising”
The statement accurately paraphrases the information given in the text.
Don't miss the paraphrasing:
promotion = advertising
spent a lot of money = huge budget
Answer 12
FALSE
Explanation: The tray was already being used by airlines, so it was not a newly developed container.
Keyword Matching:
new style of container → “segmented aluminum tray”
The question says the container was new, but the passage clearly says it already existed.
Watch carefully for words like:
new,
first,
only,
always.
These extreme words often change the meaning and can make the statement FALSE.
Answer 13
NOT GIVEN
Explanation: The passage gives information about the size and sales of the US frozen food industry, but it does not compare it with other countries.
There is no statement saying it is:
the biggest,
the largest,
or number one in the world.
Keyword Matching:
currently → “Today”
US frozen food industry → exact phrase in passage
The passage provides statistics about the US industry only. No global comparison is made.
Students often assume: “large sales” = “largest in the world.”
But IELTS requires direct evidence from the passage. If no comparison is given, the answer is NOT GIVEN.
Yes/ No/ Not Given
It is also important to realise that stress travels rapidly from one person to the next. If a co-worker is stressed, we are more likely to tense up and feel stressed ourselves. We don't even need to be in the same room with someone for their emotions to influence our behaviour. Studies show that if we observe positive feeds on social media, such as images of a pink sunset, we are more likely to post uplifting messages ourselves. If we observe negative posts, such as complaints about a long queue at the coffee shop, we will in turn create more negative posts.) In some ways, many of us now live as if we are in danger, constantly ready to tackle demanding emails and text messages, and respond to news alerts and comments on social media. Repeatedly checking your phone, according to a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, is related to stress. In other words, a pre-programmed physiological reaction, which evolution has equipped us with to help us avoid famished predators, is now being triggered by an online post. Social media posting, according to one study, raises your pulse, makes you sweat, and enlarges your pupils more than most daily activities. The fact that stress increases the likelihood that we will focus more on alarming messages, together with the fact that it spreads extremely rapidly, can create collective fear that is not always justified. After a stressful public event, such as a natural disaster or major financial crash, there is often a wave of alarming information in traditional and social media, which individuals become very aware of. But that has the effect of exaggerating existing danger. And so, a reliable pattern emerges - stress is triggered, spreading from one person to the next, which temporarily enhances the likelihood that people will take in negative reports, which increases stress further. As a result, trips are cancelled, even if the disaster took place across the globe; stocks are sold, even when holding on is the best thing to do. The good news, however, is that positive emotions, such as hope, are contagious too, and are powerful in inducing people to act to find solutions. Being aware of the close relationship between people's emotional state and how they process information can help us frame our messages more effectively and become conscientious agents of change. |
Questions 36-40 Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? In boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet, 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
|
Answer and Explanation:
Answer 36
YES
Explanation:
The passage clearly supports the idea that the type of content we see, influences the tone of what we post ourselves.
Keyword Matching:
tone of the content we post → “post uplifting messages” / “create more negative posts”
reflect the nature of the posts in our feeds → “observe positive feeds” / “observe negative posts”
The writer directly agrees with the statement. Positive content leads to positive posts, and negative content leads to negative posts.
Students sometimes think “reflect” means exact copying. In IELTS, it simply means being influenced by or showing a similar nature.
Answer 37
NOT GIVEN
Explanation: The writer never compares phones with other electronic devices such as laptops, tablets, or televisions.
The statement uses a comparison: greater impact than other devices. But no such comparison exists in the passage.
Keyword Matching:
phones → “checking your phone”
stress levels → “related to stress”
The passage confirms that phones can cause stress, but it does not say whether they have a stronger effect than other devices.
Students often confuse: “phones cause stress” with “phones cause more stress than other devices.” IELTS frequently tests this difference.
Answer 38
NO
Explanation: The passage means stress actually makes people pay more attention to negative information, not less.
Keyword Matching:
stressful public event → “natural disaster or major financial crash”
less able to take the information in → opposite of “focus more on alarming messages”
The statement contradicts the writer’s idea.
Question: people absorb less information
Passage: people focus more on alarming information
Pay attention to opposites in IELTS:
less able ↔ focus more
ignore ↔ become very aware
These opposite meanings usually signal a NO answer.
Answer 39
YES
Explanation: The passage gives examples of unnecessary or exaggerated reactions caused by stress and alarming information.
Keyword Matching:
stress created by social media posts → “wave of alarming information in traditional and social media”
unnecessary precautions → “trips are cancelled” / “stocks are sold” unnecessarily
The writer clearly agrees that stress from media exposure can cause people to overreact.
IELTS often paraphrases:
unnecessary precautions → exaggerated reactions
alarming posts → stressful information
Answer 40
YES
Explanation: The writer believes emotional influence can be used constructively to encourage positive action and solutions.
Keyword Matching:
affected by other people’s moods → “positive emotions… are contagious”
used in a positive way → “help us frame our messages more effectively”
The writer clearly believes emotional influence can create positive change.
Some students stop reading after the negative discussion about stress and fear. However, the final paragraph changes direction with:
“The good news, however…”
This signals a positive viewpoint from the writer.
Just remember, these question types become difficult only when students try to guess. Once you stop assuming information and start comparing meaning carefully, the pattern becomes much clearer. The goal is not to “understand everything.” The goal is to identify:
agreement
contradiction
or absence of information
accurately and calmly.
In the next blog, we’ll focus on Matching Headings in the IELTS Reading section, as this received the second-highest number of votes.
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