Speaker A
Many IELTS test takers have problems with true, false, not given questions. Yes, these questions are hard because it's often not clear whether a statement is true, false, or not given. But to get a high IELTS reading score, you must know how to solve them. This is what I'm going to teach you in this video. We solve true, false, not given questions together step by step, and I show you how to figure out the correct answers. By the way, guys, if you are going to take your IELTS soon, check out my IELTS materials. There, I teach you everything you need to score high. I show you step by step how to give high-scoring answers, and of course, we do many practice tests together so you will feel confident for your test. You can find the link to the IELTS materials in the description box. Now, let's get started. We will start with reading the instructions. That's the most important thing in the beginning. You need to read the instructions because the instructions tell you what you have to do. Now, here it says, does the following statement agree with the information given in the reading passage? In the box on your answer sheet, write true if the statement agrees with the information, false if the statement contradicts the information, and not given if there is no information on this. Here you can see the statement. Let's read the statement. What does it say? Pedro Agudelo was one of the foremost mural artists in Italy. Is this statement true, false, or not given? Let's figure this out. Let's have a look at the passage. We start reading from here. Although he was also a talented sculptor, Colombian artist Pedro Nel Gomez Agudelo is best known for his fresco murals. He graduated with a degree in civil engineering before moving to Florence, Italy, to receive classical art training. So we have several keywords in this passage, guys. Here it says Pedro Nel Gomez Agudelo, so this is a name, and we can find this name here. The statement also includes the word Italy, and it says Italy here because he moved to Florence, Italy, to receive classical art training. But these sentences don't say that he was one of the foremost mural artists in Italy. So let's continue reading. Using those techniques, he produced over 2,200 square meters of frescos, establishing himself as one of the most prominent and prolific artists in his country during his lifetime. This is interesting, guys, because here the passage says that he established himself as one of the most prominent and prolific artists in his country during his lifetime. The statement says that he was one of the foremost mural artists in Italy. Now, he obviously was one of the foremost mural artists because here it says "as one of the most prominent and prolific artists." This is paraphrasing, so this means foremost mural artists. But was he one of the foremost mural artists in Italy? The passage says that he was one of the most prominent and prolific artists in his country. And where was he from? He was from Colombia because here it says Colombian artist Pedro Nel Gomez Agudelo. So the passage doesn't say that he was one of the foremost mural artists in Italy. It says that he was one of the foremost mural artists in Colombia. The passage talks about Colombia and not Italy. Many IELTS students think, "Oh, this statement is false because the passage doesn't say that he was one of the foremost mural artists in Italy." Guys, that's wrong. The passage doesn't mention Italy; it only talks about Colombia. It mentions Italy in a different context by saying that he went to Italy to receive classical art training here, but this doesn't refer to him being one of the foremost mural artists in Italy. The passage simply doesn't talk about that. What's the correct answer? If the passage doesn't talk about it, the correct answer is not given. It's not wrong because the passage doesn't say that he was not one of the foremost mural artists in Italy. It doesn't tell us anything about that. We have no idea about his status in Italy. We only know that he was one of the foremost mural artists in Colombia. So the correct answer is not given, and that's what I'm going to write down here. By the way, guys, if this video is helpful to you, hit the like button. Also, comment down below whether you want more IELTS reading practice tests. Write yes if you want more. If you want something else, tell me in the comments so I know what you would like to see on this channel. Now, let's continue solving this test. Let's go on with the next question. Again, as you can see here, this is a true, false, not given question. We have just read the instructions, so let's quickly scan over them to make sure that this is actually a true, false, not given question. And it is. So we go directly to the statement. Now, the statement says housing prices in China greatly increased because of national policies. Let's have a look at this passage here. So where does the passage talk about housing prices? I can see the word housing here, so let's start reading from here. Due to various government initiatives, China experienced a large housing bubble in the first part of the 21st century. This sentence talks about a housing bubble. Let's continue reading. Prices rose over 121% between 2003 and 2008. So prices rose, and while there was a brief decline after that point, prices escalated again around 2015. Now we know that there has been a price increase, but we don't know the reasons yet. So let's continue reading. Sixty-nine out of the seventy largest cities reported increases. In Shanghai, real estate investment became extremely profitable, and many speculators entered the market. In fact, used housing skyrocketed by 8.31% in the single month of October 2015. So let's again have a look at our statement. Housing prices in China greatly increased because of national policies. Where does the passage talk about national policies? Here it says due to various government initiatives. Government initiatives are national policies, right? And it says that China experienced a large housing bubble because of that. So the statement seems to be true, right? That's what the passage says. Then the passage describes that prices rose and goes into detail, gives a few numbers, and here it also says that many speculators entered the market. But the passage doesn't say that that was the reason the prices increased. It only says many speculators entered the market. So the prices increased due to various government initiatives. So our statement is true. That's what the passage says. It agrees with the information given in the passage. Awesome, great job. Let's go on with the next question. Again, it's a true, false, not given question. So let's have a look at our statement here. What does it say? At least three countries decided not to continue following the Kyoto Protocol. So at the moment, we have absolutely no idea what the passage is about. So let's have a closer look at the passage to see whether the statement is true, false, or not given. So we're looking for the Kyoto Protocol, and we need to find out whether at least three countries decided not to continue following it. Here it says the Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that was passed in 1997 with targets to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Then the passage goes on saying that 38 developed countries signed that they would commit to specific limits, and other areas that were less developed agreed to reduce as much as possible. The final sentence says by the end of the first goal period in 2012, all the countries with specific commitments had reduced emissions, but a few, including Austria, Norway, and Spain, failed to reach their target. The statement says at least three countries decided not to continue following the Kyoto Protocol. Can we find that in the passage? The passage says that Austria, Norway, and Spain failed to reach their targets, so we obviously have three countries here, right? But the passage doesn't say that they decided not to continue following the Kyoto Protocol. It only says that they failed to reach their targets. So if you get a true, false, not given question, don't imply information into the passage if it's not directly stated.
