6.1. True, False, Not Given
Decide whether a statement is true, false, or simply not in the passage, one step at a time.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? For questions 10-13, choose TRUE if the statement agrees with the information, FALSE if the statement contradicts the information, NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
- 10Beaver meat could be eaten at a time of year when the church forbade the eating of meat.10
- 11The Devon dams were built by a team of volunteers.11
- 12Beavers were extinct in Britain by the end of the sixteenth century.12
- 13The landowner opposed the release from the start.13
The short version
TRUE: the passage says the same thing, in its own words.
FALSE: the passage says something that cannot be true at the same time.
NOT GIVEN: the passage never decides it, even if the topic is there.
You judge one sentence of the passage, never the topic of a paragraph.
What you have to do
You get a list of statements about the passage. For each one you choose TRUE if the passage says the same thing, FALSE if the passage says the opposite, or NOT GIVEN if the passage does not say either way. The statements follow the order of the passage, so the answer to question 11 sits below the answer to question 10.
The three labels in plain words
TRUE means you can point at a sentence that says what the statement says, usually in different words. FALSE means you can point at a sentence that clashes with it: both cannot be true. NOT GIVEN means there is no sentence to point at. The passage may talk about the same subject, but it never decides this one point.
A sentence in the passage agrees with the statement.
A sentence in the passage contradicts the statement.
No sentence decides it, whatever the topic.
Step by step
- 1Read the statement and highlight its claim
Find the one idea that could be true or false: a number, a comparison, a cause, who did what. Yields were lower than in gardens claims a comparison. That comparison is what you will check, nothing else.
- 2Find the sentence in the passage
Scan for the names, numbers and dates in the statement, or words that mean the same. The statements follow the order of the text, so look below the last answer you found. When you land, read the whole sentence.
- 3Compare the claim with the sentence, piece by piece
Match the meaning, not the words. Watch the strength words: some against all, may against will, lower against much lower. If the sentence says the same thing, choose TRUE.
- 4For FALSE, look for a clash
Ask: can this sentence and this statement both be true? If not, choose FALSE. If the sentence is about the same topic but says nothing about this claim, choose NOT GIVEN. Being on the topic is not the same as deciding it.
- 5If you cannot find the sentence
Look once more just below your last answer. If it is still not there after a minute, that is your evidence: the passage does not decide it. Choose NOT GIVEN and move on. Never leave the box empty.
Statement: Adding more hives to the same roof raised honey yields.
Sentence found: *Extra hives on the same roof did not close that gap. In several sites they widened it.* The claim is that more hives raised yields. The sentence says extra hives widened the gap, which means yields fell further. Both cannot be true, so the answer is FALSE. Notice what did not decide it. The sentence is about hives and yields, which pulls you towards TRUE. And the fact is not missing, so it is not NOT GIVEN. The label comes from the sentence, not from the topic.
Work every statement the same way: claim, sentence, compare, then decide.
Quiz time5 questions
Each question gives you the one or two sentences you need. Practise the judgement, not the searching.
Same meaning, different words
TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN? Use only the sentence above the statement.
Read thisA 2017 survey of 30 roofs in Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield found that honey yields were 20 to 30 per cent lower than in matched gardens on the edge of the city.
The rooftop hives in the survey produced less honey than the garden hives they were compared with.
A clash
TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN?
Read thisExtra hives on the same roof did not close that gap. In several sites they widened it, because the same street trees were being worked by too many colonies.
Putting more hives on a roof increased the honey each hive produced.
Same topic, no decision
TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN?
Read thisThe researchers want industrial estates left without hives until someone measures them. Motorways, ports and 24-hour retail parks have barely been studied at all.
Hives beside motorways produce less honey than hives on city-centre roofs.
The strength word
TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN?
Read thisYields in the group moved to lower floors rose within two seasons, though they did not return to the levels recorded in the garden hives.
Moving hives to lower floors brought their yields back up to garden levels.
What you know is not in the passage
TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN?
Read thisCity authorities often treat these findings as a request to ban urban hives. The researchers do not.
Several city authorities have banned rooftop hives.
Try a full set
Below is the full passage the drills were taken from, with three statements set as the test sets them. Work the five steps in order, and look for each answer below the last one you found.
Rooftop beehives were introduced in several northern cities mainly as a visible greening project, not as a study of forage. In the last ten years, however, researchers have begun to treat hive density as an ecological variable. A 2017 survey of 30 roofs in Leeds, Manchester, and Sheffield found that honey yields were 20-30 per cent lower than in matched peri-urban gardens. Extra hives on the same roof did not close that gap. In several sites they widened it, because the same street trees were being worked by too many colonies. The mechanism is not only a shortage of flowers. Forage also has to be reached. Bees from a sixth-floor hive spend energy climbing out of a wind canyon before they reach a park. A follow-up trial in York moved half the study hives to first-floor terraces. Yields in the lower group rose within two seasons, though they did not return to the levels recorded in the peri-urban control gardens. City authorities often treat these findings as a request to ban urban hives. The researchers do not. They argue for a cap on colonies per roof, for native forage on the same block, and for leaving industrial estates unstocked until someone measures them. Those changes cost less than a ban and still leave a few hives as education tools. The open question is scale: most of the published work covers city-centre roofs and quiet residential streets. Motorways, ports, and 24-hour retail parks have barely been measured.
The full set3 questions
Label the motorway statement
TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN? Use the passage above.
Honey from hives beside motorways is sweeter than honey from city roofs.
Label the yield statement
TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN?
Honey yields on the surveyed city roofs were lower than in matched peri-urban gardens.
Label the ban statement
TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN?
The researchers recommend a city-wide ban on urban hives.
Tips
- Find the sentence before you judge
Locate the sentence the statement is about. If you cannot find it after a proper look, that is evidence for NOT GIVEN.
- Do not fill the gap yourself
What you know about the world is not in the passage. NOT GIVEN often feels false because you can guess the answer.
- Watch the strength of the wording
Some becoming all, or may becoming will, turns a true statement false.
Recap
Highlight the claim, find the sentence, compare, then decide.
TRUE means a sentence agrees. FALSE means a sentence clashes.
NOT GIVEN means no sentence decides it, however familiar the topic.
Next: the same three labels applied to what the writer thinks.