Practise under exam conditions8 questions · 10 minutes. In the real test you have about 20 minutes per passage.
True/False/Not Given is the question type candidates find hardest, and the one where good readers lose the most marks. The problem is rarely understanding the passage. It’s understanding exactly what each answer means. This guide explains the rule, a keyword matching strategy that works under time pressure, and gives you a practice passage with an instant answer checker.
What TRUE, FALSE and NOT GIVEN really mean#
| Answer | Meaning | Test |
|---|---|---|
| TRUE | The passage says the same thing, usually in different words. | You can point to the sentence that confirms it. |
| FALSE | The passage says the opposite, or something that makes the statement impossible. | You can point to the sentence that contradicts it. |
| NOT GIVEN | The passage doesn’t say. It may mention the topic, but not this information. | You can’t find anything that confirms or contradicts it. |
The key rule: FALSE needs evidence. NOT GIVEN is the absence of evidence. If you’re choosing FALSE, you must be able to underline the words that contradict the statement.
Yes/No/Not Given works the same way, but the statements are about the writer’s opinions or claims rather than facts. YES = the writer agrees, NO = the writer disagrees, NOT GIVEN = the writer’s view isn’t stated.
The keyword matching strategy#
- Read the statement and underline the keywords, especially names, numbers and dates, which are easy to find in the passage.
- Scan for those keywords or their synonyms. The passage will paraphrase: popular might become in demand; more than doubled might become increased by over 100%.
- Read the sentence before and after carefully. The answer usually depends on one detail.
- Watch for qualifiers: all, most, some, always, usually, only, the first. One word changes TRUE into FALSE or NOT GIVEN.
- Answers follow the order of the passage. If you can’t find question 3, check between the answers to questions 2 and 4.
Common trap: using your own knowledge. If the passage doesn’t say it, the answer is NOT GIVEN, even if it is true in real life.
Practice: The Rise of the Urban Beekeeper#
Read the passage, answer the 8 questions, then check your answers below. Suggested time: 10 minutes.
The Rise of the Urban Beekeeper#
Beekeeping, once thought of as a purely rural pastime, has become surprisingly popular in cities. In several European capitals, the number of registered hives more than doubled within five years, and similar growth has been reported in North America and Asia. The rooftops of hotels, office blocks and even the Paris Opera house now support colonies of honeybees.
Supporters argue that urban hives help to reverse the decline in bee populations, which scientists have linked to pesticides, disease and the loss of wild flowers on farmland. Cities, perhaps unexpectedly, can offer bees a richer diet than the countryside. Parks, gardens and street trees provide a wide variety of flowers that bloom at different times of the year, and city authorities rarely spray pesticides on public green spaces.
However, some ecologists warn that the boom may be doing more harm than good. Honeybees are only one of more than 250 bee species found in Britain, and most of the others are wild, solitary bees that do not live in hives. When too many honeybee colonies are kept in a small area, they compete with wild bees for the same limited supply of nectar and pollen. One study in a European city found that the districts with the highest density of hives recorded the fewest species of wild bees.
Experts therefore recommend that would-be beekeepers think carefully before buying a hive. Planting bee-friendly flowers, they say, is often a more effective way to help pollinators than keeping bees. Some local authorities have begun to respond by requiring new hives to be registered and by refusing permission for hives on public buildings.
For those who still wish to keep bees, training is essential. Beginners’ courses typically run over several weekends and cover hive inspection, disease prevention and how to deal with a swarm safely. Urban honey, meanwhile, has become a fashionable product, selling for up to three times the price of supermarket honey, although laboratory tests suggest that its quality is no different from that of honey produced in the countryside.
Questions 1–8#
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Choose TRUE if the statement agrees with the information, FALSE if the statement contradicts the information, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
- Urban beekeeping has grown in more than one continent.
- The Paris Opera house was the first building in the city to keep bees on its roof.
- Public parks in cities are usually sprayed with more pesticides than farmland.
- Most bee species in Britain do not live in hives.
- Honeybees in cities produce more honey than honeybees in the countryside.
- Keeping many hives close together may reduce the variety of wild bees.
- Experts believe that keeping bees is the best way for individuals to help pollinators.
- Honey from city hives is of higher quality than honey from rural hives.
Check your answers
Enter your answers and press Check. Spelling counts, but capitals and punctuation don’t.
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Answer key with explanationsShowHide
- 1TRUEParagraph 1: growth in “several European capitals” and “similar growth… in North America and Asia”.
- 2NOT GIVENParagraph 1 says the Opera house has colonies of bees, but nothing about it being the first.
- 3FALSEParagraph 2: “city authorities rarely spray pesticides on public green spaces”, the opposite of the statement.
- 4TRUEParagraph 3: “most of the others are wild, solitary bees that do not live in hives”.
- 5NOT GIVENThe passage compares the diet and the honey’s quality and price, but never the amount produced.
- 6TRUEParagraph 3: districts “with the highest density of hives recorded the fewest species of wild bees”.
- 7FALSEParagraph 4: planting flowers “is often a more effective way to help pollinators than keeping bees”.
- 8FALSEParagraph 5: tests suggest its quality “is no different” from countryside honey.
What this practice teaches#
- Q2 and Q5 are classic NOT GIVEN traps: the topic is mentioned (the Opera house, honey), but not the specific claim.
- Q8 is FALSE, not NOT GIVEN: “no different” directly contradicts “higher quality”.
- Q3 changes one word, rarely vs usually more. Always check frequency words.
Other IELTS Reading question types#
- Matching headings
- Multiple choice
- Table and note completion
- Summary completion
- Short answer questions
See all IELTS Reading question types with tips, or take a full reading practice test to practise under exam conditions.