Every IELTS Reading test, no matter Academic or General has tasks of this kind. Lots of students tell me (and I agree) that this is a very confusing task.
For those who has no idea what I am talking about, I’ll explain - this task has a statement, and your job is to say is it True, False or Not Given in the reading passage.
How do you “attack” it? First learn the rule:
If the statement clearly appears in text - it is True
If the text clearly says the opposite of statement - it is False
If you didn’t find the statement to be True or False - it is Not Given
For example:
“Smoking is dangerous and can lead to cancer” - T, F, NG
1) If the text clearly says that “smoking is dangerous and leads to cancer” than the answer is T.
2) If the text says that “No research showed evidence that smoking is dangerous and leads to cancer” than the answer is F.
3) If the text says “The research included smoking people of both genders of ages 30 to 45″ and nothing else about smoking - your answer is NG.
Don’t make these mistakes:
Don’t assume anything based on your knowledge and experience, read the text! It is the oldest trick in the book and they use it a lot in IELTS.
Don’t “over think” your answer - you could start building long logical sequences that will take you to the wrong answer.
We are becoming increasingly dependent on computers. They are used in business, hospitals, crime detection and even to fly planes. What things will they be used for in future? Is this dependence on computers a good thing or should we be more suspicious of their benefits?
In the last two decades cybernetics have experienced a major breakthrough .This led to the utilization of computers at nearly all parts of our daily life, from personal computers to complicated surgery performing. Surely the uptake of this technology facilitates a lot of difficult tasks but is this excessive dependance ripping the warmth of our lives? In this essay, I will outline how the availability of computers affects our lives.
Most of the daily tasks an individual experiences are time and effort consuming. These two fundemental qualities could be tremendously saved by the use of computers. The average period required to prepare a decent meal for a middle-class family is around an hour to and hour and a half when using traditional methods. This time could be literally reduced to half if computerized decivesare used instead. Moreover, a busy businessman is enabled to easily close a profitable deal just with a touch on this highly programmed laptop while enjoying his family vacation and not having to exert an extra effort of traveling long distances just to sign a deal.
On the other hand, new generations are growing remarkably dependent on these modern utilities, which make them handicapped when it comes to preparing a cup of tea. Inaddition, psychologists suggest that one of the main reasons for sucidal rate increase is recent electric inventions. This is due to that humans by nature stay emotionally healthy through socializing, but due to the importance of modern technology to maintain a financially satisfying standard of life they gradually isulate themselves. As time passes by each of these individuals gets stuck in a vicious circle of loneliness that eventually leads to suicidal attempts specially among youngsters.
In conclusion, similar to every other invention computers has its benefits and drawbacks, I personally think it all depends upon how we use the given tools . Moderation is the key here to keep the balance and allow us to live in harmony.
Good essay, nice vocabulary, a little too long (340 words instead of 250), a few grammatical mistakes. The topic is not fully covered (what about the “things will they be used for in future” part?).
Let me give you an example:
The original text is something like this: “Everyone should make a business plan during startup of a business. Business nature changes from time to time. One should update the business plan based on changes”.
The Question is: ‘A business plan needs to be created only for new businesses’.
How would you mark this? T, F or, NG ?
Comment by mchisty — September 5, 2007 @ 1:06 am
This looks like a False to me. Why: trap word “only” - the text says that EVERY new business needs a plan, not ONLY new business needs a plan.
Comment by admin — September 6, 2007 @ 4:27 am