IELTS Reading Yes / No / Not Given: Practice with Answers

Identify the writer's precise claim

Read the statement as a claim and locate the writer's position on the same issue. Do not decide from a matching word alone. A writer who says an approach may help has not said that it always works or that it is the best approach in every situation. Small qualifiers such as some, only, may, must, all and never can change the meaning of the statement. Compare the scope of both claims before answering.

Choose Yes when the statement agrees with the writer's expressed view. Choose No when the writer clearly argues the opposite. Choose Not Given when the passage provides too little information to confirm or reject that particular claim. Missing evidence is not the same as evidence against something. During practice, record the supporting line for Yes or No, or note which comparison is absent for Not Given.

Original mini-exercise with three worked answers

Practice passage: Some towns have expanded bicycle lanes. The writer argues that they can make short journeys easier, but they cannot solve traffic congestion on their own. The passage does not discuss construction costs. Statement one: The writer believes bicycle lanes may make short trips easier. Answer: Yes, because this matches the writer's cautious claim. Statement two: The writer believes bicycle lanes solve every traffic problem. Answer: No, because the passage explicitly says they cannot solve congestion alone.

Statement three: The writer believes bicycle lanes are cheaper than bus routes. Answer: Not Given. No comparison of the two construction costs appears in the text. You might have an opinion about which option costs less, but a reading answer cannot rely on outside knowledge. These short statements are designed to teach the method; a real IELTS Reading passage is longer and must be checked in its own context.

Try it yourself: five original practice statements

Read the following original passage, then choose Yes, No or Not Given for each statement. Record your answers before reading the explanations below. This is a short teaching exercise written for MaxIELTS, not an official IELTS question or a complete Reading test.

Passage: City reading rooms now offer evening study sessions. I welcome this development: shared rooms can help some learners form a routine. Yet a quiet seat cannot replace a planned task and deliberate review. A reader who returns nightly to repeat yesterday’s answers may simply memorise them. Staff should therefore provide optional goal sheets, while visitors should choose goals themselves; making identical targets compulsory would overlook different needs. One room uses a reservation app, but I do not regard an app as necessary for a useful session. Whether evening sessions cost more to run than daytime sessions is outside the scope of this article. Success should be judged by what learners can explain afterwards, rather than by attendance alone.

1. The writer believes shared study rooms may help some learners establish a routine.

2. The writer thinks every visitor should be required to meet the same study targets.

3. The writer believes evening sessions are more expensive to operate than daytime sessions.

4. The writer regards a reservation app as essential for a worthwhile study session.

5. The writer thinks visitors should have a choice in setting their study goals.

Answer key and the evidence behind each choice

1 — Yes. The writer says shared rooms “can help some learners form a routine”. May help and can help express the same cautious position here; neither claims that every learner benefits.

2 — No. The writer objects to compulsory identical targets because learners have different needs. The statement reverses this position; this is a contradiction, not merely missing information.

3 — Not Given. The writer does not compare operating costs. Saying that costs are outside the article’s scope does not tell you which session is cheaper. Do not fill that gap with your own expectations about staffing or electricity.

4 — No. The text explicitly says an app is not necessary. A particular room using an app does not mean the writer considers it essential.

5 — Yes. The writer says visitors should choose their goals themselves. This agrees with having a choice. If you missed this answer, look for a paraphrase of the whole claim rather than an identical keyword.

Use a short correction loop

Try three questions and underline the evidence before making a final choice. If you answered instantly, inspect whether the question contains stronger wording than the passage. Contrasts such as can versus must or sometimes versus always deserve attention, but no individual word determines the answer by itself. Read the whole relevant sentence. In opinion questions, identify exactly whose view is being reported; a researcher quoted in a passage may not represent the writer's own opinion.

After checking answers, classify your mistake: misreading the writer's position, overlooking a qualifier, or using knowledge that the passage did not provide. Return to a new question of the same type to test whether your correction works. MaxIELTS offers Reading practice so you can continue with longer items after the worked illustration. Measure improvement by fewer repeated interpretation mistakes, not only by the number of questions attempted.

For your next session

• Paraphrase the question as a claim.
• Find the writer's relevant opinion.
• Compare limiting words and strength of claim.
• Underline evidence for Yes or No.
• For Not Given, identify what the passage never establishes.