Identifying Writer’s View – IELTS Reading Task

Candidates will be asked whether the following statements agree with the views or claims of the writer.  Candidates are then required to answer with a “Yes”, “No” or “Not Given” in their answer sheets.

It’s important to remember that answering this portion with “True” or “False” will garner no points, whether the answers are correct relative to true being the equivalent of yes and no equivalent to false.

This tasked is designed to assess the candidate’s ability to discern opinions and ideas; to complete this task properly, candidates will often have to be able to discern the writer’s view not only from what has been directly stated, but also from what is implied.

Here are some tips that could help you get through your Identifying writer’s view task in the IELTS reading:

·         Scan and Mark – just like all other tips and especially from identifying information, the tip about scanning the passage still holds true, although I would also advice write what the general information of the paragraph is; this marking of the paragraph will give you an easier time to find any specific information you may need to verify.

·         Read between the lines – if you followed the above tip, verifying the statements or ideas will be easy, just remember that some statements or ideas will not be using the exact same words.

·         When to answer No – when the question states an idea or statement opposite or contrary to what the writer’s view or opinion is.

·         When to answer Not Given – when the information or statement was never explicitly mentioned in the passage. Whether the information or statement may or may not be true is inconsequential.

·         When to answer Yes – when the information or statement was explicitly mentioned in the passage, even if the words are different. Only the main idea or opinion needs to be the same

NOTE: Candidates should understand that any knowledge, idea or opinion they have on the topic outside the passage should not play any part when deciding on their answer.

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