IELTS雅思學術閱讀True/False/Not Given與Yes/No/Not Given解題技巧

例題

我們首先看看True/False/Not Given與Yes/No/Not Given的例題，以便說明這兩種題型的差異。

True/False/Not Given:

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Next to questions 1-5 write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information.
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information.
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

1. Australia is a dangerous country. .................
2. Most state universities in Australia are of comparable quality. .................
3. A degree from a UK university is highly regarded. .................
4. The British education system has a large practical element. .................
5. Canada has the top three universities in the world. .................

Yes/No/Not Given:

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the passage?

You should write

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer.
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer.
NOT GIVEN if it impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

1. Freegans choose their lifestyle because they think that food is too expensive. .................
2. The main culprits for wasting food are private households. .................
3. Supermarkets' buying power can lead to wasted produce. .................

如果我們比較底線部份的作答說明，我們可以發現，True/False/Not Given的題型，要求考生比較題目句與文章的資訊(這些文章的內容通常是描述或報導事實)。而Yes/No/Not Given的題型，則要求考生比較題目句與作者的觀點(這些文章通常是議論文)。

雖然有這樣的差異，不過True/False/Not Given與Yes/No/Not Given的題目，都要求考生仔細比較題目句與文章的內容，因此考生可以採取相同的作答方式。

基本解題概念

讓我們用以下Yes/No/Not Given的題目來說明。以下的引文來自一篇討論亞洲學生喜歡看電視而忽略體重的文章：

"... families and schools must be involved in encouraging children to spend less time watching TV and playing computer games and more time playing games such as rope skipping, basketball, or soccer ..."

Read sentences 1-3. For each sentence, decide if it

express the sample opinion as the quote. (Yes)
express an opposite meaning. (No)
says something completely new, not mentioned in the original statement. (Not given)

1. Team sports are better for children's health than activities like skipping. .................
2. Parents have a responsibility to make their children exercise more. .................
3. Schools should focus on education, rather than worrying about children's health. .................

Yes/No/Not Given的題型，要求我們仔細閱讀題目句以及文章引文，並且思考兩者的意義是否一致。以第一題來說，雖然引文有提到skipping(跳繩)以及basketball與soccer這兩個team sports，但是與題目句不同的是，引文並沒有比較team sports與skipping何者對孩童的健康比較有好處，因此我們的答案必須填Not given。

第二題的話，引文的意義是「家長與學校都必須鼓勵孩童少看電視跟多運動」，跟第二題的題目意義相同，因此我們的答案必須填Yes。

至於第三題，題目句的意義是「學校應該專心在教育上，而不是擔心孩童們的健康」，可是引文提到學校也有責任鼓勵孩童多運動，因此題目與引文的意義相反，所以我們的答案必須填No。

解題步驟

上述的題目雖然看似不難，不過這是因為我們已經將文章中與題目相關的文句抽離出來，好讓我們從容地比較題目句與引文的意義。可是真正考試時，考生必須先從整篇文章中，找出與題目句相關的句子，然後才能比較題目句與文章句子的意義是否一致。考生該如何閱讀文章，才能盡快找到與題目句相關的句子呢？我們建議的作答策略如下：

Step 1：了解文章結構

我們建議考生先用2-3分鐘的時間，以「略讀」(skimming)的方式，理解整篇文章的主題與每個段落的大意。有些段落會有「主題句」(topic sentence)，可以幫助考生迅速掌握段落的重點。如果一個段落沒有明顯的主題句的話，那麼考生可以利用這個段落與先前段落的關係，預測這個段落的主題。通過「略讀」，考生可以了解文章的大致結構，或作者的論述方向。這樣稍後回答題目時，考生才能迅速找到相關的段落或文句，而不是亂看、亂找。除此之外，掌握文章結構後，不僅可以回答True/False/Not Given與Yes/No/Not Given的題型，也可以回答其它類型的題目。

Step 2：細讀題目句，找出文章裡相關的文句

在細讀題目時，考生可以圈出重要的關鍵字(通常是名詞與動詞)，並且利用這些關鍵字，或者它們的「同義字」(synonyms)或「轉述詞」(paraphrases)，找出文章裡相關的段落與文句。

Step 3：比較文章文句與題目句的意義

找出文章中相關的文句後，我們就可以利用回答上面例題的方式，判斷題目句與文章文句的意義是否一致，並且回答True、False、Not Given或者Yes、No、Not Given。

例題

讓我們用以下的文章與題目，示範如何回答True/False/Not Given的題目。因為篇幅的關係，我們僅取用文章的某些段落。

Your adventure starts where?
An increasing number of students are thinking of going overseas to study for a degree. This week we focus on five English-speaking countries, examining what each has to offer and why you might choose to study there.

With thousands of institutions and courses to choose from, how do you decide where to study as an international student? Do you dream of heading for the land of Uncle Sam or would you feel more at home in Shakespeare's country? Perhaps the Australian outback will give you the space you need to work out the problems of the world. Whichever you choose, the adventure begins right here!

STUDY IN AUSTRALIA
Free-spirited Australia has been open to migration for many years and is today one of the world's top three destinations for international students. Australia's renowned cultural diversity, its high level of public safety and the vibrant atmosphere of its cities all help to make it easy for overseas visitors to feel at home. Academically speaking, most of the national, publicly-funded universities are of similarly high standard. Moreover, Australian institutions have a particularly strong reputation for research into the environment and sport science.

STUDY IN THE UK
.................

STUDY IN NEW ZEALAND
.................

STUDY IN THE USA
.................

STUDY IN CANADA
Surveys conducted by the United Nations have repeatedly found Canada to be among the top ten places in the world to live in. In addition, Canada's largest cities, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, have been recognised as world-class cities in which to live and work, for their cleanliness and safety and for their cultural activities and attractive lifestyles. A Canadian degree, diploma or certificate is well regarded in business, government and academic circles around the globe. Canada has two official languages – English and French. Studying and living in Canada could be your opportunity to learn both!

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Next to questions 1-5 write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information.
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information.
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

1. Australia is a dangerous country. .................
2. Most state universities in Australia are of comparable quality. .................
3. ...
4. ...
5. Canada has the top three universities in the world. .................

首先，根據第一題與第二題題目句裡的Australia，我們可以判斷文章裡的STUDY IN AUSTRALIA是我們需要細讀的段落。第一題提到澳洲很「危險」(dangerous)，可是段落裡提到澳洲很「安全」(Australia's ... high level of public safety)，因此題目句與段落文句的意義相矛盾，所以我們的答案為Not Given。第二題的話，題目句的意義是「澳洲的國立大學品質相當」，段落裡相關的文句是「大部分的國立大學都同樣地擁有很高的學術品質」(Academically speaking, most of the national, publicly-funded universities are of similarly high standard.)，兩句話的意義一致，所以我們的答案為True。至於第五題，題目句的主題是Canada，所以我們需要細讀的段落為STUDY IN CANDA。題目句的意義是「加拿大擁有世界前三名的頂尖大學」，可是段落只提到加拿大的學位受到商業界、政府、學界的高度認可，並沒有提到加拿大的大學在世界上的排名，因此我們的答案為Not Given。

考生常犯錯誤

考生在回答True/False/Not Given或Yes/No/Not Given題目時，經常犯下列兩種錯誤：

1. False/No vs. Not Given

考生經常混淆False/No與Not Given的差異。例如上面的第五題，許多考生會利用自己的背景知識(世界前三名的大學不在加拿大)，而把答案寫成False。可是我們必須了解，雅思閱讀並不考我們的背景知識，而是考我們對文章的理解，而且作答指示很明確：如果題目句的意義與文章文句的意義矛盾，則答案寫False，如果文章沒有提到題目句的資訊，則答案寫Not Given。所以閱讀時，我們不能錯誤地使用我們的背景知識。

2. 字詞vs.意義

考生通常知道詳讀題目句與辨認關鍵字之後，要回到文章尋找相關段落與文句，可是考生們在閱讀文章時，經常只尋找這些關鍵字，所以讀了許久，仍找不到相關的文句。然而，我們上面在說明解題步驟時，提到我們經常必須留意這些關鍵字的「同義字」或「轉述詞」。我們必須記得，閱讀測驗的重點不是「尋找關鍵字詞」，而是「意義理解」。假如考生沒有精確理解題目句與文章文句的意義，那麼就可能亂讀、亂找，不是浪費太多時間，就是在文章中看到一個題目句的關鍵字，就根據那個句子來作答。利用這樣的作答方式，考生也就踏入雅思的陷阱，題目經常寫錯了。

總結

在本篇文章中，我們示範如何回答雅思學術閱讀裡True/False/Not Given與Yes/No/Not Given兩種題型，希望考生能夠應用在平常的練習與正式的考試中。請持續關注我們的文章，一起克服難纏的雅思考試喔！