PrepExSettle an IELTS Reading answer disagreement by comparing the complete question with the passage, then checking the task instructions. Each reader should identify the evidence and explain what the competing answer assumes. If the text cannot settle the claim, say exactly what information is missing. Confidence, a majority vote and outside knowledge cannot replace that evidence.
This guide gives study partners a review method for Academic and General Training Reading. It includes a short original teaching text, two disputed answers and a message you can send to a teacher when the explanation still does not make sense. The example is not a scored test or a claim about official IELTS difficulty.
Keep your first answer before opening the explanation
Write down your answer, the sentence or paragraph you used, and a short reason. Ask your partner to do the same before sharing. This preserves two independent readings. Once you see an answer key, it becomes easy to create a reason that fits it and forget what actually confused you.
Confirm that you have the same passage version, question number and instructions. Check whether the task asks about information or the writer’s views. In the official Reading format guidance, False means the statement contradicts the information; Not Given means the text does not establish agreement or contradiction. The guide also warns against using prior knowledge to choose an answer.
Use those definitions for the relevant task. Do not turn every question into a True/False/Not Given exercise: matching a heading asks a different question from locating a detail, and completion tasks have their own word limits and answer requirements.
Try two disagreements from one short teaching text
Read the text and make your own decisions before opening the explanations. For each statement, choose True if it agrees with the information, False if it contradicts it, or Not Given if the text does not allow a decision.
A change to museum labels
At the fictional Alder Museum, staff tried a different approach to the labels beside a collection of household objects. The original labels listed when each object was made and how it was used. The replacements retained these facts but added a question inviting visitors to compare the object with something in their own homes.
Staff compared visitor behaviour during two weeks with the original labels and two weeks with the replacements. They used the same method to record how long people remained in the room. Average time in the room increased after the change. However, the number of visitors who played an audio recording about the objects fell. Staff kept the question labels for another month and planned a later survey to explore visitors’ responses in more detail.
- More visitors played the audio recordings after the labels changed.
- Visitors stayed longer because they found the questions on the new labels interesting.
Imagine that one partner answers True to both statements because engagement increased. Another answers False to both because the audio use declined. Before deciding who is right, identify what each statement actually claims.
Compare the claim, evidence and missing step
Break a statement into its subject, action and qualification. Qualifications include when something happened, which group it concerned, how much changed and why it happened. A sentence can share several words with a passage and still change one of these relationships.
| Write down | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| Complete claim | What would have to be true for this statement to agree with the passage? |
| Passage evidence | Which sentence or connected sentences address that claim? |
| Relationship | Does the evidence support it, contradict it, or leave a required detail undecided? |
| Competing answer | What assumption makes the alternative tempting? |
| Final reason | Can I explain the decision without referring to who chose it? |
Check the two answers and the competing interpretations
Statement 1: False
The statement concerns the number of visitors playing recordings. The passage says that number fell after the change, which contradicts “more visitors”. Longer average room visits are a different measure. They cannot support a claim that audio use increased.
Statement 2: Not Given
The passage reports longer visits, but it does not establish why visitors stayed longer. Finding the questions interesting is a possible explanation, not information supplied by the text. Falling audio use does not contradict that possible explanation either. We would need evidence about the reason for the longer visits to decide True or False.
The first disagreement comes from mixing two measures. The second comes from converting a possible cause into an established cause. Naming that difference is more useful than writing “careless mistake” beside both answers.
Use the same evidence check for other question types
For a multiple-choice question, make each option into a complete claim and test it against the relevant text. Explain why the nearest competitor fails: perhaps it describes the earlier plan, gives only part of a reason, or attaches a true detail to the wrong person.
For a heading, summarise the paragraph’s main job before comparing the choices. A vivid example inside the paragraph may be less important than the explanation it supports. For matching information, locate the requested detail instead. The headings and matching information guide explains that distinction with a separate exercise.
For a completion answer, check meaning, local grammar, the instruction’s word limit and whether words must come from the passage. If two possible answers seem to fit, insert both into the complete sentence and preserve the relevant instructions when asking for help.
Ask a teacher a question they can investigate
If the publisher’s explanation still conflicts with the visible text, keep the issue open. A copied key can contain an error, but first rule out a missing paragraph, an altered question or a version mismatch. Prefer the original publisher’s material over a repost without a source.
A useful disagreement message
“We disagree about statement 2 in this source. I chose False because audio use fell. My partner chose Not Given because the reason for longer visits is missing. The statement asks whether the new questions caused longer visits. Which evidence would establish or contradict that cause? Here is the source link and the relevant passage.”
For a real question, include the task type, exact statement, your two interpretations and the smallest passage section that preserves the meaning. Share a legitimate source link rather than posting an entire copyrighted test. Remove personal details from screenshots.
Check that agreement transfers to a fresh question
After the discussion, close the explanation and state the reason yourself. Then try a new question requiring the same distinction. In the museum example, the next useful check would separate an observed change from an explanation for it, using different subject matter.
Record what changed in your reading: “I checked which measure the statement described” is actionable. “I need more concentration” does not tell you what to do next. For a group meeting, save that short reason using the study group session record.
Leave unresolved items labelled as unresolved. That is a better basis for a teacher’s review than forcing agreement and carrying an unsupported rule into the next passage.
Sources and review date
Official Reading guidance checked 2 October 2026. The museum text, questions and review tools are original PrepEx teaching examples.
- Academic Reading format: task distinctions and evidence requirements.
- General Training Reading format: True/False/Not Given and task instructions.