The most common task-type was True/False/Not given, accounting for about a quarter of all items
(26% – see Table 4). In this format, test-takers typically needed to evaluate the truth status of
summary information derived from the reading passage. In all cases in the corpus, this information
was found to be in the form of a single sentence, and was normally related to a cognate sentence (or
part of a sentence) from the reading passage. In those cases, where the true or false options applied, the
sentence was typically constructed either as a synonymous (or near synonymous) paraphrase version
of the related information from the passage, or was divergent in meaning in some way (eg. in a
contradictory relationship). The exceptional case was the ‘Not given’ option, where the prompt was a
proposition not included in the reading passage.
Sample 1:1 below is an example of the True/False/Not given task format, showing several sample
items. Included in the sample are extracts from the associated reading passage showing relevant
content for each item. Examples of both ‘true’ and ‘false’ formats are shown.
An alternative wording for this task-type noted in the data was to use Yes/No/Not given options rather
than True/False/Not given. Thus, instead of writing true/false “if the statement agreed with
/contradicted the information”, test-takers were asked to write yes/no. There would appear to be no
substantive difference in these variable rubrics.