ENGLISH · LESSON 08 OF 20
Separate stated evidence from an assumption
What this lesson helps you do
Preserve quantities, conditions and uncertainty when interpreting a text.
Before this lesson
This lesson builds on:
The explanation
A statement can be directly supported, contradicted, or left unresolved by a passage. Absence of evidence for a statement is different from evidence that it is false. Read the exact claim, including words such as some, all, only and may. A small change in one of these words can turn a supported claim into an unsupported one.
Inference connects information in a text, but it should remain within what the text reasonably supports. If a notice says a room closes at six, it does not tell us why. An attractive explanation based on personal experience is still an assumption unless the passage supplies evidence for it.
For IELTS-specific question formats, follow the wording of the actual instructions: information questions and writer-view questions are not interchangeable labels. This lesson demonstrates the underlying reading distinction through fully explained examples; it does not ask you to submit answers or predict an examination score.
Language pattern
- Pattern
- Exact claim → relevant evidence → supported, contradicted or unresolved interpretation.
- What it does
- Compare meanings, including their scope.
- Limits
- An interpretation may be plausible without being established by the text.
A first worked example
Preserve some rather than all
Situation. Original notice: “Some evening workshops will move online in November. The daytime timetable will remain unchanged.”
The notice supports a change to at least part of the evening programme. It contradicts a claim that the daytime timetable will change. It does not establish that all evening workshops will move online.
Why it works
- Some limits the scope of the first statement.
- Unchanged directly addresses the daytime timetable.
- The notice gives no complete count of evening workshops.
What it shows: A statement about part of a group cannot automatically be expanded to the whole group.
A second worked example
Do not invent a reason
Situation. Original notice: “The reading room will close at 18:00 on Thursday.”
Thursday’s closing time is stated. A claim that repairs caused the early closure is unresolved because the notice gives no reason.
Why it works
- The time is directly available.
- “Because repairs are scheduled” would add information that is not present.
- The reader must not treat an unstated cause as either confirmed or disproved.
What it shows: Accurate reading sometimes ends with “the text does not tell us”.
Common mistakes
Draft (not correct): No reason is given, so repairs definitely are not planned.
Revision: The reason is not stated.
Missing information does not prove its opposite.
Draft (not correct): May improve means definitely improves.
Revision: May improve expresses a possibility.
The modal verb affects the strength of the claim.
Keep in mind
- Track words that limit scope.
- Keep facts separate from plausible explanations.
- Do not turn an unknown into a definite claim.
Foundation lesson; not an official syllabus, accredited CEFR placement, or score prediction.
Next: Paraphrase and summarise without changing the claim. Restate a source accurately and distinguish a short summary from a close paraphrase.
Original Bayt Al-Fuad teaching text and invented examples; not publisher lesson text. Aligned with: The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS: published contents, ISBN 9781107620698 · Reading Comprehension — Joel Gonzaga. Sources and credits.