Understand+Negative+Details

In the Reading section of the // iBT //TOEFL test, you will sometimes be asked to find an answer that is // not stated, //or // not mentioned, //or // not true //in the passage. This type of question really means that three of the answers are // stated, mentioned, //or// true //in the passage, while one answer is not. You should note that there are two kinds of answers to this type of question: ** 1 **. there are three answers that are true and one that is // not true //according to the passage, or   ** 2 **. there are three true answers and one that is // not stated or mentioned //in the passage. ** The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about questions testing negative facts. **
 * IDENTIFY THE QUESTION
 * FIND THE ANSWER
 * ANSWER THE QUESTION

It is ** NOT stated ** It is ** NOT mentioned ** It is ** NOT discussed ** It is ** NOT true ** It is NOT indicated All of the following are true ** EXCEPT **





** Look at an example that asks you to find the one answer that is // NOT true. // **
 * || ** Reading Passage: Moonbows **
 * || ** Reading Passage: Moonbows **

Many people are quite familiar with rainbows, but few are as familiar with moonbows. Rainbows are caused by sunlight hitting raindrops and bouncing back. You can see a rainbow when the sun low in the sky behind you and it is raining ahead of you. Light from the Sun reflects off the inside surfaces of raindrops and is bent as it travels through them. It appears as a band of colors because each of the colors in sunlight is bent to a different angle. Moonbows are far less common than are rainbows, but they are formed in much the same way. They require a very specific set of circumstances to occur. When they do occur, they occur just after a full Moon, a Moon at its brightest, has risen in the east and just after the Sun has set in the west, and it must also be raining in the west. In this situation, a moonbow may be visible to you if you are facing west and if the Moon is behind you. Light from the bright Moon reflects off the inside surfaces of the raindrops in the west and bends the colors to create a moon bow. ||  ||  ** Example 1: ** According to paragraph 1, it is NOT true that you can see a rainbow when ** a. ** the Sun is low in the sky ** b. ** the Sun is in front of you ** c. ** it is raining in front of you ** d. ** the Sun's rays are reflected off the raindrops This question asks you to determine which of the answers is NOT true according to the infor­mation in the first paragraph. This means that three of the answers are true according to the passage, and one is not true. To answer this type of question, you must find the one answer that is not true according to the information in the first paragraph. It is stated in the first paragraph that you can see a rainbow when the sun is ... behind you. This means that it is NOT true that you can see a rainbow when the sun is in front of you. To answer this question, you should click on the second answer. The next example asks you to find the one answer that is // not mentioned. //   ** Example 2: ** It is NOT indicated in paragraph 2: ** a. ** where the moon must be in the sky for a moon bow to occur ** b. ** at what time of day moon bows occur ** c. ** which direction you must be facing to see a moonbow ** d. ** in which parts of the world moon bows occur This question asks you to determine which of the answers is NOT indicated in the second paragraph. This means that three of the answers are indicated in the second paragraph, and one is not indicated. To answer this type of question, you must find the three answers that are indicated in the paragraph and then choose the remaining answer as the correct answer. The passage states that moonbows ... occur just after a full Moon ... has risen in the east, which indicates where the Moon must be in the sky for a moonbow to occur in the first answer. The passage states that moonbows ... occur ... just after the Sun has set in the west, which indicates at what time of day moonbows occur in the second answer. The passage states that a moonbow may be visible to you if you are facing west, which indicates which direction you must be facing to see a moonbow in the third answer. The last answer is the one that is NOT indicated in the passage and is therefore the best answer to this question. To answer this ques­tion, you should click on the last answer.