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3 real statements, Test 11 Passage 1 — the core True/False/Not Given strategy
True/False/Not Given asks whether a statement agrees with, contradicts, or simply isn’t covered by the passage — not whether it’s true in real life. Here are 3 real statements from Test 11, worked through one at a time.
Q11 — a timing trap
Q11: “Soviet scientists first raised concerns about the irrigation scheme only after the sea had completely dried up.”
The passage says scientists raised concerns “as early as the 1960s” — decades before the sea had dried up. The statement gets the timing backwards, so it directly contradicts the passage.
Answer: FALSE
Q12 — same meaning, different words
Q12: “Fishing communities along the northern Aral Sea have seen renewed economic activity since the dike was completed.”
The passage states those communities “began to see a modest but genuine economic revival” after the dike’s completion — the same claim, just in different words. That’s the pattern for TRUE: the wording changes, the meaning doesn’t.
Answer: TRUE
Q13 — watch for absolute words
Q13: “Uzbekistan has abandoned cotton cultivation entirely in order to preserve water resources.”
The passage says Uzbekistan’s economy “continues to depend heavily on cotton exports” — the opposite of abandoning it. Notice the word “entirely” in the statement itself; absolute words like that are often exactly what the passage contradicts.
Answer: FALSE
DEB
3 statements from Test 11’s Aral Sea passage