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IELTS reading test logical inaccuracies

poedgar November 02, 2018 at 05:38 3950 views 8 comments
Hello everybody.

I am a philosopher by profession but the question is rather practical.

I have noticed some logical inaccuracies in IELTS reading tests but as they have to undertake quite a procedure lasting a year or so to make sure everything is correct, and I am not a native speaker of English, I want to share, to begin with, one of these inaccuracies here.

Here is a sentence and its context, it is about the famous scientist Marie Curie:

'Because her [Marie's'] father lost his savings through bad investment, she then had to take work as a teacher. From her earnings she was able to finance her sister Bronia's medical studies in Paris, on the understanding that Bronia would, in turn, later help her to get an education.
In 1891 this promise was fulfilled and Marie went to Paris and began to study at the Sorbonne (the University of Paris).'


And the question to it:

Is it true, false or not given that Marie was able to attend the Sorbonne because of her sister's financial contribution.

The material is taken from Cambridge IELTS Tests 7.

I wonder what your answers would be.

Thanks in advance.

Comments (8)

Wayfarer November 02, 2018 at 05:41 #224133
True; the promise [to help Marie get an education] was fulfilled.
Streetlight November 02, 2018 at 06:50 #224141
Not given, I think: Bronia helped Marie get an education, but it's not mentioned whether or it was Bronia's financial contribution that helped Marie (as distinct from connections, knowledge, etc). The earnings in question in the passage are Marie's.
Wayfarer November 02, 2018 at 09:41 #224149
Well spotted. It might indeed been due to some other form of help.
unenlightened November 02, 2018 at 13:17 #224172
Not given, but strongly implied. The whole is about finance and education, and if the help was not financial, then I would suggest that the whole is designed to mislead and should not be trusted in any particular. It does not actually say that the Marie that went to the Sorbonne was the same Marie that financed her sister, or that the understanding was the promise. Does not the fulfilment of a promise to help 'in turn' mean broadly the same level and kind of help?
Terrapin Station November 02, 2018 at 14:10 #224195
Unless the assumption is that the author possibly doesn't understand how conventional English works, it's true.
Baden November 02, 2018 at 16:49 #224263
Quoting unenlightened
Not given, but strongly implied.


Yes, making it a poorly put-together question.
Deleted User November 02, 2018 at 17:16 #224266
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
I like sushi November 09, 2018 at 03:33 #226188
They tend to have a few questions like this in their tests. Some bad ones slip through the net.