Housing and Living Spaces
Lesson 7.2 trains True / False / Not Given on a housing-themed Reading passage, focusing on paraphrase detection.
- Decide TFNG with paraphrased evidence
- Avoid the 'too obvious' trap on FALSE
- Recognise NOT GIVEN by absence of evidence
Reading · TFNG rules
- Statement matches the passage in meaning (often paraphrased).
- Both information and direction agree.
- FALSE = passage actively contradicts the statement.
- NOT GIVEN = passage simply doesn't tell us — neither confirmed nor denied.
If a statement adds an extra detail (e.g. a date, percentage, reason) that isn't in the passage, it's usually NOT GIVEN — not FALSE.
Reading · Mini-passage
Across many mid-sized European cities, the average rent has risen faster than wages over the past decade. In Lisbon, for instance, rents climbed 65% between 2013 and 2023, while average salaries grew by only 19%. Local councils have responded with mixed approaches: Vienna continues to expand its long-standing social housing programme, whereas Lisbon has so far relied mainly on tax incentives for private developers, with limited impact on affordability.
- Q1: Rents in mid-sized European cities have outpaced wages. → TRUE
- Q2: Lisbon has banned short-term lets to protect tenants. → NOT GIVEN
- Q3: Vienna built its social housing programme only in the last ten years. → FALSE
Pathway focus · Academic data link
Those Lisbon figures (65% rent vs 19% wages) are pure Task 1 fuel — practise describing them as a paragraph.
Listening Skills — A Seminar on Housing and Living Spaces
You will hear two students discussing a seminar reading about changing housing patterns. Preview the questions and the list of possible speakers before you listen.
- Identify who is speaking at each point — the two students often take different roles in the conversation.
- Remember the author of the reading is mentioned but does not speak.
- Not every option in the list will be used.
- Note synonyms: 'flat' may be used instead of 'apartment'.
Listen first — the transcript stays hidden so this works like the real exam.
Listening audio
Tap play to generate and listen.
Match each statement (1–5) with the correct option (A–F). Write the correct letter for each answer.
- A. Student A
- B. Student B
- C. Both students
- D. Dana Whitfield
- E. Neither student
- F. The seminar reading
- Wrote the article discussed in the seminar.
- Asked whether co-living is suitable for families.
- Gave the statistic about the growth in co-living units.
- Suggested comparing co-living with traditional shared housing.
- Will look for more statistics before Thursday's class.
Answer key
Exam Strategy
- Exam Tip
No evidence either way = NOT GIVEN. Don't infer.
Independent Practice
Time yourself: 8 minutes for 10 questions.
Key Takeaways
- TFNG = match meaning, not words.
- FALSE needs an active contradiction in the passage.
- Paraphrase gymRewrite exam sentences without repeating the key words.
- Reading inference and writer's viewRead for meaning and attitude, not matching words — the Band 7 reading skill.
- Band 7 upgrades — Task 1 languageOverview quality, comparison language and precise data description.
Optional — this doesn't affect your lesson or course progress.