這種題型和中國學生所熟悉的true or false題型有類似之處，主要是考查考生對閱讀文章中某一特定信息點（information point）的理解。但大多數情況下，由於增加了第三項--- not given選項，因而大大增加了考題的不確定性與難度。 這種題型常見有以下幾種出題形式：
do the statements below agree with the information in the above reading passage? write:
yes if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
no if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
not given if there is no information about the statement in the passage
do the statements below agree with the information in the above reading passage? write:
true if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
false if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
not given if there is no information about the statement in the passage
do the statements below agree with the information in the above reading passage? write:
agree if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
disagree if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
not say if there is no information about the statement in the passage
do the statements below agree with the information in the above reading passage? write:
support if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
contradict if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
no evidence if there is no information about the statement in the passage
不管哪種形式，這種題型主要是衡量考生對閱讀文章中some specific point of information的理解，而不是對全文或段落大意的概括。因此，一定要準確地在文中找到與考題相對應的句子，然後仔細比較二者之間的差異。比較要集中在句子的主語、謂語、賓語和狀語，即句中主要的名詞、動詞和時間、地點、人名、數詞等。由於考題很少以原句的形式出現，大多數情況下都被paraphrase了，因此要留意主要動、名詞的近義詞及一些主要的語法現象，如主動、被動語態的互換，倒裝句，否定句等。做這類題的通常標準是：
問題句中的提法與文章意思完全一致， 或者文章中的意思範圍比問題句所描述的範圍大，可以包涵問題句的意思時，就選擇正確（true）。如
text: he is a good student.
question: he is a student.
答案應當是true。
如果問題句中的提法與文章的意思不相符，或者文章中的意思範圍比問題句所描述的範圍小，不能包含問題句的意思時，就選擇錯誤（false）。如果問題句中的提法在文章中沒有提到，或者沒有明確表述，就選擇不相關（not given）。相比之下，選擇true/false 要比選擇not given 容易判斷一些。因為這兩種選擇相對明確，對就是對，錯就是錯。而not given 很容易和false混淆，讓人拿不定主意，不知道到底該選哪一個。其實，只要仔細區分，也不難看出其中的區別：false 是指與文章內容或提法相反的句子，而not given 是指無法在原文中找到相關內容的句子或提法。
有趣的是，考生常常能在mcq題型中識別錯誤答案，但同樣內容如果出現在tfn題型中就常常出錯。如：
text: there are 5 bus services in the town.
mcq: how many bus services are there in the town?
a. 5
b. 4
c. 3
d. 6
obviously the answer is a.
but for a tfn question,
question: the town has 4 bus services.
the answer should be no instead of not given. 因為題目的信息明顯同原文的信息不符。
下面以練習題為例具體說明。
sample exercise
e-mail change notice
to all those who are concerned:
a new service will be launched for the school alumni in the autumn of this year. this will include a life-long school alumni email address, access to alumni forum, and a whole range of specially developed services. the alumni office will be sending out information on how to sign up for this new service in the last week of november. you will then have the opportunity to request an alumni email account for as long as you like.
due to the development of this new service, your current school network account will remain active only until the end of the michaelmas term (december), following which your access to the school main server, current email account and any personal web space you may have will be closed. instructions on how to request an alumni account will be sent to you prior to this account closing. please make sure that you take all your files with you before you leave. it is also advisable to set your mailbox to "out of office" well in advance, mentioning, "i will no longer be available at this address". this will help to alert people to the change in your email address.
this message applies to people who graduated within the last two years. if you are continuing to study here at the school this year, re-sitting exams, or have become a member of the staff, please get in touch with the it help desk who will extend your current account.
thank you for your attention.
school information center
do the statements below agree with the information in the above reading passage? write:
yes if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
no if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
not given if there is no information about the statement in the passage
1. a new service will be launched for the students in the autumn of this year.
2. through this new e-mail address, alumni will be able to use the alumni forum.
3. information on how to apply for the new service will be given by the end of november.
4. no current school network accounts of the alumni will be accessible after this december.
5. an automatic reply of “out of office” will be set by the school information center so that people will be informed of the future change in the e-mail address.
6. the e-mail accounts of those who are re-sitting exams will be extended.
經過快速瀏覽，我們已經知道文章的大意是：某學校發出通知，要為過去兩年內畢業的校友提供一個新的電子郵件服務，而他們原來的電子信箱只能保持到12月底。
在了解了文章大意的基礎上，我們再來看文章後面提出的問題。
q1．a new service will be launched for the students in the autumn of this year.
原句是：a new service will be launched for the school alumni in the autumn of this year。對照原句可以看出，新的電子郵件服務是針對school alumni的，而不是指在校學生。因此，做這道題一定要遵循‘準確’原則。這裡只要能準確理解alumni的意思，這道題應當是可以作對的。
q2．through this new e-mail address, alumni will be able to use the alumni forum.
原句為：this will include a life-long school alumni email address, access to alumni forum, and a whole range of specially developed services。可以看出，new e-mail address 和alumni forum 是並列出現的兩項服務，原文並未就它們的具體作用展開敘述。雖然校友們有可能通過這個新的電子郵件地址來使用校友論壇，這只是推斷，原文沒有對其進行明確的表述，更談不上與文章內容相符或相反，因此應當選ng。在這道題上，要注意‘相關’原則。
q3．information on how to apply for the new service will be given by the end of november
.
原句是：the alumni office will be sending out information on how to sign up for this new service in the last week of november。原文中的 sign up與apply for 是同義詞，所以這裡是同義詞替換，用不同的詞語來表達相同的意思，因此應該選t。
4．no current school net work accounts of the alumni will be accessible after this december.
原文是：your current school network account will remain active only until the end of the michaelmas term (december), following which your access to the school main server, current email account and any personal web space you may have will be closed。原文中的...will remain active only until...同問題句中的not accessible after.... 意思相同，因此，同第3題一樣，這道題也是同義詞替換，問題句只是用不同的辭彙對原文進行了paraphrase。所以，問句與原文意思相符，應該選擇t。
5．an automatic reply of "out of office" will be set by the school information center so that people will be informed of the future change in the e-mail address.
原文中...it is also advisable to set your mailbox...意思是建議校友自己將信箱設定為自動答覆, 而不是由學校的信息中心為校友來設定。這樣，問句中的意思與原文中的意思不相符，應該選f。
6.the e-mail accounts of those who are re-sitting exams will be extended.
參照原文最後一段，if you are … 可以看出，可以延長信箱賬戶的人包括要參加補考（resisting exams）的學生、今年仍要留校學習的學生（continue to study here at the school this year）和留校任教的人（ become a member of the staff）。因此，原文表述內容所覆蓋的範圍要大，雖然問題句表達的內容只是原文內容的一部分，但根據‘由大到小’原則，問題句的提法並不與原文相牴觸，因此應該選t。