IELTS scores

[kryt0n]

Do not worry, you are only native English speaker.

But I can quote Shakespeare!!!

 

[vensak]

But I can quote Shakespeare!!!

If it helps you, my husband is a native speaker as well and funny enough he scored less that me. (he has only beaten me in speaking, but even there just by 0,5 point).


But then again neither me nor him did much preparing on that test. (I am going through PNP anyway. so better results do not matter for me).

 

[thestunner316]

What you have shown is a bit simple, but how about this example:

i had plantain for breakfast - statement

question - did i have bananas for breakfast ? true, false, not given ??
answer -
not given - for person who is sitting in some smaller area where this fruit is not supplier and never heared of it, so has not much idea what is it.
OK, this one will be most likely incorrect, also to be fair the question is already somewhat specific and even natives come around many words and things they heared about for the first time

yes - if you consider it generaly (usually being from country where bananas are not produced, so you do not distinguish)

no - if you are comming from places where this type of fruit is growing. For you of course, banana is not plantain (normal banana is sweater and you can eat it raw, while plantain is more starchy and you have to cook or fry it).

And now tell me which answer is correct - yes or no? This does really depend on how exactly you define banana - a Word that identify family of fruits or a word that defines one exact type of the family. Is the banana Word further defined? Not. So you are left just with what is common in your country or in the area where you use English.
Even if you consult internet you will find support for both (some pages listing it under banana section, while others describing differencies).

As you can see even in such simple question there is not always just one answer correct.

well plantain isnt the easiest example, and i have not come across a harder example than the one you have given
but again my answer would be not given, i dont think banana and plantain are synonyms in this case (i could be wrong, but thats my understanding)

 

[vensak]

well plantain isnt the easiest example, and i have not come across a harder example than the one you have given
but again my answer would be not given, i dont think banana and plantain are synonyms in this case (i could be wrong, but thats my understanding)

Plantain - definition from the online Oxford dictionary:

A banana containing high levels of starch and little sugar, which is harvested green and widely used as a cooked vegetable in the tropics.

And funny enough right after it is example sentence saying following:

‘Bananas are typically thought of as a dessert course while the starchy plantains are cooked before eating and are considered a major staple of the tropic countries.’

But yes, thanks for correcting me, it would be only yes or not stated as a correct answer. But here both can be correct at the same time.

 

[abc_27]

Practice makes perfect!
Practice and try again!