Spotting the level of negativity

By David Wood | December 28, 2007

 

Go to grammar bank

Home

 

1. [Multiple choice]

People said they weren’t warned about the delay.Were they told?

(They said not.)

Answers for Quiz [1].

  • 1. maybe
  • 2. yes, they were
  • 3. no, they weren’t (correct)
  • 4. probably

2. [Multiple choice]

People didn’t say they weren’t warned about the delay. Were they told?

(Yes, they probably were. They didn’t say they were warned, but the fact that they didn’t say they weren’t may mean ‘yes’, they possibly were warned, but haven’t mentioned it to anyone.)

Answers for Quiz [2].

  • 1. I think they probably were

    (correct)

  • 2. we can’t be sure
  • 3. no
  • 4. yes

3. [Multiple choice]

People said they were warned about the delay. Did they know about it?

(They said they were told, so we know they know.)

Answers for Quiz [3].

  • 1. perhaps
  • 2. yes (correct)
  • 3. probably
  • 4. no

4. [Multiple choice]

People didn’t say they were warned about the delay. Were they told?

(They may have been.They didn’t say ‘yes’, but that doesn’t mean ‘no’.)

Answers for Quiz [4].

  • 1. yes
  • 2. no
  • 3. perhaps (correct)
  • 4. yes, probably

5. [Multiple choice]

He didn’t say he liked her. Does he like her?

(Perhaps,we’re not sure.We don’t know for certain, he may do. Perhaps he likes her, but hasn’t told anyone – perhaps he doesn’t like her, but no-one knows he doesn’t. So we’re guessing.)

Answers for Quiz [5].

  • 1. possibly
  • 2. probably not
  • 3. perhaps
    (correct)
  • 4. definitely

6. [Multiple choice]

He said he likes her. Does he like her?

(Yes. He says so.)

Answers for Quiz [6].

  • 1. possibly
  • 2. definitely
    (correct)
  • 3. probably
  • 4. certainly not

7. [Multiple choice]

He didn’t say he didn’t like her. Does he like her?

(We have no evidence that he doesn’t like her, and no evidence that he does – maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. We’re not sure.)

Answers for Quiz [7].

  • 1. Of course he does
  • 2. I’m positive he dislikes her.
  • 3. He probably does
  • 4. He may do
    (correct)

8. [Multiple choice]

He said he didn’t like her. Does he like her?

(He said he didn’t, so we know he doesn’t.)

Answers for Quiz [8].

  • 1. certainly not
    (correct)
  • 2. maybe, maybe not
  • 3. yes, probably
  • 4. definitely
Posted in IELTS and tagged