Learn English – True, false, or not given: there are three main kinds of identity theft

exam-questionsieltsreading-comprehension

Please, reason before looking on the answer or my arguments so you don't become biased.

I'm studying for a test and there is this passage (content taken from British Council study material):

Identity crime is a generic term used to describe offences in which
someone uses a fabricated or fictitious identity, a manipulated
identity (the alteration of one’s own identity) or a stolen identity to
commit a crime. The third of these, identity theft, knows no
geographical boundaries and is on the increase as more people conduct
business and social interactions over the internet.

There is this statement:

There are three main kinds of identity theft

that should be classified as either, true, false or not given.

The correct answer as per the answer sheet is

False

although I think it is

Not given since it enumerates 3 identity crimes but never say whether there are more or not. Note that it enumerates 3 identity crimes, not 3 identity thefts.

Real question: Is the answer sheet correct?

Best Answer

I believe you are right. We know that identity crime can be categorised into three types. We know that identity theft is on the rise. We can infer that the internet makes identity theft easier, but no information is given on how many types of identity theft there are.

To add a simplified example:

Apples are fruit with red or green skin. The red apples are sweet.

  • There are two types of apple. (True, in the context of the question apples are categorised into red ones and green ones. You need to answer based on the text, not on general knowledge.)
  • There are two types of pear (Not given. the question doesn't mention pears at all)
  • There are two types of red apple (Not given. Red apples may be subdivided into types, you can't draw a conclusion from this example any more than you can draw a conclusion about the types of pear.)
  • Some apples are yellow (False, the phrasing of the first sentence implies an exhaustive categorization, again the answer must be based on the text, not general knowledge.)

It's a poor question in other ways. The answer depends only on you noting only the words "crime" and "theft", you hardly need to understand the text. You indicate that this is "preparation material" which is often poorly proofread. Don't worry about it and move on.