How to identify

inferential types
of questions

What is inference ?
An inference is an educated guess about
unstated ideas in a passage. Because authors
dont always clearly state every idea in a
passage, you have to make inferences by :
drawing conclusions,
forming generalizations, or
making predictions.
Note : When you make an inference, look
for evidence in the text that will support your
educated guess.

What does it tests ?

Ability to draw inferences from facts
and statements in the reading
passages.
Questions of this type ask you to
consider factual statements or
information and, on the basis of that
information, reach a general
conclusion.

Let's
do
some
simple
exercise....
exercise...

Let's Infer
'The shade of the tree
beating back the heat; and
James changed his dress
and applied sunscreen.'

Explanation
'The shade of the tree beating back the heat; and
James changed his dress and applied sunscreen.'
What shall we infer ?

It was a hot day

James sweated
So he changed his dress to get cool.'
Let's rephrase the given sentence 'James stood in the shade of a tree, that
helped beat back some of the heat. He changed his dress and put sunscreen
on his skin.'
The observation presents only the facts. We know it's a hot day because it
states, beating back the heat, there is nothing stated explicitly about it
being a hot day. But the we can infer that it's a hot day by the information
presented.

Make logical inference and not

illogical
There are logical and illogical inferences,
inferences that "fit" the rest of the text and
inferences that don't. Make sure your inference
has the right fit by relying on the author's words
more than on your own feelings and opinions.
For eg : If the writer uses glowing language to
describe the presidency of Bill Clinton, but never
states an opinion of the Clinton years in office, you
probably shouldn't infer that the writer is a Clinton
critic just because you yourself thought Bill Clinton
was a terrible president.

3 Types of inferrence
Drawing conclusion
Forming generalization
Making prediction

1 .DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
This type of inference is like putting together all the
details or information stated in the passage with information
that is implied or with guesses you make based on your own
experience.
In other words, you answer questions such as:

What is the author suggesting in this passage?

What does my own experience tell me about this?
What makes sense based on what Im reading?

Drawing conclusions helps you better understand the ideas in

the passage.

DRAWING CONCLUSION
Example
Based on the following paragraph, what can you
conclude about the weather in Farmington,
Colorado?
Meanwhile Pauls mother turned the television to a
national weather channel. Theres a big snowstorm
hitting parts of Colorado and New Mexico, she said.
She grabbed an atlas from the bookshelf and flipped
quickly to the index. Theres a Farmington,
Colorado, she said, flipping back to the map to check
the towns location, but its not in the right area. She
turned back to the index. Theres also a Farmington,
New Mexico, she called, and it looks to be right in
the middle of the storm.

Answer
What about the weather in Farmington, Colorado?
Ans : It is not snowing there.
What information did you use to draw this
conclusion?
Pauls mother compares the location of the storm on
the television map to the map in the atlas and says
that its not in the right area.

2. FORMING GENERALIZATIONS
A generalization is a judgment. Making
generalizations depend on being able to put
together what you know and what you have read.
Example : Suppose you read a newspaper article
about an increase in the number of Little League
teams being formed in cities across the
United States. From this information you might
make this.
Little League is becoming more popular in
the United States.

Valid and Invalid Generalization

A generalization is a judgment. For a generalization to
be valid, it must be based on evidence.
Generalizations are not guesses. Valid generalizations
often use words such as many, often, and some.
Rain falls in many southern states occur during
spring.
Generalizations that are not valid often make
statements that are too broad and use words such as
all, always, every, and never.
Every student has read chetan bagat.

3. MAKING PREDICTIONS
When you make a prediction in a passage, you guess
what might happen based on information in the
passage with your own experience.
As you read, try to guess or predict what will
happen next.
Have a track on what clues helped you make
that prediction?
Note : Remember, predictions can be changed as
you read new details. You should continually make
predictions as you read and confirm or adjust those
predictions as you continue to read.

Example for PREDICTIONS

Read the passage below. What prediction can you
make ?
The curtains were about to open, but the play could
not begin without Alisha. She had a starring role.
Mrs. Dolly nervously watched the door. She hoped
that at any second it would swing open and Alisha
would rush in. Mrs. Dolly tried to ignore the fact that
the play should have started 10 minutes ago, but the
rustling and whispering from the other side of the
curtain grew louder. The audience was growing
restless! Bring me Alishas costume, please, Mrs.
Dolly said to a stagehand. As she waited, Mrs. Dolly
whispered, I sure hope that skirt ts me.

Question and answer

What do you predict Mrs. Dolly will do?
Mrs. Dolly will take the place of Alisha in the play.
What clues helped you make this prediction?
Although the play should have begun 10 minutes
ago, Alisha hasnt arrived yet. Mrs. Dolly tells a
stagehand to bring her Alishas costume. She
whispers to herself that she hopes the costume will
t.
As you read, you may have to change a prediction
based on new information in the passage

Let's solve a few

questions

How do inference questions look like?

Before diving into an example, lets make sure you
know how to spot an inference question. Most
inference questions are characterized by the words
suggest, infer, or imply. They might look something
like this:
What might be inferred by the final paragraph
The author implies that the frontiersmen quickly
packed because
By revealing the results of the scientific study, the
author suggests

Things to keep in mind

( Readers who infer)
Read through the entire passage to get an understanding
of what it is about.
As you read try to draw conclusions by connecting the
text with your background knowledge.
Try to combine new ideas and information.
Create unique understandings of the text.
Make predictions about the text, confirm or disconfirm
those predictions based on textual information.

Passage

Passage
Warm-blooded animals have elaborate physiological controls to
maintain constant body temperature (in humans, 37C). Why
then during sickness should temperature rise, apparently
increasing stress on the infected organism? It has long been
known that the level of serum iron in animals falls during
infection. Garibaldi first suggested a relationship between fever
and iron. He found that microbial synthesis of siderophores
substances that bind iron in bacteria of the genus Salmonella
declined at environmental temperatures above 37C and stopped
at 40.3C. Thus, fever would make it more difficult for an
infecting bacterium to acquire iron and thus to multiply. Coldblooded animals were used to test this hypothesis because their
body temperature can be controlled in the laboratory. Kluger
reported that of iguanas infected with the potentially lethal
bacterium A. hydrophilia, more survived at temperatures of
42C than at 37C, even though healthy animals prefer the lower
temperature. When animals at 42C were injected with an iron
solution, however, mortality rates increased significantly.
Research to determine whether similar phenomena occur in
warm-blooded animals is sorely needed.

What type of question it is ?

What we need to do?
Which of the following can be inferred about
warm-blooded animals solely on the basis of
information in the passage?

We need to Conclude with the

help of evidence

Clue
Warm-blooded animals have elaborate physiological controls
to maintain constant body temperature (in humans, 37C). Why
then during sickness should temperature rise, apparently
increasing stress on the infected organism? It has long been
known that the level of serum iron in animals falls during
infection. Garibaldi first suggested a relationship between fever
and iron. He found that microbial synthesis of siderophores
substances that bind iron in bacteria of the genus Salmonella
declined at environmental temperatures above 37C and stopped
at 40.3C. Thus, fever would make it more difficult for an
infecting bacterium to acquire iron and thus to multiply. Coldblooded animals were used to test this hypothesis because their
body temperature can be controlled in the laboratory. Kluger
reported that of iguanas infected with the potentially lethal
bacterium A. hydrophilia, more survived at temperatures of
42C than at 37C, even though healthy animals prefer the lower
temperature. When animals at 42C were injected with an iron
solution, however, mortality rates increased significantly.
Research to determine whether similar phenomena occur in
warm-blooded animals is sorely needed.

Question
Which of the following can be inferred about warmblooded animals solely on the basis of information in
the passage?
(A) The body temperatures of warm-blooded animals
cannot be easily controlled in the laboratory.
(B) Warm-blooded animals require more iron in periods
of stress than they do at other times.
(C) Warm-blooded animals are more comfortable at an
environmentaltemperature of 37C than they are at a
temperature of 42C.
(D) In warm-blooded animals, bacteria are responsible
for the production of siderophores, which, in turn,
make iron available to the animal.
(E) In warm-blooded animals, infections that lead to
fever are usually traceable to bacteria.

Process Of Elimination
Eliminate the wrong answers. Typically, the wrong answers to an inference
question will have one or more of the following characteristics:
Distortion of a detail (tying two details together in a way the author
didnt intend)
Making an inference that is the opposite of what is stated in the
passage
Making an inference that is out of the scope of the paragraph or the
entire passage.
Using extreme language (since most inferences are reasonable and
easy, youll rarely find words like never, or always, in the correct
answer choice.
WATCH OUT for inaccurate / contradictory information.
Note : Make sure your answers are supported by accurate
information from the specified passages.
Make sure that the answer choice you decide on does not violate or
contradict the Main Idea of the passage - if it does, the answer choice
is probably wrong.

Answer
Which of the following can be inferred about warmblooded animals solely on the basis of information in
the passage?
(A) The body temperatures of warm-blooded animals
cannot be easily controlled in the laboratory.
(B) Warm-blooded animals require more iron in periods
of stress than they do at other times.
(C) Warm-blooded animals are more comfortableat an
environmental temperature of 37C than they are at
a temperature of 42C.
(D) In warm-blooded animals, bacteria are responsible
for the production of siderophores, which, in turn,
make iron available to the animal.
(E) In warm-blooded animals, infections that lead to
fever are usually traceable to bacteria.

Passage

The 1973 Endangered Species Act made into legal policy

the concept that endangered species of wildlife are
precious as part of a natural ecosystem. The nearly
unanimous passage of this act in the United States
Congress, reflecting the rising national popularity of
environmentalism, masked a bitter debate. Affected
industries clung to the former wildlife policy of valuing
individual species according to their economic usefulness.
They fought to minimize the law's impact by limiting
definitions of key terms, but they lost on nearly every
issue. The act defined "wildlife" as almost all kinds of
animals-from large mammals to invertebrates-and plants.
"Taking" wildlife was defined broadly as any action that
threatened an endangered species; areas vital to a species'
survival could be federally protected as "critical habitats"
Though
these
definitions
legislated
strong
environmentalist goals, political compromises made in the
enforcement of the act were to determine just what
economic interests would be set aside for the sake of
ecological stabilization.

Question
It can be inferred from the passage that if business
interests had won the debate on provisions of the 1973
Endangered Species Act, which of the following would
have resulted?
(A) Environmentalist concepts would not have become widely
popular.
(B) The definitions of key terms of the act would have been
more restricted.
(C) Enforcement of the act would have been more difficult.
(D) The act would have had stronger support from
Congressional leaders.
(E) The public would have boycotted the industries that had
the greatest impact in defining the act.

What type of question it is ?

What we need to do?
It can be inferred from the passage that if business
interests had won the debate on provisions of the
1973 Endangered Species Act, which of the
following would have resulted?

We need to Predict

Answer
It can be inferred from the passage that if business
interests had won the debate on provisions of the 1973
Endangered Species Act, which of the following would
have resulted?
(A) Environmentalist concepts would not have become widely
popular.
(B) The definitions of key terms of the act would have been
more restricted.
(C) Enforcement of the act would have been more difficult.
(D) The act would have had stronger support from
Congressional leaders.
(E) The public would have boycotted the industries that had
the greatest impact in defining the act.

The 1973 Endangered Species Act made into legal policy

the concept that endangered species of wildlife are
precious as part of a natural ecosystem. The nearly
unanimous passage of this act in the United States
Congress, reflecting the rising national popularity of
environmentalism, masked a bitter debate. Affected
industries clung to the former wildlife policy of valuing
individual species according to their economic usefulness.
They fought to minimize the law's impact by limiting
definitions of key terms, but they lost on nearly every
issue. The act defined "wildlife" as almost all kinds of
animals-from large mammals to invertebrates-and plants.
"Taking" wildlife was defined broadly as any action that
threatened an endangered species; areas vital to a species'
survival could be federally protected as "critical habitats"
Though
these
definitions
legislated
strong
environmentalist goals, political compromises made in the
enforcement of the act were to determine just what
economic interests would be set aside for the sake of
ecological stabilization.