Inference and Assumptions — Practice

Question 1

Passage: Ravi checked his watch for the third time and glanced again at the station entrance, then sighed and sat back down on the cold bench.
What can be inferred?
(a) Ravi is waiting for someone or something that is late (b) Ravi dislikes travelling by train (c) Ravi has lost his watch (d) Ravi is about to leave the city

Accepted Answer

(a) Ravi is waiting for someone or something that is late.

Repeatedly checking his watch, watching the entrance, and sighing all point to impatient waiting. That is the natural, supported reading; the other options are not indicated by the details.

Question 2

Passage: This year the firm reduced its marketing budget by half.
Which is a safe inference?
(a) The firm spent less on marketing this year than it did before (b) The firm is in serious financial trouble (c) The firm's products are failing in the market (d) The firm will soon close down

Accepted Answer

(a) The firm spent less on marketing this year than it did before.

A halved marketing budget directly means less marketing spending — a small, guaranteed step. (b), (c) and (d) leap to conclusions the passage does not support; budgets are cut for many reasons.

Question 3

Passage: Several economists have questioned the government's latest growth forecast.
Which can be safely inferred?
(a) All economists reject the forecast (b) At least some economists doubt the forecast (c) The forecast is certainly wrong (d) Economists never trust government forecasts

Accepted Answer

(b) At least some economists doubt the forecast.

'Several economists have questioned' guarantees that some doubt it. (a) and (d) are too strong, and (c) draws a conclusion about the forecast's truth that the passage does not support.

Question 4

Passage: By the time the guests arrived, Meera had changed the tablecloth twice, rearranged the flowers, and checked the oven a dozen times. She barely heard their greetings over the pounding of her own heart.
Which is best supported?
(a) Meera was anxious about hosting the evening (b) Meera disliked her guests (c) The food in the oven had burned (d) Meera was physically unwell

Accepted Answer

(a) Meera was anxious about hosting the evening.

The repeated fussing and pounding heart convey nervousness about the occasion. (b), (c) and (d) read in feelings or events the passage does not support.

Question 5

Passage: The school plans to replace all its printed textbooks with tablets, arguing that this will better prepare students for a digital future.
The plan assumes that:
(a) Using tablets instead of textbooks will actually help prepare students for a digital future (b) Printed textbooks are expensive to buy (c) Every student already owns a smartphone (d) Teachers prefer tablets to books

Accepted Answer

(a) Using tablets instead of textbooks will actually help prepare students for a digital future.

The justification depends on this belief. Negate it — tablets do not help prepare students for a digital future — and the argument for the plan collapses, so (a) is the assumption. The others are not required by the argument.

Question 6

Passage: The novelist wrote all her books in longhand, refusing to use a typewriter even when her publisher repeatedly urged her to.
Which can be inferred from the passage?
(a) The novelist preferred writing by hand to using a typewriter (b) Typewriters were faster than writing by hand (c) Handwritten manuscripts are worth more money (d) The novelist could not afford a typewriter

Accepted Answer

(a) The novelist preferred writing by hand to using a typewriter.

Refusing the typewriter despite urging shows a preference for longhand. (b) may be true in the real world but the passage does not establish it, and (c) and (d) are unsupported guesses.

Question 7

Passage: We must build the new highway, because it will cut the travel time between the two cities in half.
Which is an assumption of the argument?
(a) Cutting the travel time between the two cities in half is a benefit worth achieving (b) The highway will be built of concrete (c) Both cities have large populations (d) Most travellers own private cars

Accepted Answer

(a) Cutting the travel time between the two cities in half is a benefit worth achieving.

The leap from 'it halves travel time' to 'we must build it' relies on that halving being worthwhile. Negate (a) — the time saving is not worth having — and the recommendation fails, so it is the assumption. The others are not needed for the argument.

Question 8

Passage: The medicine rarely causes side effects, and when it does, they are mild.
Which can be inferred?
(a) The medicine never causes any side effects (b) The medicine sometimes causes side effects, though usually not, and those it causes are mild (c) The medicine always causes severe side effects (d) The medicine has no real effect on patients

Accepted Answer

(b) The medicine sometimes causes side effects, though usually not, and those it causes are mild.

'Rarely' means side effects occur occasionally, not never — so (a) is too strong. (b) faithfully captures both 'rarely' and 'mild'. (c) and (d) contradict the passage.

Practice — Inference and Assumptions

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