Lessons · Verbal Reasoning
CLT Verbal Reasoning · Lesson
Inference
An inference is what the passage strongly suggests without saying it outright. The right answer is a short, safe step from the text, not a leap.
- Find the lines the question points to and reread them.
- Ask: what must be true if these lines are true? Keep that answer small.
- Point to the words that support each choice. If you cannot find any, it is not an inference; it is an invention.
Q. The narrator says she "walked the corridor of the third storey, backwards and forwards" whenever she could be alone. What can be inferred?
Answer She wanted solitude and some outlet for her restlessness.
She seeks being alone and keeps moving. "She was planning to leave the house" goes beyond anything in the lines.
- A choice that sounds wise or likely in real life is not an inference unless the passage supports it.
- The answer is often a mild restatement of the text. Do not be suspicious of it for being plain.
Every practice question comes with a full explanation, including why each wrong choice is wrong. Free, with no account.