Reading Comprehension: Inference and Implied Meaning
What the question is really asking
Inference questions ask for a conclusion the text strongly supports but does not state outright: the writer's attitude, an unstated consequence, what happened before or after, or what a character feels. The answer must be necessary or highly probable, not merely possible.
Concepts to master
- Evidence plus logic: every inference needs a textual anchor plus a short, defensible step of reasoning. If the step requires imagination, reject it.
- Tone and attitude words: reluctantly, surprisingly, admittedly, fortunately reveal the writer's stance. Sarcasm and understatement invert literal meaning.
- Implication vs. assumption: an implication follows from the text; an assumption is something the reader supplies. Questions about what the writer assumes point to unstated premises.
- Contrast and concession: although, but, despite signal the writer's real emphasis, often in the second half of the sentence.
- Degree words: distinguish suggests, implies, proves, guarantees. Strong verbs usually make an option wrong.
Traps to expect
- An over-strong conclusion ("proves that all readers agree").
- A plausible real-world fact that the passage neither states nor implies.
- A distortion of the writer's tone (calling mild criticism "hostile").
- An inference that reverses the logic, e.g., treating a necessary condition as sufficient.
Rule of thumb
Ask: Could a careful reader be forced to accept this? If the option needs an extra assumption, it is wrong. Prefer the most cautious option that is still supported.
Worked example
Passage: "She glanced at the clock twice before the meeting ended." We can infer she was watching the time or eager for the meeting to finish. We cannot infer that she disliked her colleagues, since the text does not support that step.