Inference and Logical Deduction from the Text
Inference items ask what follows from the passage without being stated outright. The test is not 'is this plausible?' but 'does the text compel it?'. Because the format includes Cannot say, many correct answers are precisely those where the passage leaves a gap.
The ladder of support
- Entailed: necessarily follows from what is written.
- Unlicensed but consistent: compatible with the text, yet other readings remain open. Treat as Cannot say.
- Contradicted: ruled out by the text.
Only the first counts as a valid deduction.
Valid patterns
- Definitional: if the text defines a category and places something outside it, the consequence follows.
- Arithmetic: numbers given in the text can be combined when the text explicitly sets the relation ('nine of the twenty-seven').
- Conditional: from 'if P then Q' and 'P', infer Q. From 'if P then Q' and 'Q', infer nothing.
- Contrastive: 'unlike X, Y did Z' licenses the difference, not a claim that X did nothing.
- Causal caution: 'coincided with', 'was accompanied by' and 'followed' do not license 'caused'.
Worked example
Passage: 'Only those member states operating continuous monitoring networks submitted quarterly data. The Commission's overview consequently covers nine of the twenty-seven.'
(A) Member states without monitoring networks do not collect environmental data. - Not supported; networks are one form of collection. (B) Eighteen member states did not submit quarterly data. - Follows arithmetically, given the exclusive 'only those'. (C) The Commission will require all member states to build networks. - No statement of intent. (D) The nine states have better environmental performance. - An evaluative leap.
Traps
- Reversing a conditional ('if P then Q' therefore 'if Q then P').
- Turning correlation into cause, or sequence into consequence.
- Importing motive, intention or future action the text never mentions.
- Over-reading one word: 'criticised' does not entail 'rejected'.
Working method
For each option ask: which sentence would have to be true for this to be false? If the passage contains no such sentence and nothing contradicts it, the option is Cannot say, not True. Write 'True' only when you can point to the words that force it.