Concept 5

Avoid inferences that require unsupported assumptions.

Keep inferences restrained and text-based.

Core Idea

Do not invent motive or certainty. When an answer needs missing background, hidden intention, or stronger certainty than the passage gives, back away.

Understanding

Stay with what the passage proves. If the author, speaker, or character may feel, believe, or intend something, the text has to point there clearly.

Watch for do not overstate traps:

  • Strong certainty: words like "always," "certainly," or "everyone"
  • Invented motive: specific causes or motives the passage never states
  • Missing background: facts that would make sense in real life but are absent from the text

Strong readers prefer the restrained answer over the dramatic one.

Step by Step

  1. Stay with what the passage proves.
  2. Reject choices that need hidden motive, stronger certainty, or missing background.
  3. Choose the least overstated answer that still fits the text.
Question

Worked Example

Excerpt: "The reviewer praises the novel's dialogue as 'sharp and unforced' but says its final chapter 'rushes past the most difficult questions it raises.'" Which inference is most supported by the excerpt?

Select an answer to see the explanation