← All strategies
Inference

How to attack Inference questions

What's NOT said is what they're testing.

What inference means

An inference is a conclusion you draw from evidence. The right answer is always supported by the passage — not stated outright, but provable. If you can't point to a specific line that supports it, it's wrong.

The 3-step move

1) Read the question stem first. 2) Find the part of the passage it points to. 3) Choose the answer that follows directly from those lines — nothing more, nothing less.

Common traps

Wrong answers will sound reasonable on their own — they just aren't supported by the text. The trap is your common sense. Ask: 'is this in the passage, or is it just true in real life?'

The power move

Eliminate any answer that introduces a NEW idea not mentioned in the passage. The right answer recombines what's there; it does not invent.

Tip: revisit this strategy after every 10 missed questions on this topic.