ACT Preparation / Unit 16 ACT 1508 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Answering an Inference Question
The idea
An inference question is answered in four steps. First, find the lines the question points to and reread them, with a sentence on either side. Second, put in your own words what those lines show. Third, test each choice against the lines: can you point to words that support it? Fourth, eliminate choices that go beyond the evidence, rely on outside knowledge, or contradict the text, and choose the one with the strongest support.
In practice
Worked example: an invented passage says, "Mara set three places at the table, then, after a long look at the empty chair, quietly cleared one away." The choices are: Mara is angry at her guests; Mara expected someone who has not come; Mara dislikes cooking; Mara lives alone. The lines support only the second: she set a place and removed it after looking at the empty chair. Nothing shows anger, cooking, or who lives with her.
Where people slip
Here the right inference was the modest one. The others claimed more than the lines could support.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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