Reading comprehension: support an inference with a detail

What is an inference?

An inference connects details in a text to a conclusion the text does not state directly. It should be supported by those details. A story you can imagine is not automatically a conclusion the passage supports.

Before looking at options, say what is directly stated and what remains uncertain. This makes it easier to notice an option that adds an unsupported cause, intention or outcome.

Read the action before naming the feeling

Original passage: “Maya checked the room number twice. At the doorway she smoothed the page she was carrying and waited for someone to call her name.” The actions support uncertainty or nervous anticipation.

The passage does not establish that Maya has failed an exam, lost a job or lied about her work. Those are possible invented backgrounds, but no detail requires them. Keep the inference close to the supplied evidence.

Match the strength of the answer to the evidence

“Maya may be unsure about entering” is more measured than “Maya is terrified of everyone in the room”. Look for the scope and intensity the wording supports. An answer can go too far even if its general direction seems right.

Do not mechanically choose the weakest option. Sometimes a passage gives decisive evidence. The task is to compare each claim with the actual text, including details that may contradict it.

Explain why a tempting option adds too much

For each reviewed item, record the supporting detail and the extra claim in one wrong option. This gives you a specific distinction to practise rather than a note that simply says “read carefully”.

Use a fresh passage for the next check. If you know the first story by heart, a higher score on its repeated questions does not show whether your inference method transfers.

Try it yourself

“Leo put the unopened letter in a drawer and said he would read it tomorrow.” Can you conclude that the letter contains bad news?