Inferential Question

Inferential comprehension questions measure interpretation. These items require you to “read between the lines” or even “beyond the lines.” Making an inference requires the reader to combine prior knowledge and experience with passage information. Making an inference requires using information that is explicit in a passage, determining which ideas are relevant to answering a particular question, and combining those ideas to create something unique, something that is implied by the information at hand.

Item types:

1) Identification of the main idea of the passage or paragraph.
Typical wording:

This passage deals primarily with . . .

The primary purpose of this passage is to describe . . .

The main idea of this passage is that . . .

2) Use of the passage information to draw conclusions, make generalizations, summarize ideas, identify implied comparison or time relationships, and to generalize the author’s beliefs.
Sample Stems:

Which of the following conclusions about the environment is supported by the passage?

Which word would the author most likely use to describe his subject?

The author implies that the 1950s and the 1990s differ in what way?

3) Application of one or more ideas from a passage to a situation not specifically mentioned in the passage.
Sample Stems:

How would a manager use contingency management to supervise employees?

While the writer focuses on women, what are the harmful effects of backlash on men?

4) Identification of the meaning of figurative language.
Typical Item Stem:

The phrase “as the flowers wept” means that . . .