How should you handle questions that require inferring information not explicitly stated?

• A. Guess based on your own experience, without text clues.
• B. Use clues from the text and your knowledge to make a supported inference, avoiding assumptions.
• C. Then assume the opposite of what is stated.
• D. Copy a sentence from elsewhere in the passage.

Answer: (B)

When a question asks you to infer information not stated directly, build your conclusion from evidence in the text plus what you already know. Look for hints, implications, or outcomes the author describes, and link those clues to your background knowledge to form a plausible conclusion that the passage supports. The key is to stay grounded in what the text actually implies, not in personal guesses or wishes about what might be true. So you interpret the material by using the clues and your knowledge to reach an inference that fits the evidence. Avoid stretching beyond what the clues justify, and don’t pull in information from outside the passage.