Selecting the statement that most logically completes a passage's reasoning — strictly bounded by what the text actually establishes.
44
Total questions
16
Easy
12
Medium
16
Hard
Inference questions end a passage with a blank preceded by 'therefore' or 'this suggests that' and ask what most logically completes the text. Despite the name, they reward the smallest possible step beyond the text — the correct completion is almost forced by the premises.
Treat the passage as premises in an argument and ask: what conclusion do these premises guarantee? The right answer typically synthesizes exactly two facts stated in the text. Wrong answers require outside knowledge, overreach with words like 'all' or 'never,' or introduce a new topic the premises never touched.
Straight from the Grind1600 question bank — try each one before revealing the answer.
Correct answer: D
Choice D is the best answer because the text describes the solar lights' lower operating costs (40% less) and reduced maintenance, and the council's plan to expand the program reasonably implies it views the initial installation as successful. Choice A invents a complaint about brightness, Choice B claims residential lights will cost more, and Choice C asserts a federal requirement—none of these is supported by the text.
Correct answer: A
Choice A is the best answer. Hand-washing cut mortality to the level of the midwives' ward, yet Semmelweis's colleagues rejected the finding. The explanation the text supports is that accepting it meant accepting that physicians were carrying disease from autopsies to their patients — a conclusion the profession was not prepared to draw.
Choice B is incorrect. The text says his colleagues rejected his findings, not that they agreed with them, and it never mentions a shortage of resources.
Choice C is incorrect. This reverses the text, which states mortality was dramatically higher in the ward staffed by medical students.
Choice D is incorrect. The text says the solution worked, dropping mortality to the midwives' ward level. Nothing suggests it was later found ineffective.
Central Ideas & Details
Identifying a passage's main idea and locating the specific details that support it — the core reading-comprehension skill on the SAT.
Command of Evidence (Textual)
Choosing the quotation or finding that most directly supports, illustrates, or weakens a stated claim or hypothesis.
Command of Evidence (Quantitative)
Using data from tables and graphs to complete or support a passage's argument — reading the graphic precisely is the whole game.
44 Inferences questions with step-by-step explanations, woven into a day-by-day study plan built for your test date.
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