CDS English · Reading Comprehension
Inference: what the passage must mean
An inference question asks for a point the passage does not state in so many words but clearly means. The answer must follow from a line; an option that only could be true is wrong.
Why this matters
Inference is one of the most common kinds of question in CDS reading. It hides behind many stems: 'the passage suggests', 'it can be inferred', 'which is true according to the author', or a plain question about the passage. The wrong options are usually sensible statements about the world, and that is why they tempt. The test is always the same: can you point at a line that makes this true?
Concept 1 of 3: Must be true, not could be true
An inference is one short step from a line in the passage. If the line is true, the inference must be true. An option that might be true, or that sounds wise, is not enough. You must be able to point at the line.
Definition
The terms:
- Inference: a point the passage does not state but clearly means.
- Must be true: follows from a line in one step.
- Could be true: fits the topic, but nothing in the passage proves it.
The method:
- Find the line the question is about. Note its key words.
- For each option ask: if this line is true, must this option also be true?
- Keep the option you can prove with a line. Point at that line.
- Strike options that are only possible, that need outside knowledge, or that need two or more steps.
- Be wary of strong words in an option (all, never, only, always). The passage rarely supports them.
Worked example
'Every evening the old soldier polished his medals and told the children about his regiment. He never missed a reunion, even when his knees were bad.' Which can be inferred? (a) He was proud of his time in the army. (b) He was the bravest man in his regiment. (c) He disliked children. (d) He won every battle he fought.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2017 · CDS (I) 2017 — English · Q110Moderate
Example 1 · Reading Comprehension · Inference: What Must Be True
Directions: In this section, you have six short passages. After each passage, you will find some questions based on the passage. First, read a passage and answer the questions based on it. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of the author only.
Passage – 6
I must say a word about the Eiffel Tower. I do not know what purpose it serves today. But I then heard it greatly disparaged as well as praised. I remember that Tolstoy was the chief among those who disparaged it. He said that the Eiffel Tower was a monument of man’s folly, not of his wisdom. Tobacco, he argued, was the worst of all intoxicants, inasmuch as a man addicted to it was tempted to commit crimes which a drunkard never dared to do; liquor made a man mad, but tobacco clouded his intellect and made him build castles in the air. The Eiffel Tower was one of the creations of a man under such influence. There is no art about the Eiffel Tower. In no way can it be said to have contributed to the real beauty of the Exhibition. Men flocked to see it and ascended it as it was a novelty and of unique dimensions. It was the toy of the Exhibition. So long as we are children we are attracted by toys, and the Tower was a good demonstration of the fact that we are children attracted by trinkets. That may be claimed to be the purpose served by the Eiffel Tower.
Why did men flock to the Eiffel Tower?
True in life, but not in the passage
An option can be a fine statement about the world and still be wrong. The question asks what the passage means. If you cannot point at a line, cut it.
Two steps away
If you need to add your own idea between the line and the option, the option is too far. A real inference is one step: the line, then the point.
Concept 2 of 3: Cut the option that goes beyond the passage
Wrong options often use the passage's topic but go further than the passage does: a fact from outside, a bigger claim, or a result the passage never names. Cut these first. What survives is usually the answer.
Definition
The method, three cuts:
- Outside fact: the option is about the topic, but the passage never mentions it. Cut it, even if it is true in real life.
- Too strong: the option widens the claim: some becomes all, may becomes will, helps becomes cures, one town becomes the world.
- Wrong direction: the option reverses the passage, or names something the passage says DID happen when the stem asks what did not.
Then:
- Check the option that survives against a line.
- Read the small words in the stem: not, failed to, except, least. They turn the question upside down.
Worked example
'A small study in Pune found that office workers who did yoga three times a week slept better than those who did not.' According to the passage, yoga (a) cures all illnesses (b) can help office workers sleep better (c) is practised by everyone in Pune (d) reduces the cost of medicines
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2023 · CDS (I) 2023 — English · Q112Moderate
Example 2 · Reading Comprehension · Inference: What Must Be True
Directions: In this section, you have two short passages. After each passage, you will find some items based on the passage. First, read a passage and answer the items based on it. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and the opinion of the author only.
Passage—I
The third great defect of our civilization is that it does not know what to do with its knowledge. Science has given us powers fit for the gods, yet we use them as small children. For example, we do not know how to manage our machines. Machines were made to be humanity’s servants, yet man has grown so dependent on them that they are in a fair way to become his masters. Already most people spend most of their lives looking after and waiting upon machines. And the machines are very stern masters. They must be kept at the right temperature. And if they do not get their meals when they expect them, they grow sulky and refuse to work or burst with rage and blow up and spread ruin and destruction all around. So we have to wait upon them very attentively and do all that we can to keep them in a good temper. Already we find it difficult either to work or play without the machines, and a time may come when they will rule us altogether, just as we rule the animals.
And this brings me to the point at which I asked, “What do we do with all the time which the machines have saved for us, and the new energy they have given us?” On the whole, it must be admitted, we do very little. For the most part, we use our time and energy to make more and better machines which will give us still more time and still more energy, and what are we to do with them? The answer, I think, is that we should try to become more civilized. For the machines themselves, and the power which the machines have given us, are not civilization but aids to civilization. But you will remember that we agreed at the beginning that being civilized meant making and linking beautiful things, thinking freely and living rightly and maintaining justice equally among people. A person has a better chance today to do these things than he/she ever had before; he/she has more time, more energy, less to fear and less to fight against. If he/she will give his/her time and energy which his/her machines have won for him/her to make more beautiful things, to find out more and more about the universe, to remove the cause of quarrels between nations, to discover how to prevent poverty, then I think our civilization would undoubtedly be the greater as it would be more lasting than it has ever been.
The use of machines has failed to bring us
Missing the 'not' in the stem
Stems with not, failed to or except ask for the one option the passage does NOT give. Under time pressure, students pick the first option that matches a line, which is exactly the wrong one.
The softer word quietly changed
Passages hedge: may, some, often, can help. Options drop the hedge: will, all, always, cures. Compare the strength word in the option with the one in the line.
Concept 3 of 3: Numbered statements and true/not-true: test each one
Some questions give two to four numbered statements and a code: 1 only, 1 and 2, and so on. Others ask which option is true, or NOT true, according to the author. Do not judge the set as a whole. Test each statement alone, mark it yes or no, then read the code.
Definition
The terms:
- Statement code: the answer options list which numbered statements are correct (1 only, 2 and 3, neither).
- Assumption: in these questions, a point the passage shows or clearly means.
The method:
- Test statement 1 against the passage. Mark yes (a line supports it) or no (no line, or a line says the opposite).
- Test each other statement the same way. Do not let one answer colour the next.
- A statement the passage never touches is a no, even if it sounds likely.
- Every part of a statement must be supported. Half supported is a no.
- If the stem asks why, a true fact that is not the reason is a no.
- Read the codes last, and use them: if statement 1 is no, cut every code that contains 1.
- For 'which is NOT true': mark every option. The answer is the one with no supporting line, or with a line against it.
Worked example
'The night patrol left the camp at ten. By midnight the rain had turned the track to mud, and the jeep got stuck twice. They reached the post an hour late.' Consider: 1. The patrol travelled by jeep. 2. The patrol was ordered back to camp. 3. The weather slowed the patrol. Which is/are correct? (a) 1 and 3 only (b) 1 and 2 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2017 · CDS (I) 2017 — English · Q103Hard
Example 3 · Reading Comprehension · Inference: What Must Be True
Directions: In this section, you have six short passages. After each passage, you will find some questions based on the passage. First, read a passage and answer the questions based on it. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of the author only.
Passage – 4
I was abruptly awakened by a noisy scuffle. The sun, a mere fringe over the horizon, immediately chased away the grey half-darkness. I was too sleepy to notice what was happening. Yuri was rolling over on the ground. I ran up to him but was struck dumb. With his right hand he was holding a cobra by the neck. Two sharp fangs showed from its jaws. The battle was over in a few minutes. A hollow hissing and convulsive jerks were then only reminders of a just-ended tussle. The catcher half-opened the lid of the box and calmly put the quarry in.
With reference to the passage, the following assumptions have been made: 1. The incident took place early in the morning. 2. Yuri threw the snake away. Which of these assumptions is/are correct?
Judging the statements as a group
Students read all the statements, get a feeling, and pick a code. Test each statement on its own against a line. A single unsupported statement changes the code.
A true fact that is not the reason
In one passage, crowds really did flock to see a tower, but that was not why a critic scorned it. When the stem asks why, a statement must give the reason, not just any true fact.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Watch out for (6)
- True in life, but not in the passage→ Must be true, not could be true
- Two steps away→ Must be true, not could be true
- Missing the 'not' in the stem→ Cut the option that goes beyond the passage
- The softer word quietly changed→ Cut the option that goes beyond the passage
- Judging the statements as a group→ Numbered statements and true/not-true: test each one
- A true fact that is not the reason→ Numbered statements and true/not-true: test each one
Test yourself on Reading Comprehension
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