SPI English · Reading Comprehension
Inference and the Writer's Meaning
Some questions ask what the passage suggests, or what the writer means by a line. The answer is one short step from the words, never a guess and never a fact from outside.
Why this matters
Eight questions in the bank, all on one passage from the 2022 paper: four EASY, two MODERATE and two HARD. The hard ones ask what a line suggests, or offer 'None of these' and 'Cannot be said', so you must know whether the passage states a point, implies it or never gives it.
Concept 1 of 2: Stated, implied or not given
Before you pick an option, sort it. Either the passage says it in words, or the words lead to it in one step, or the passage never gives it. Only the first two can be right.
Definition
Three kinds of option:
- Stated: a line says it, perhaps in other words.
- Implied: a line does not say it, but it must be true if the line is true.
- Not given: it might be true, but no line proves it.
The special options:
- All of these: choose it only if every option is stated or implied. One unproved option sinks it.
- None of these: choose it when you have found the line and no option matches it.
- Cannot be said (inadequate information): choose it when the passage truly never gives the answer, not because the answer is hard to find.
Worked example
Passage: 'Asha missed the morning bus, so she walked the three kilometres to school and reached after the bell.' Sort each: (1) Asha walked to school. (2) Asha was late. (3) Asha's mother was angry.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
Cannot be said, chosen too early
'Inadequate information' is right only when no line gives the answer. If a line gives even a small clue the question asks you to use, the answer is that clue, not 'cannot be said'.
All of these with one weak option
Check every option before choosing 'All of these'. If one of them is only a guess, that option is wrong and so is 'All of these'.
None of these when the right words are missing
If the passage has a line that answers the question and none of the four options repeats it or follows from it, 'None of these' is the answer. Do not force the nearest option to fit.
Concept 2 of 2: What the writer means by a line
A quoted line often says one thing on the surface and makes a point in its place in the passage. Ask why the writer put the line there: what does it show about the people, or what is the writer arguing?
Definition
The method:
- Read the quoted line, then the lines around it.
- Ask: what is the writer showing or arguing with this line?
- Pick the option that states that point in one step. Cut options that only repeat the line's surface words, or that blame or praise someone the line does not.
- For 'what is suggested' or 'who is likely' questions, use the clue the passage gives, and do not add a story of your own.
- Words like likely, suggests, implies and indicated mean an inference is wanted, not a quoted fact.
Worked example
Passage: 'People call a greedy man a vulture. Yet a vulture eats only what is already dead and harms no living thing.' What does the writer mean? (a) Vultures are greedy birds. (b) Calling a greedy man a vulture is unfair to the vulture. (c) Vultures should be protected by law. (d) Greedy men eat too much.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
SPI · 2022 · SPI Entrance Examination 2022 · Q133Moderate
Example 2 · Reading Comprehension · Inference and the Writer's Meaning
This passage is taken from Mr Jim Corbett's book called 'My India'. In this book, the author narrates, through different stories, the life of common Indians about a century ago or so. This particular passage, with a few minor changes, is taken from a chapter titled 'The Law of the Jungle'. A hardworking couple, Kunthi and Harkwar, has lost their two young children for more than three days, from their hut next to a jungle.
Read the passage and answer the questions based on it.
Harkwar was sitting at the door of his hut staring into the darkening night, in which points of light were beginning to appear as a lantern or cooking fire was lit here and there, when he saw a small crowd of people appearing from the direction of the bazaar. At the head of the procession, a man was walking, carrying something on his shoulders. From all sides, people were converging on the procession and he could hear an excited murmur of 'Harkwar's children'. Harkwar's children! He could not believe his ears, and yet there appeared to be no mistake, for the procession was coming straight towards his hut.
Kunthi, having reached the limit of her misery and of her physical endurance, had fallen asleep curled up in a corner of the hut. Harkwar shook her awake and got her to the door just as the herdsman carrying Punwa and Putali reached it. Putali was beyond speech but Punwa was able to talk a little, and all the explanation he could give for their being in the jungle was that they had been playing and had got lost.
When tearful greetings, blessings and thanks for the rescuer, and congratulations of friends had partly subsided, the question of the reward, the herdsman had earned, was mooted. To a poor man, fifty rupees was wealth untold, and with it, the herdsman could buy three buffaloes, or ten cows, and be independent for life. But the rescuer was a better man than the crowd gave him credit for. The blessings and thanks that had been showered on his head that night, he said, was reward enough for him, and he stoutly refused to touch one pice (paisa) of the fifty rupees. Nor would Harkwar or Kunthi accept the reward either as a gift or loan. They had got the children they had lost all hope of ever seeing again, and would resume work as their strength returned.
The children were lost at midday on Friday and were found by the herdsman at about 5 p.m. on Monday, a matter of seventy seven hours. It would be unreasonable to assume that none of the animals or birds saw, heard or smelt the children. And yet, when the herdsman put Putali and Punwa into their parents' arms, there was not a single mark of tooth or claw on them.
When Hitler's war was nearing its end, in one week I read extracts from speeches of three of the greatest men in the British Empire, condemning war atrocities, and accusing the enemy of attempting to introduce the 'law of the jungle'. Had the Creator made the same law for man as He has made for the jungle folks, there would have been no wars for the strong man would have the same consideration for the weak as is the established law of the jungles.
What does the author imply by " ...Had the Creater made the same law for man as He has made for the jungle folks, there would have been no wars for the strong man would have the same consideration for weak as is the established law of the jungles."
Repeating the surface of the line
When the writer contrasts a common view with his own, the option that repeats the common view is a trap. The writer's meaning is the point he makes against it.
Adding your own story
An inference uses only the passage's clues. If you need to imagine a fact the passage never gives, such as who paid or who was punished, the option is too far.
Reading a feeling as giving up
Tiredness, waiting or crying shows misery, not that a person has lost hope. Choose the option whose line says the exact point the question names.
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)
- Cannot be said, chosen too early→ Stated, implied or not given
- All of these with one weak option→ Stated, implied or not given
- None of these when the right words are missing→ Stated, implied or not given
- Repeating the surface of the line→ What the writer means by a line
- Adding your own story→ What the writer means by a line
- Reading a feeling as giving up→ What the writer means by a line
Test yourself on a real paper
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