How do you answer inference questions on GED reading?

An inference question asks you to work out something a passage suggests but does not say outright. To answer one, find the key facts in the passage, then ask what conclusion those facts support.^[1] Cross out any choice that goes beyond the evidence.^[1] Then pick the answer the passage supports most directly.^[1]

This post explains what an inference is and why the GED asks for inferences, then works through a short example we made up.

What is an inference?

An inference is a conclusion you reach by putting together evidence, reasoning and what you already know.^[2] To make one, you use two things: clues in the text and your own background knowledge, which means what you already know from life.^[3]

You make inferences all the time. Say a friend walks in and shakes out a wet umbrella. Nobody mentions the weather, but you know it is raining. The umbrella is the clue, and your own life tells you what it means. Put the two together, and you have an inference.

Reading works the same way: some of the meaning sits between the lines, and an inference question asks you to find it.

Why the GED asks for inferences

On the GED Language Arts test, you read passages from informational sources, such as articles, and literary ones, such as stories. You show that you understand them, and you draw conclusions.^[4] The passages are 400 to 900 words long.^[5]

GED's study guide says you will be asked to make inferences or draw conclusions about plots, the order of events, characters, settings and ideas.^[6] Inference also shows up in other official reading skills:

• The author's purpose. You may be asked to work out why the author wrote a passage when the passage does not say.^[6]
• How ideas connect. You may need to work out how ideas relate when the text does not say it outright: for example, a cause and its effect, two things that are alike, or a contrast.^[7]
• Broad statements from details. You may be asked to make a generalization (a broad statement) or a hypothesis (a reasoned guess) based on evidence from the details in a text.^[7]

GED also lists making inferences about plot, events, characters, settings and ideas among the skills that test takers at the Below Passing level should work on to reach the passing level.^[8] So it is a skill worth building.

For a main idea that a passage never states, see our post on how to find the main idea.

Use what you know, but answer from the text

Here is a point to be careful about. Background knowledge is part of how you make an inference, as the wet umbrella showed.^[3] But GED's advice for an inference question is to cross out answers that go beyond the evidence in the passage.^[1]

So which is it? Both. Use what you know to understand the passage. Then make sure the answer you choose rests on the text. A university's online reading lab suggests a simple check: does your inference rest more on the author's words than on your own point of view?^[2]

This matters most when a choice sounds true. A choice can be true in real life and still be wrong on the test, because you are looking for the answer the passage supports most directly.^[1] If the passage does not back it up, it is not the answer, no matter how sensible it sounds.

A step-by-step way to answer

GED describes the order of the work: read closely, interpret the passage, weigh the evidence, and then make inferences and draw conclusions.^[6] Here it is as steps.

1. Read closely. Notice details that hint at more than they say.
2. Find the key facts and add them up. Pick out the facts in the passage that matter for the question, then ask what conclusion they support.^[1]
3. Say it in your own words. Before you read the choices, answer the question in your own words, as a university learning center advises for multiple-choice questions.^[9]
4. Cross out choices that go too far. Rule out any answer that goes beyond what the passage supports.^[1] The warning signs in the next section show what else to look for.
5. Choose. Of the choices left, pick the one the passage supports most directly.^[1]

How to rule out wrong choices

When you test each choice, watch for these warning signs:

• It goes beyond the passage. The choice may sound sensible, even true in real life, but nothing in the passage backs it up. GED's advice is to cross it out.^[1]
• It contradicts the passage. A logical inference does not contradict other statements in the text.^[2] If a choice clashes with even one sentence, it does not fit.
• It does not match the tone. A logical inference also fits the author's attitude or tone about the topic.^[2] If a passage sounds hopeful and a choice sounds bitter, look again. To practice reading an author's words closely, try our free question on word meaning in context.
• It uses extreme words. A university learning center advises being wary of extreme words such as always and never.^[9] Treat them as a sign to look closer, not as a rule. Ask yourself: does the passage really support a claim that strong?

A worked example

Here is a short passage we made up for practice:

The new cashier checked the price list twice before she rang up each item. When the line grew long, her hands shook as she counted out change. An older coworker stepped up beside her and quietly pointed to the right key. By the end of the shift, she was smiling and chatting with customers.

Question: Which conclusion does the passage support most directly?

• A. Stores should train new workers before they start.
• B. The cashier had held this job for many years.
• C. The cashier was nervous at first but grew more at ease.
• D. Customers are always impatient with new cashiers.

Find the key facts. She checks the price list twice. Her hands shake when the line grows. A coworker helps her. By the end, she is smiling and chatting.

Add them up, in your own words. Checking twice and shaking hands are signs of nerves. You know that from your own life: that is your background knowledge at work. Smiling and chatting are signs of feeling comfortable. So, in your own words: she started out nervous and ended up relaxed.

Cross out the weak choices.

• A may sound sensible, but the passage never talks about training. It goes beyond the passage, so cross it out.
• B contradicts the passage, which calls her the "new" cashier. Cross it out.
• D uses always, a sign to look closer. The passage never says the customers were impatient, and by the end she is chatting with them. Cross it out.

Choose. That leaves C, which matches your own-words answer. It rests on the passage's words: the double-checking and shaking hands at the start, and the smile at the end. It also fits the warm tone of the last sentence. C is the answer the passage supports most directly.

Your background knowledge helped you read the clues, but the answer rests on what the passage says.

Keep practicing

Each time you answer a reading question, ask which words in the passage lead to your answer. If you cannot point to any, look again.

On OpenEssayMe, the free practice questions need no sign-up, and every answer comes with feedback that explains each choice. The free main idea question is a good place to practice checking each choice against the passage. For the full picture of the test, see our GED RLA test guide.