Inference TOEFL PRactice 7A

When the Pilgrims arrived from England in 1620, they found the Native American communities devastated by a plague that eventually wiped out between 90 and 96 percent of the native inhabitants of southern New England.

What can be inferred from the passage?

• (A) The Pilgrims arrived in southern New England.

• (B) The plague began in England.

The fossils that have led to this new view of dinosaurs as migratory creatures have been found in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and the former Soviet Union, as well as in Antarctica and southern Australia. At the time dinosaurs thrived near the poles, conditions there were radically different from those today. The planet was warmer, especially in these polar regions.

What can be inferred from the passage?

• (A) Dinosaurs migrated from Alaska to Australia.

• (B) The fossils have been found in polar regions.

A popular vacation spot during summer months is Nags Head; its beaches, excellent surf fishing, and nearby historical sites make it one of North Carolina's most popular seaside towns. Other resorts in neighboring southern states may provide more night life, but Nags Head attracts families year after year.

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

• (A) You can see many children in Nags Head in July.

• (B) Nags Head has many nightclubs and discotheques.

A popular color for spring fashions is chartreuse. Gone are the dark and dreary browns and blacks of winter; "bright" is the tone for spring. Another green that is being shown this spring is moss green, with a somewhat softer hue. 

4. What can be inferred from the passage?

• (A) Chartreuse is a bright color.

• (B) Brown is a good color for spring fashions.

From the dunes you get a view of the whole area, and the constant winds on the bluff provide today's sky-gliders the same advantage afforded Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1900 as they prepared for the world's first powered flight.

5. What can be inferred from the passage?

• (A) The Wrights had trouble sky-gliding and used power.

• (B) Good winds are necessary for sky-gliding.

The first recorded European visit to the Outer Banks was made by Verazzano, who was in search of a route to the West. The area was referred to by Verazzano and his crew as Annunciata, which means "to announce." But the name did not prevail because neither maps nor permanent settlements were made. When the English increased their visits to the area, they referred to it as New Brittaine, and then later as Arcadia. The name Arcadia was taken from the ancient Greek city where the people had a simple, rustic lifestyle. However, this was the name given by people who did not reside in the Outer Banks. The name Arcadia didn't stick.

6. What can be inferred from the passage?

• (A) The Outer Banks are west of Europe.

• (B) The English made permanent settlements in Arcadia.

The term "not worth a continental" became a popular reference to things of little value as a result of the inability of the government of the United States to pay for the Revolutionary War. Specifically, the federal government had no power to levy taxes that might transfer resources from the private sector to the public sector. To pay for needed weapons and soldiers, the federal government had only two other options, either (1) borrow money or (2) create new money. When loans proved to be inadequate, the Continental Congress started issuing new paper money-the "continental" dollar-in 1775. By the end of 1779, Congress had authorized issuance of over $250 million in Continental dollars. Fortunately, the war ended before the economy collapsed.

7. What can be inferred from the passage?

• (A) The option of creating new money was not entirely successful.

• (B) The federal government did not consider the option of loans.

Fundamental to the theory of plate tectonics is the assumption that while all the plates seem to be moving at different relative speeds ranging from a fraction of an inch to a maximum of five inches a year-the whole jigsaw puzzle of plates is interlinked. No one plate can move without affecting others, and the activity of one can influence another thousands of miles away. The Atlantic Ocean could not be getting wider-as it is with the spreading of the African Plate away from the South American Plate-if the Pacific sea floor were not being consumed in deep oceanic trenches faster than it is created at the Pacific ridges. The plates move rapidly by geological standards: two inches per year-to pick a typical speed-up to 30 miles in one million years. It took only 150 million years for a mere fracture in an ancient continent to turn into the Atlantic Ocean.

8. What can be inferred from the passage?

• (A) Plate tectonics is a complex, interrelated system.

• (B) Geological standards of time are faster than normal standards of time. 

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, unemployment affected as much as twenty-five percent of the labor force. Today's federal system of social welfare programs did not exist then, so the families of most of the unemployed went hungry. Since that time, we have progressed both in maintaining higher levels of employment and in providing support services to the unemployed. However, unemployment is still a threat in certain industries and for certain groups, especially among minority youth first entering the labor force. Unemployment is a waste of human resources, and represents a drain on public budgets and on the life savings of individual families.

9. What can be inferred from the passage?

• (A) Figures for today's unemployment are higher than in the 1930s.

• (B) Unemployment is a special threat to a black teenager.