Test Prep - Making Inferences

Consider this scenario from a history class discussion.

Because Henry and Avery had no access to salt, Evelyn, who was representing the Phoenicians, could demand outrageous amounts of gold in trade for salt.

In this scenario, the teacher suggests —

• Henry and Avery needed salt but had little gold to spare

• Evelyn didn’t need salt and traded it to Henry and Avery

• Henry and Avery had a great need and desire for salt

• Evelyn did a lot of trade with Henry and Avery

Consider this scenario from a history class discussion.

Maya, Henry, and Rohan were having a discussion about the origin of words. Maya shared a fact.

Curiously, the word salary comes from the Latin “salerium,” which comes from the Latin root “salis” for salt.

Based on Maya's statement, we can infer that she is —

• intrigued at the connection of salt to language

• thinking that salt is a mysterious substance

• entertained by learning about the history of words

• amused because the Greeks made a joke about salt and salaries

Consider this scenario from a school project.

Soon, Mason, William, and Abigail, along with thousands of others, joined in the project and crowds of students began making their own salt.

The teacher uses this scenario to —

• imply it was better for students to make their own salt

• suggest that the salt-making project would be successful

• infer that thousands of students needed the salt that Mason, William, and Abigail made

• say it was the school staff who joined with the students in the project

Consider this scenario from a history class discussion.

In paragraph 5, the author suggests that during a school project on India's independence, Arjun suggested that —

• the salt in India is better than salt found in other countries

• Gandhi’s work in India was limited to empowering people to make salt

• the people of India got along well with the British

• independence and freedom are as good as gold and salt

Match the following

• inference

• an idea formed by combining text evidence and one’s own reasoning and background knowledge

• examine

• to inspect in detail to determine meaning

• text evidence

• details from the text that a reader can use to support his or her ideas and opinions about the text