3. According to the passage, the 5. According to the author, spoken, symbolic chimpanzee Washoe language is (A) was able to associate some signs (A) nota sophisticated communication with activities after a year system (B) used fewer than 175 signs to (B) only available to humans ‘communicate (© shared by both humans and (C) was fluent in the American chimpanzees Sign Language (D) similar to the language used by (D) could read and write chimpanzees 4, The passage states that Sarah's ability to read and write was judged by (A) the size of her vocabulary (B) her dexterity in using the plastic symbols (C) her obedience to instructions given in the symbol language (D) the number of symbol sequences that she could manipulate See the Answer Key for an explanation of the answers to Exercises 6D and 6E. RV7 Check to Make Inferences Questions on the Reading Comprehension Section of the TOEFL often ask you to use your understanding of the facts and details which are directly stated in a reading passage to make an inference (a prediction or conclusion) about the passage. Information that is not directly stated in the passage is said to be implied by the author. Questions about implied information may be about a part of the passage or about what came before or will come after the passage. You may be asked to draw conclusions about the passage itself, or to make predictions about another related situation, Think about the following sentence and questions: In last year’s competition, of the five contestants chosen, one was from White Springs, two from other towns in Idaho, and the rest from neighboring areas of the Pacific Northwest. = Using the facts of the text itself, we can make several inferences (conclusions based on facts) about this sentence. Y Explanation & 1. What or where is White Springs? We can infer that White Springs is a town in Idaho, based on the phrase other towns in Idaho. 2. Where is Idaho? We can infer that both White Springs and Idaho ate in the Pacific Northwest, based on from neighboring areas of the Pacific Northwest 3. How many contestants are from the rest of the Pacific Northwest? We can infer that there were two contestants from the neighboring areas of the Pacific Northwest by using simple arithmetic. 4. What type of competition might this be? ‘We can infer something about the competition or contest. We can guess that it was a regional competition, rather than national, since all the contestants came from the same geographic area. 5. What probably preceded this sentence? We can infer that the information given before this sentence was probably about the contestants in this year’s competition, based on the phrase In last year's competition. Reading Comprehension 289students to: 1. understand what the question is asking and know where to find the answer in the passage; 2. relate the information in the answer choice to a synonym or paraphrase of information in the passage; and 3, determine what is true and not true in the answer choices. 1 Answer choices to TOEFL questions about implied information and prediction require ‘Questions that ask you to make an inference or to predict are often worcied in the following wat Itcan be inferred from the passage that Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? ‘The author implies in the passage Which of the following is the most likely .. .? What did the paragraph preceding the passage most probably discuss? What will the paragraph that follows this passage most likely discuss? Which of the following generalizations is supported by the passage? or occasionally: Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the passage? REMEMBER: In this type of question, true answers are NOT correct Questions that ask you to make inferences are usually in order according to the information in the passage. Use skills of skimming and scanning to locate the information in the passage that you are asked to understand. Then, look for the relationships in the stated information. Also, use your understanding of the author's purpose and organization of the passage. Use logical reasoning to draw conclusions and make predictions about the passage from information which is not specifically stated. EXERCISE 7A: _ Practice Making Inferences by Identifying Statements That Can Be Inferred from a Passage Read the passages. Circle ALL of the answers that can be inferred from a passage. 1, When the Pilgrims arrived from England in 1620, they found the Native Americans 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 Pilgrims were also afflicted by the plague. (C) The Native Americans offered little resistance to the Pilgrims (D) The plague began in England. 2, ‘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 are usually thought of as sedentary creatures (B) Dinosaurs migrated from Alaska to Australia (C) The fossils have been found in polar regions. (D) The temperature at the poles today is cold 290 Reading Comprehension |‘A good source of vitamin B is kale, Spinach and escarole are other green leafy vegetables that provide this essential vitamin. Enjoy your daily salad, and you'll have your vitamin B as well, What can be inferred from the passage? (A) Kale is a green leafy vegetable. (B) Vitamin B is the most essential vitamin, . (©) Fating salad will guarantee good health (D) Kale, spinach, and escarole can be used in salads. 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. What can be inferred from the passage? (A) Nags Head is in the South. (B) You can see many children in Nags Head in July. (©) Nags Head has many nightclubs and discotheques. (D) Nags Head is on the coast: . 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. ‘What can be inferred from the passage? (A) Chartreuse isa bright color. {B) Brown is a good color for spring fashions. (©) Chartreuse is a type of green color. (D) Brown and black were popular colors in the winter. 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. What can be inferred from the passage? | (A) The dunes are located higher than other land forms of the area, (B) The dunes have served those interested in flying for many years, (© The Wrights had trouble sky-gliding and used power. (D) Good winds are necessary for sky-gliding, ‘The first recorded Furopean 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 itas 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 What can be inferred from the passage? (A) The Outer Banks are west of Europe. {B) Verazzano had hopes for European settlements in the Outer Banks (© The Outer Banks offers a simple, rustic lifestyle today. (D) The English made permanent settlements in Arcadia Reading Comprehension 2918, The term “not worth a continental” became a popular reference to things of litle 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, What can be inferred from the passage? (A) The option of creating new money was not entirely successful. | (B) Two expenses of the Revolutionary War were weapons and soldiers. (©) Most of the money at that time was held by the private sector, | | (D) The federal government did not consider the option of loans. ‘9, 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 itis created at the Pacific ridges. The plates move rapidly by geological standards: two inches per yeat—to pick a typical speed—up to 30 miles in one million years, It ook only 150 million years for a mere fracture in an ancient continent to turn into the Atlantic Ocean, ‘What can be inferred from the passage? (A) As the Atlantic is getting wider, the Pacific Ocean is getting narrower. | (B) Plate tectonics is a complex, interrelated system. | (© The Atlantic Ocean used to be a continent. (D) Geological standards of time are faster than normal standards of time. 10. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, unemployment affected as much as twenty-five ppercent of the labor force. Today's federal system of social welfare programs did nt exist then, 0 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. ‘What can be inferred from the passage? (A) Unemployment caused many hardships for families during the Great Depression. (B) Figures for today’s unemployment are higher than in the 1930s, (©) Unemployment is a special threat to a black teenager. (D) Programs to support the unemployed are funded by the federal government. To be successful answering TOEFL questions that ask you to make inferences, use your knowledge of signal words. Words that signal relationships between ideas in a reading passage give valuable clues about information that is not directly stated in a reading passage. Review the signal words studied in RW4 and those listed in the Writing Appendix, #1, pages 500-501, 292 Reading ComprehensionEXERCISE 7B: Practice Identifying and Understanding Words That Signal Relationships in a Reading Passage ‘Use the words to predict what information will follow. Circle the letter of the answer that would best complete each statement. 1, Whereas the fiscal policy of Keynes required the federal government to spend large amounts of money, economists today (A) are looking for ways to utilize the private sector. @) are in favor of even more government spending. 2. High-impact aerobics has been associated with high injury rates, and recently instructors have bogun teaching low- impact aerobics. However, it appears that low-impact aerobics is not void of injuries. In short, (A) low-impact aerobics offers people a good alternative for safer exercise programs, (B) no exercise program is entirely injury-free. 3, Herbicides, like all chemicals sprayed in the environment, have some adverse affects. Not only have earthworms and other soil microorganisms been killed by some herbicides, but also (A) much needed insect predators have been destroyed by these chemicals. Z (B) these chemicals are often used in powder form, 4, However dismal the outlook for world peace today may seem, (A) people will continue to search for alternatives to global warfare. (B) peace will not occur in the next decade. 5. Noam Chomsky, apart from his work as a linguist, {A) continues to lecture on language theory. (B) is well known for his outspoken views in politics 6. ‘The talks between the labor union and the company’s owners seemed hopeless. Even protests from the workers themselves (A) failed to resolve the issues. (B) helped to bring about a compromise solution. i 7. When FM broadcasting began to develop, the industry treated it as a minor novelty. Its success 3] today is due to its technical superiority to AM. In particular, (A) FM stations are virtually static-free and transmit music with greater fidelity in stereophonic sound. a (B) FM stations can target their programming to audience segments with special listening interests, 8 Atpresent, the 30,000 tons of trash Burlingtonians generate each year are collected by 14 individual companies. Critics contend this system is irrational, since certain streets are served by as many as four different carters, Their new proposal suggests that the trash removal system be revised in such a way as to (A) collect more trash. é (B) reduce the number of carters involved. Reading Comprehension 293 |9. What is disturbing about the projected tax plan is not so much the amount of money to be raised but the type of tax being proposed. Taxpayers, therefore, are asking for more information about (A) what the tax monies will be spent for. (B) who will be asked to pay the taxes. 10. Students in today’s undergraduate colleges are being asked to specialize before they have acquired the general cultivation that would acquaint them with the ideas and disciplines that are the components of culture. Moreover, (A) the humanities, as currently taught and studied, are as much addicted to specialized scholarship as are the scientific departments to highly specialized research. (B) the cultural events that are a part of every college campus are today widely diversified and give a good overview of both our past and our future. EXERCISE 7C: _ Practice Making Inferences and Understanding Implied Information Read the following passage. Circle the correct answer to each question. Only two spiders found in the continental United States are deadly to humans: the black widow and the brown recluse. The black widow is found in all the 48 contiguous states, more commonly in the South and West than Line in the North. Crabill describes it as “a shy and retiring spider that doesn’t () go looking for trouble.” The black widow's bite is excruciatingly painful “Sometimes even morphine won't knock out the pain.” Crabill says. But at least a black widow's bite can be treated; there is no effective treatment for a brown recluse’s bite. This spider, sometimes called the - violin spider because of a violin-like marking on its upper body, is found (10) predominantly in the South, especially in the Gulf States, and in the West. | ‘They are far more to be feared than the U'S. tarantula. Crabill explains: “All tarantulas native to the United States are not known to be hazatdous to life, although they will bite. As you get down into the New World tropics, some are extremely dangerous, and here is where you get (15) into trouble with tarantulas as pets. The only safe rule is: If you don’t know where it came from, don’t handle it.” 1, All of the following could be inferred from. the passage about the brown recluse EXCEPT (A) it is more deadly than the black widow (B) itcan be handled easily (C) it is more common in the southern states (D) itis distinctively marked 2, Itcan be inferred from the passage that morphine is (A) good for killing black widow spiders (8) a painkiller (C) a total cure for a spider bite (D) sold mostly in the South and West 294 Reading Comprehension 3, The author implies in the passage that tarantulas (A) are found only in the New World tropics (B) make good pets (©) area kind of spider (D) should never be handled by humans 4, It canbe inferred from the passage that Crabill (A) has never seen a tarantula (B) is an expert on spiders (C) probably has a New World tarantula asa pet (D) would not use morphine for a spider biteEXERCISE 7D: More Practice Making Inferences and Understanding Implied Information Read the passage. Circle the correct answer to each question Elements may be the basic building blocks of matter, but what—if anything—makes up the elements? In other words, what would be the result of taking an element, a piece of gold, for example, and cutting it in Line half, and in half again, ad infinitum. We would soon reach the point of (5) having such a small piece of gold that it would be beyond our ability to cut it It is at times like these when scientists must use their knowledge about how elements react to continue the experiment in their minds. Scientists have done just that and have agreed that if they continue to cut a piece of gold in half, they would eventually reach a particle called the atom (in this (10) case, an atom of gold). The atom is the smallest part of an element that retains the chemical properties of the element. One gold atom is so small that billions of them are required to make a tiny speck of gold that can be seen with a microscope. The atom, therefore, is the basic particle which constitutes the elements. Gold is composed of gold atoms, iron of iron (25) atoms, and oxygen of oxygen atoms. 1, What did the paragraph preceding this one 3. The author implies in the passage ‘most probably discuss? that scientists (A) Elements as they are essential to matter (A) apply their knowledge through (B) Minerals other than gold abstract thinking {C) The scientific method of inquiry (B) are more concerned with atoms than, (D) Scientific experiments with elements (©) had difficulty cutting the gold in half 2. Allof the following can be inferred from the (D) don’t often agree with each other passage EXCEPT (A) matter is made up of atoms 4. This passage would most likely appear in (B) each clement is composed of its own which of the following course books? [ type of atoms (A) A history book (C) the gold atom is the smallest particle (8) A biography of a scientist known to science (©) An introductory chemistry book (D) one atom of gold cannot be seen with a (D) A book on mineralogy regular microscope Reading Comprehension 295EXERCISE 7E: More Practice Making Inferences and Understanding Implied Information Read the passage. Circle the correct answer. Trucks rank high in meeting the transpartation needs of most manufacturers. They are the most frequently used form of transportation, for two reasons: (1) they offer door-to-door delivery from the manufacturer Line to the customer without intermediate unloading, and (2) they operate on (9) public highways that do not require an expensive terminal or right-of-way as airlines and railroads do. The main drawback of trucks is that they cannot carry all types of cargo. Federal regulations limit weight loads and truck dimensions, so trucks cannot cost-effectively haul heavy, bulky commodities like steel or coal. (10) Trucks can now carry larger loads on interstate highways, thanks to a 1983 law permitting the use of tandem trailers—two trailers hooked together and pulled by a single cab. Even with this change in federal rules, however, certain types of cargoes, such as gases, are difficult to handle by truck. Other types of transportation are more suited to these cargoes. 1. It can be inferred from the passage that truck transportation would be LEAST effective for which of the following 3. The author implies in the passage that federal regulation of trucks (A) is stricter today than ever commodities? (B) is paid for by the manufacturers (A) Computers (© has been more lenient since 1983 {(B) Iron ore (D) forbids trucks to handle gases {©) Canned food {D) Paper products 4. The passage following this one will most likely discuss 2. Itcan be inferred from the passage that (A) more specific federal regulations trucks meet all of the following criteria for on trucks transportation EXCEPT. (B) other transportation systems {A) direct delivery of product (C) interstate truck routes most (B) low expenses for handling product commonly used (C) low overhead for storage of product (D) cargoes shipped by tandem teailers (D) diversified cargoes See the Anstwer Key for an explanation of the answers to Exercises 7C-7E. 296 Reading Comprehension