Vocabulary · Free lesson
TOEFL reading inferences: do not make the claim stronger
This invented campus study describes a limited observation. Your job is to use its facts without turning one exam week into a rule for the whole year.
Professor Scott MendozaThe short answer
An inference must follow from the passage, not just sound possible. If a room’s 40 regular seats and 20 temporary seats were all occupied at observed times, the extra seats were being used then. That does not prove the room is always full or that more people were waiting.
Keep the conclusion within the evidence’s limits.
Read the original passage below. All 60 seats were occupied, so the temporary 20 were not unused at those checks. But the observations happened at 9 a.m. during one exam week. There is no evidence about afternoons, ordinary weeks, waiting students, or changes in grades.
Original campus observation
The reading room normally had 40 seats. Staff added 20 temporary seats for one exam week.
At 9 a.m. on each weekday of that exam week, all 60 seats were occupied.
The team did not record afternoon use or the number of students waiting outside.
Full occupancy does not by itself show how many people could not find a seat. The text would need evidence about unmet demand.
Connect the facts, then stop
Combine the seat counts
40 regular seats + 20 temporary seats = 60 seats
Keep the observed time
The temporary seats were in use at the 9 a.m. checks that week.
Try it now
Choose only the supported inference
Read all answers and explanations
Which conclusion follows from the 60 occupied seats?
The temporary seats were being used at the observed checks.All 60 includes the 20 extra seats. The other choices conflict with full occupancy.
Which statement keeps the time limit in the passage?
The room was full at the recorded 9 a.m. checks during that exam week.Only the observed exam-week mornings are supported. Neither afternoons nor the whole year was measured.
What does the passage establish about students waiting outside?
The number waiting was not recorded.The passage explicitly leaves that number unmeasured. Neither zero nor 20 can be inferred.
Put it into practice
Limit an overgeneralized conclusion
Revise the claim so it matches only the recorded observations.
The reading room is full every morning of the year.
See a model answer
The reading room was full at the 9 a.m. checks during that exam week.
A narrower claim is stronger when it accurately reflects the evidence.
A little more clarity
Common questions
A few useful details before you move on.
What if an answer is possible in real life?
Possibility alone is not textual support. Choose what follows from the supplied facts, not an appealing guess.
A full room does not establish how many students are waiting.
Must an inference repeat the exact words?
No. It can connect or restate facts in new words, provided it does not add unsupported details.
All 60 seats were occupied, so the 20 additional seats were in use.
Take it into your day
Infer what the facts support, keeping their time and scope.
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