An SAT Reading & Writing micro-topic under Central Idea and Details (Information and Ideas). Free to read — no account needed.
On inference questions you pick the choice best supported by the passage, and the classic wrong answer sneaks in outside information — a fact or claim the text never provides.
Passage: A school planted a small garden last spring. By summer, the tomato plants along the sunny fence had grown much taller than the ones in the shaded corner. The gardening club noticed that the tall plants got sunlight all day, while the short ones sat in shade all afternoon. Which statement is best supported by the passage? Choice A: In this garden, the tomato plants that got more sunlight grew taller. Choice B: Tomato plants always grow taller than every other vegetable. Choice A restates what the club actually observed, so it is supported. Choice B adds a sweeping claim about all vegetables that the passage never makes, so it is outside information.
Passage: A librarian moved the comic books to a display in the front window. Over the next few weeks, far more students checked out comics than before, though she had changed nothing else in the library. Which statement is best supported by the passage? Choice A: After the comics were moved to the window, more students checked them out. Choice B: Comic books are the most popular kind of book among students everywhere. Choice A stays with what the librarian observed, so it is supported. Choice B makes a claim about students everywhere that the passage does not support, so it is outside information.
So test each choice with one question: can you point to the words in the passage that back it up? If you can, it is supported. If you have to reach beyond the text, it is outside information and wrong.
Worked examples
On its opening day, a new bakery sold out of every loaf of bread by noon. The owner had baked only a small batch, unsure how many customers would come. A long line had already formed outside well before the doors opened. Which statement is best supported by the passage? (A) Demand for the bakery's bread on opening day was greater than the owner had expected. (B) This bakery's bread is healthier than the bread sold at any other bakery. Choice (A) follows from the small batch selling out and the long line, so it is supported. Choice (B) makes a claim about health and other bakeries that the passage never mentions, so it is outside information.
Scientists watched a desert lizard turn a lighter shade during the hottest part of the afternoon and grow darker again in the cool of the evening. They suggested that the lighter color helps the lizard reflect sunlight and stay cool. Which statement is best supported by the passage? (A) This lizard's color changes with the temperature over the course of the day. (B) All reptiles that live in the desert change color to survive the heat. Choice (A) restates what the scientists observed, so it is supported. Choice (B) generalizes to all desert reptiles, which the passage never claims, so it is outside information.
A team spread a new fertilizer on one field of corn and left a second, identical field untreated. By harvest time, the treated field had produced noticeably more corn than the untreated one. Which statement is best supported by the passage? (A) In this test, the field with fertilizer produced more corn than the field without it. (B) This fertilizer will double the harvest of any crop grown anywhere. Choice (A) reports the result the team actually measured, so it is supported. Choice (B) adds claims about doubling and about every crop that the passage never makes, so it is outside information.
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