Unit 1 Inferring (reading skill)

Inferring means making use of syntactic, logical and cultural clues to discover the meaning of unknown elements, the implications or the conclusion the writer rather suggest than state directly and openly in the passage.

    To answer inference questions, don’t look for information given or facts stated in the passage , you must decide what logical conclusion follows from the information or facts in the passage. Those ideas may be what the author believes to be true.
Example 1
    Lie detectors are properly called emotion detectors, for their aim is to measure bodily changes that contradict what a person says.
    From this statement, we can infer:
• Lie detectors record a person’s emotions
• Emotions can contradict what a person says
Example 2
    Research indicates that if adults and children are given the same amount of time to learn a foreign language, it is the adults who will be more successful, with the opposite exception of achieving a native-like pronunciation.
    From this statement, we can infer:
    The issue of whether adults or children learn foreign languages more successfully has been researched.
Example 3
    Despite the dazzling diversity of shape and colour among insects, they all share three fundamental characteristics in common. They are made up of three component parts. All are invertebrates, that is, they have no backbone. And finally, all have six legs.
    From this passage, we can infer:
• Insects are often very different in their shape and colour.
• Insects have no backbone.
    Remember the following hints and tips when you do inference excercises:

    The exercises on inferring skill include:
- Yes / No / Not Given or True/ False/ Not Given
- Multiple choice
- Other types (deciding what can be inferred and what cannot, making inferences, ...)
A. YES/ NO/ NOT GIVEN OR TRUE/ FALSE/ NOT GIVEN

EXERCISE 1

Tetanus Injection

    All wounds carry a risk of infection. Dirty wounds in particular carry a risk of tetanus infection. The bacteria that cause tetanus are present in the soil and in animal faces. If they get into a wound they multiply very rapidly. Tetanus is a serious, potentially fatal condition. It can cause muscle spasms and leads to lockjaw. It can be prevented by a tetanus injection.
    Have regular tetanus injections. A booster is recommended every five years. Always check that you are covered after any injury where the skin is broken.
    Be particularly sure that children have regular tetanus injections. They are more prone to falling over and getting dirt in a wound than adults.
Are the statements below TRUE (T), FALSE (F) or NOT GIVEN (NG) according to the passage?
1. Tetanus can kill you.
2. Household pets should be given tetanus injections.
3. A single tetanus injection provides permanent protection.
4. Children have a higher risk than adults of getting tetanus.

Answer Key:

EXERCISE 2

MEDICARE
YOUR HEALTH INSURER

What does Medicare cover?
Doctors
    Medicare helps pay for the doctor to treat you at the doctor’s surgery or wherever you need treatment. Medicare helps pay for treatment by a specialist. If you need to see a specialist, you must be referred by your doctor.
Other medical services
• X-rays
• Pathology tests
• Medical tests, examinations and procedures
Optometrists
    Medicare helps pay for eye tests, but not for the cost of glasses or contact lenses.
Dentists
    Routine dental services are not covered. However, some medical-type operations performed by approved dentists are covered.
Hospitals
    Public patient
        If you choose to be treated under Medicare as a public patient in a public hospital, Medicare will cover all hospital costs. You pay nothing.
    Private patient
        If you choose to be treated as a private patient in any hospital, Medicare will help to pay for services by your doctor. However, Medicare will not pay for expenses such as theatre fees or your accommodation. These charges can be covered by arranging private health insurance.
Are the statements below TRUE (T), FALSE (F) or NOT GIVEN (NG) according to the passage?
1. Medicare does not pay for any work done by dentists.
2. Medicare pays for ambulance fees.
3. If you have not seen a doctor first, Medicare will not pay for you to see a specialist.
4. Medicare will pay at least some hospital doctor’s costs for both private and public patients.

Answer Key:

EXERCISE 3

Books, Films and Plays

     The novelist's medium is the written word, one might almost say the printed word, the novel as we know it was born with the invention of printing. Typically, the novel is consumed by a silent, solitary reader, who may be anywhere at the time. The paperback novel is still the cheapest, most portable and adaptable form of narrative entertainment. It is limited to a single channel of information - writing. But within that restriction it is the most versatile of narrative forms. The narrative can go, effortlessly, anywhere into space, people's heads, palaces, prisons and pyramids, without any consideration of cost or practical feasibility. In determining the shape and content of his narrative, the writer of prose fiction is constrained by nothing except purely artistic criteria.
This does not necessarily make his task any easier than that of the writer of plays and screenplays, who must always be conscious of practical constraints such as budgets, performance time, casting requirements, and so on. The very infinity of choice enjoyed by the novelist is a source of anxiety and difficulty. But the novelist does retain absolute control over his test until it is published and received by the audience. He may be advised by his editor to revise his text, but if the writer refuse to meet this condition no one would be surprised. It is not unknown for a well established novelist to deliver his or her manuscript and expect the publisher to print it exactly as written. However, not even the most well established playwright or screenplay writer would submit a script and expect it to be performed without any rewriting. This is because plays and motion pictures are collaborative forms of narrative, using more than one channel of communication.
     The production of a stage play involves, as well as the words of the author, the physical presence of the actors, their voices and gestures as orchestrated by the director, spectacle in the form of ‘lightning and ‘the set’, and possibly music. In film, the element of spectacle is more prominent in the sequence of visual images, heightened by various devices of perspective and focus. In film too, music tends to be more pervasive and potent than in straight drama. So, although the script is the essential basis of both stage play and film, it is a basis for subsequent revision negotiated between the writer and the other creative people involved; in the case of the screenplay, the writer may have little or no control over the final form of his work. Contracts for the production of plays protects the rights of authors in this respect. They are given ‘approval’ of the choice of director and actors and have the right to attend rehearsals. Often a good deal of rewriting takes place in the rehearsal period and sometimes there is an opportunity for more rewriting during previews before the official opening night.
     In film or television work, on the other hand, the screenplay writer usually has no contractual right to this degree of consultation. Practice in this respect varies very much from one production company to another and according to the nature of the project and the individuals involved. In short, while the script is going through its various drafts, the writer is in the driver’s seat, albeit receiving advice and criticism from the producer and the director. But once the production is under way, artistic control over the project tends to pass to the director. This is a fact overlooked by most journalistic critics of television drama, who tend (unlike film critics) to give all the credit or blame for success or failure of a production to the writer and actors, ignoring the contribution, for good or ill, of the director.
     Decide whether following statements TRUE (T), FALSE (F), or NOT GIVEN (NG) according to the passage.
1. Novelists do not have to concern themselves with many of the difficulties faced by other artists.
2. Novelists have fewer restrictions on their work than playwrights.
3. Novelist must agree to the demands of their editors.
4. Playwrights envy the simplicity of the novelist's work.
5. Music is more significant element of theatre than cinema.
6. Experience in the theatre improves the work of screenplay writers.
7. Playwrights can revise their work continuously.
8. Directors usually have the final say in how a TV drama will turn out.

Answer Key:

B. MULTIPLE CHOICE

EXERCISE 1

TIGER MOTHS

One of the most beautiful of the more than 100,000 known species in the order Lepidoptera are the tiger moths, moths known for the striking appeal of their distinctive coloration. This type of moth is covered with highly conspicuous orange-and-black or yellow-and-black patterns of spots and stripes. Such boldly patterned color combinations are commonplace in the animal world, serving the function of forewarning potential predators of unpleasant tastes and smells. This is unquestionably the function served by the striking coloration of the garden tiger moth, which is quite visually attractive but is also poisonous to predators. Certain glands in the garden tiger moth produce strong toxins that circulate throughout the insect’s bloodstream, while other glands secrete bubbles that produce noxious warning smell. The tiger moth, indeed, is a clear example of a concept that many predators intuitively understand, that creatures with the brightest coloration are often the least suitable to eat.
1. It is implied in the passage about the order Lepidoptera that

a. all members of the order are moths
b. there may be more than 100,000 species in this order
c. all members of the order are brightly colored
d. there are most likely fewer than 100,000 species in this order

2. It can be inferred from the passage that the tiger moth was so named because

a. its coloration resembles that of a tiger
b. it is a ferocious predator, like a tiger
c. its habitat is the same as the tiger’s
d. it is a member of the same scientific classification as the tiger

3. What would likely happen to a predator that wanted to eat a tiger moth?

a. The predator would be unable to catch it
b. The predator would capture it by poisoning it
c. The predator would be unable to find it
d. The predator would back away from it

4. Which of the following would a predator be most likely to attack successfully?

a. A purple and orange moth
b. A green and blue moth
c. A brown and grey moth
d. A red and yellow moth

Answer Key:

EXERCISE 2

The Cambrian Explosion

Many of the major phyla of animals arose during the Cambrian period, in what is called the Cambrian Explosion. Prior to the Cambrian period, simple one-celled organisms had slowly evolved into primitive multicellular creatures. Then, in a relatively rapid explosion during the period from 540 million years ago to 500 million years ago, there was a period of astonishing diversification in which quickly developing organisms became widely distributed and formed complex communities.
One theoretical explanation for the rapid diversification that occurred during the Cambrian period is known as the theory of polar wander. According to this theory, the rapid diversification occurred because of an unusually rapid reorganization of the Earth’s crust during the Cambrian period. This rapid change in the Earth’s crust initiated evolutionary change inasmuch as change in the environment serves to trigger evolutionary change.
1. It can be inferred from paragraph 1 that

a. some major phyla developed during periods other than the Cambrian period
b. many other phyla of animals became extinct during the Cambrian Explosion
c. descriptions of various animal phyla were created during the Cambrian period
d. the major phyla of animals that came about during the Cambrian period died out in the Cambrian Explosion

2. It can be determined from paragraph 1 that the Cambrian Explosion most likely lasted

a. 40 million years
b. 450 million years
c. 500 million years
d. 540 million years

3. It is implied in paragraph 2 that

a. only one theory to explain the rapid diversification has been proposed
b. the polar wander explanation is accepted by all scientists
c. the theory of polar wander fails to adequately explain the rapid diversification
d. the theory of polar wander is not the only theory to explain the rapid diversification

4. It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that one basis of the theory of polar wander is that

a. relatively little change in the Earth’s crust took place during the Cambrian period
b. rapid diversification was unable to take place because of the changes in the Earth’s crust
c. the Earth’s crust changed more slowly in other periods
d. evolutionary change is unrelated to changes in the environment

Answer Key:

EXERCISE 3

The Golden Age Of Comics

    The period from the late 1930s to the middle 1940s is known as the Golden age of comic books. The modern comic book came about in the early 1930s in the United States as a giveaway premium to promote the sales of a whole range of household products such as cereal and cleansers. The comic books, which were printed in bright colors to attract the attention of potential customers, proved so popular that some publishers decided to produce comic books that would come out on a monthly basis and would sell for a dime each. Though comic strips had been reproduced in publications prior to this time, the Famous Funnies comic book, which was started in 1934, marked the first occasion that a serialized book of comics was attempted.

    Early comic books reprinted already existing comic strips and comics based on known characters; however, publishers soon began introducing original characters developed specifically for comic books. Superman was introduced in Action Comics in 1938, and Batman was introduced a year later. The tremendous success of these superhero comic books led to the development of numerous comic books on a variety of topics, though superhero comic books predominated. Astonishingly, by 1945 approximately 160 different comic books were being published in the United States each month, and 90 percent of U.S. children were said to read comic books on a regular basis.
1. It can be inferred from paragraph 1 that, at the beginning of the 1930s, comic books most likely cost

a. nothing
b. 5 cents
c. 10 cents
d. 25 cents

2. Comic books would least likely have been used to promote

a. soap
b. cookies
c. jewelry
d. bread

3. It is implied in the passage that Famous Funnies

a. was a promotional item
b. appeared in a magazine
c. had been produced prior to 1934
d. was published on a regular basis

4. From the information in paragraph 2, it appears that Superman most likely

a. was introduced sometime after Batman
b. was a character that first appeared in a comic book
c. first appeared in Famous Funnies
d. first appeared in a promotional comic strip

5. It is implied in paragraph 2 that it is surprising that

a. comic strips were more popular than comic books
b. superheroes were not too popular
c. 90 percent of U.S. children did not read comics
d. comic books developed so quickly

Answer Key:

EXERCISE 4

    In the twentieth century, people depend on unlimited energy to power their everyday lives. A wide range of energy-run devices and modern conveniences are taken for granted, and although it may seem that we will never be in danger of living without those conveniences, the fact is that many supplies of energy are dwindling rapidly. Scientists are constantly searching for new sources of power to keep modern society running. Whether future population will continue to enjoy the benefits of abundant energy will depend on the success of this search.
    Coal, oil and natural gas supply modern civilization with most of its power. However, not only are supplies of these fuels limited, but they are a major source of pollution. If the energy demands of the future are to be met without seriously harming the environment, existing alternative energy sources must be improved or further explored and developed. These include nuclear, water, solar, wind and geothermal power, as well as energy from new, nonpolluting types of fuels. Each of these alternatives, however, has advantages and disadvantages.
    Nuclear power plants efficiently produce large amounts of electricity without polluting the atmosphere; however, they are costly to build and maintain, they pose the daunting problem of what to do with nuclear wastes. Hydroelectric power is inexpensive and environmentally safe, but impractical for communities located far from moving water. Harnessing energy from tides and waves has similar drawbacks. Solar power holds great promise for the future but methods of collecting and concentrating sunlight are as yet inefficient, as are methods of harnessing wind power.
    Every source of energy has its disadvantages. One way to minimize them is to use less energy. Conservation efforts coupled with renewable energy resources, such as a combination of solar, water, wind and geothermal energy and alternative fuels, such as alcohol and hydrogen, will ensure supplies of clean, affordable energy for humanity’s future.
1. The passage suggests that

a. people use energy without giving great thought to where it’s coming from
b. the search for energy sources is mainly a problem for the future
c. scientists believe we will never have to go without our modern conveniences
d. modern society requires a minimum amount of energy to keep it running

2. It can be inferred from the passage that

a. most alternative energy sources have proven to be impractical
b. many alternative energy sources are environmentally hazardous
c. nuclear power solves one problem while creating others
d. solar and wind power are not promising for the future

3. From the passage, it can be inferred that to solve our energy problems

a. we will have to stop using many of our modern conveniences
b. scientists will have to find one major source of nonpolluting energy
c. scientists will have to find ways to increase our supplies of coal, oil and gas
d. a combination of conservation and invention will be needed

4. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage

a. The search for alternative energy sources is not over.
b. Our present energy sources must be eliminated and replaced with alternative sources.
c. Alternative sources of energy on this planet are very limited.
d. Demands for energy in the future are likely to decrease.

Answer Key:

C. OTHER TYPES OF TASKS

EXERCISE 1
     Read the following passage and the statements that follow them. Some statements can be inferred from the passage, and others cannot. Put a check mark next to the statements that can be inferred from the passage.
    The mid 1950s saw the growth of a new kind of popular music that was first called "rock 'n' roll' and then simply "rock". Although quite diverse in style, rock music tends to be vocal music with a hard, driving beat often featuring electric guitar accompaniment and heavily amplified sound. Early rock grew mainly out of rhythm and blues, a dance music of African Americans that combined blues, jazz, and gospel styles. Rock also drew upon country and western music, a folklike guitar-based style associated with rural Americans and the Nashville Grand Ole Opry. In little more than a decade, rock evolved from a single, dance oriented style to a music highly varied in its tones, lyrics, and electronic technology.
1. Rock was the first form of popular music.
2. There is basically one style of rock music.
3. Rock music is often loud.
4. Several types of music influenced the development of rock.
5. Rock has always been a complicated style of music.
6. Folk music is popular in rural areas.
7. The revolution of rock music occurred relatively quickly.

Answer Key:

EXERCISE 2

    Read the following passage and the statements that follow them. Put a check mark next to the statements that can be inferred from the passage.
     Professional photographers have been engaged in a contest with nature since the origin of their craft. They have ventured into the most adverse conditions, from the broiling heat and stinging sand of the Sahara to the extreme cold of the Arctic, to capture the perfect image. Although setting, lightning and action all pose challenges to the photographer, environmental obstacles are in many ways the trickiest to surmount. Heat, humidity, dust, and cold all jeopardise photographic materials and equipment. The harm caused by these conditions is sometimes immediately obvious, such as when the shutter or film advance mechanism jams, but often it is impossible to detect until after the film is developed or the effects of camera corrosion show up.
     To avoid catastrophes, photographers have decided a number of ingenious ways to protect their equipment, from sophisticated cases and housings to simple plastic bags and picnic coolers. Armed with these devices, professional photographers have bested the worst that nature can present and have brought back from their campaigns photographic trophies of rare beauty.
1. Only recently have photographers had to contend with the environmental problems.
2. Heat is not the only problem photographers have to contend with in the Sahara Desert.
3. Photographic equipment should never be taken to places where there are adverse conditions.
4. A photographer will brave discomfort and danger to get a great picture.
5. The effect of humidity on photographic equipment is usually immediately evident.
6. Photographers have not proven to be very creative when it comes to protecting their equipment.
7. Sometimes the most basic items provide the best solutions to the problems facing photographers.

Answer Key:

EXERCISE 3

     Read each paragraph. Then draw an inference that sums up the main idea.
1. In the movies, England’s King Richard the First—he of the lion heart and Robin Hood fame—is a hero of spotless reputation. In Hollywood’s many versions of the Robin Hood story, for example, Robin worships good King Richard and would willingly die for him. History, however, offers a different slant on Richard’s supposed goodness. In 1189, the Pope called for yet another crusade to take back the holy land of Jerusalem from Moslem rule. Intent on following the Pope’s order, Richard combined forces with King Philip the II of France. Together, they managed to take the town of Acre, a port on what is now Israel’s Northwestern coast. Attempting to blackmail the Moslem ruler Saladin into giving up sacred lands, Richard took 2,500 civilians hostage, many of them women and children. When Saladin refused, Richard promptly slaughtered every last one of his hostages.
Inference:

2. When Bonnie Parker met Clyde Barrow, she was twenty years old. Although she had been a rebellious child and teenager, she had never broken a law in her life. The worst thing she had done in her mother’s opinion was run off and get married to a shiftless womanizer who humiliated and neglected her. When Clyde came along, Bonnie was ripe for the attentions of a man who seemed to think she was both important and attractive. As long as he didn’t desert her, Bonnie didn’t much care about Clyde’s two-year jail sentence. In jail at least, she knew where he was, and she could write him daily letters about how much she loved him. Bonnie, however, got nervous when she heard that Clyde was planning a jailbreak. To bind him more tightly to her, she smuggled him a gun and helped him escape. After he got caught and sent back to prison, Bonnie was even more determined to wait for the man she called her “one true love.” Upon his release from jail, Bonnie took Clyde home to meet her folks and announced she was going to Houston, Texas to get a new job. The next time her mother heard from her, Bonnie Parker was sitting in jail and had formally started her career as one half of the most famous bandit duo in history.
Inference:

Answer Key: