What are the common traps in Inference: must be true / cannot be inferred questions?

Reversal of "all A are B". Most → all and average → every. Rate → level: faster growth does not mean a higher amount. Correlation → cause in "best supported" questions: stay with "among those studied, X went with Y".

Start here · the first lesson of Inference: must be true / cannot be inferred

Inference: must be true / cannot be inferred

Critical Reasoning / Verbal Reasoning · for IPMAT Indore, IPMAT Rohtak and JIPMAT

The idea

You are given facts and asked what must be true (or which option cannot be inferred). This is pure reading discipline: no outside knowledge, no likely stories. Rohtak 2019 set both kinds (stuffed toys; family income).

Textbook vs exam method

Textbook method

Translate each statement into a simple form (A → B; most A are B; numbers). Combine them step by step. An option must be true only if it holds in every situation the facts allow.

Exam method

Mark the size words. all, most, some, only, none.
For each option, try to build a counter-case. that fits the facts but breaks the option. If you can, the option does not have to be true.
EXCEPT questions. find the three that follow; the odd one out usually adds a cause or a new comparison.
Numbers. list all possibilities (5p + 10q = 35 → three cases) and keep only what holds in all.