Start here · the first lesson of Inference
Inference
Reading Comprehension · for IPMAT Indore, IPMAT Rohtak and JIPMAT
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The idea
An inference question ("It can be inferred that", "The passage suggests", "What can be concluded about...") asks for something the passage does not state outright but that must be true, or is very strongly supported, given what it does state. IPMAT setters build most wrong options from the passage's own words pushed too far.
Inference boundaries. A valid inference:
- rests on specific sentences you can point to;
- takes one short step (combining two facts, or reading an implication);
- never needs outside knowledge;
- never says more than the evidence (degree words matter).
Textbook vs exam method
Textbook method
Find the part of the passage the question refers to, read the surrounding sentences, and decide which option is supported by the information given.
Exam method
- Locate. find the stem's key phrase in the passage and read two lines either side.
- Predict. say in your own words what follows. Example: "Treated as a curiosity, then marketed as one, then sells little, then seems to justify the caution" predicts "the caution creates its own evidence".
- Prove or kill. for each option, find the sentence that makes it true. Kill any option that needs outside knowledge (out of scope), upgrades the degree (extreme), joins unconnected facts (logic gap), or flips the relation (reversal).
- Last two standing. choose the one that claims less and is still fully supported.
Apply-to-a-new-case variant: state the passage's rule in one line (e.g. "shops that want to look exclusive avoid prices ending in 9"), then run each option through it.