{"id":9236,"date":"2015-02-11T17:22:58","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T17:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/?p=8433"},"modified":"2019-09-05T16:00:28","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T16:00:28","slug":"infer-gmat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/infer-gmat\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Infer on the GMAT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2-11-Science\"We\u2019re going to kill two birds with one stone in this week\u2019s article.<\/p>\n

Inference questions pop up on both Critical Reasoning (CR) and Reading Comprehension (RC), so you definitely want to master these. Good news: the kind of thinking the test-writers want is the same for both question types. Learn how to do Inference questions on one type and you\u2019ll know what you need to do for the other!<\/p>\n

That\u2019s actually only one bird. Here\u2019s the second: both CR and RC can give you science-based text, and that science-y text can get pretty confusing. How can you avoid getting sucked into the technical detail, yet still be able to answer the question asked? Read on.<\/p>\n

Try this GMATPrep\u00ae CR problem out (it\u2019s from the free practice tests) and then we\u2019ll talk about it. Give yourself about 2 minutes (though it\u2019s okay to stretch to 2.5 minutes on a CR as long as you are making progress<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreases in the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in the human bloodstream lower bloodstream cholesterol levels by increasing the body\u2019s capacity to rid itself of excess cholesterol. Levels of HDL in the bloodstream of some individuals are significantly increased by a program of regular exercise and weight reduction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich of the following can be correctly inferred from the statements above?<\/p>\n

\u201c(A) Individuals who are underweight do not run any risk of developing high levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream.<\/p>\n

\u201c(B) Individuals who do not exercise regularly have a high risk of developing high levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream late in life.<\/p>\n

\u201c(C) Exercise and weight reduction are the most effective methods of lowering bloodstream cholesterol levels in humans.<\/p>\n

\u201c(D) A program of regular exercise and weight reduction lowers cholesterol levels in the bloodstream of some individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201c(E) Only regular exercise is necessary to decrease cholesterol levels in the bloodstream of individuals of average weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Got an answer? (If not, pick one anyway. Pretend it\u2019s the real test and just make a guess.) Before we dive into the solution, let\u2019s talk a little bit about what Inference questions are asking us to do.<\/p>\n

Inference questions are sometimes also called Draw a Conclusion questions. I don\u2019t like that title, though, because it can be misleading. Think about a typical CR argument: they usually include a conclusion that is\u2026well\u2026not a solid conclusion. There are holes in the argument, and then they ask you to Strengthen it or Weaken it or something like that.
\n<\/p>\n

When the test writers asks you to infer something, they are not asking you to draw that kind of conclusion. They\u2019re not even asking you to infer in the way that we normally use that word in the real world. Rather, they are asking you to deduce something that must be true<\/em> according to the available information in the argument or passage.<\/p>\n

Cats are my favorite type of pet. What can you infer from that statement?<\/p>\n

In the real world, you might think that I have a cat, or that I\u2019ll play with or pet your cat if I come over to your place, or that if you asked me to choose between a free pet cat and a free pet lizard, I would obviously choose the cat.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s just one little problem. I\u2019m seriously allergic to cats. So, while those scenarios might be generally likely for someone who says that cats are her favorite type of pet, not one of the scenarios has to be true.<\/p>\n

What does have to be true? I don\u2019t like dogs as pets better than I like cats as pets. (To all my dog-lover readers: I do like dogs. They just require more care. And anyway, I\u2019m allergic to both, so the point is moot for me. J)<\/p>\n

It also must be true that I am familiar with at least one other type of pet; otherwise, I couldn\u2019t make the judgment call to say that cats are my favorite<\/em> type of pet.<\/p>\n

This, then, is what we need to find among the answer choices: something that must, unequivocally, be true according to the evidence they gave us in the argument or passage.<\/p>\n

Okay, ready to talk about the problem?<\/p>\n

Step 1: Identify the Question<\/h3>\n

What kind of question type is it? The word inferred<\/em> is the giveaway: this is an Inference question type. They may also use language like (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

Which of the following assertions<\/em> is most strongly supported by the evidence above?<\/p>\n

Which of the following conclusions<\/em> can most properly be drawn from the information above?<\/p>\n

Once you know the question type, you also know that the argument will contain only premises, no conclusion, and your task will be to deduce something that must be true from that information.<\/p>\n

Step 2: Deconstruct the Argument<\/h3>\n

Okay, now let\u2019s tackle the crazy technical language of the argument.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I thought and wrote while I did the problem. Your own thought process won\u2019t be exactly the same as mine and, of course, your notes will probably look quite different, since we all have our own ways of abbreviating things. (Note: Inf = inference.)<\/p>\n

\"chart01\"<\/p>\n

\"cahrt3\"<\/p>\n

Okay, maybe I should motivate to exercise more. But right now I have to finish this GMAT problem.\u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Step 3: State the Goal<\/h3>\n

The goal on Inference questions is to deduce something that must be true from the given information. It\u2019s not necessary to use all of the given information. It\u2019s only necessary to avoid going beyond the given information.<\/p>\n

Work from Wrong to Right<\/h3>\n

As I work through the answers, I keep track of my thoughts on my scrap paper, either crossing letters off or giving them little ~ symbols if I\u2019m going to keep them in and come back to them later.<\/p>\n

\"chart4\"<\/p>\n

Okay, I need to compare (B) and (D).<\/p>\n

\u201c(B) Individuals who do not exercise regularly have a high risk of developing high levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream late in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c(D) A program of regular exercise and weight reduction lowers cholesterol levels in the bloodstream of some individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

They both match a lot of the language in the passage, but when I re-read carefully, I noticed an extra detail in answer (B): \u201clate in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The argument doesn\u2019t say anything about when this stuff happens: when we\u2019re young, middle-aged, old. I could imagine that people have higher risk later in life\u2026but that\u2019s the same as you imagining that I would play with your cat, since I like cats so much. It might be true, but it doesn\u2019t have to be true.<\/p>\n

Answer (D), on the other hand, doesn\u2019t go beyond the scope of the argument at all. In fact, it matches the final chain we put together for the argument: I go to the gym and lose weight, that raises my HDL, and that lowers my cholesterol. Yay! Note also that this answer choice is very middle-of-the-road: it claims that this will work only for \u201csome individuals,\u201d which is exactly what the argument says.<\/p>\n

The correct answer is (D).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Looking for more practice on Inference questions? Here\u2019s another CR Inference problem<\/a>. If you\u2019d like to try some RC, check out this compilation article on all RC question types<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Take-aways for Inference and science-y questions:<\/h3>\n

(1) Your goal on an inference question is to deduce something that must be true given the evidence in the argument or passage. Don\u2019t go beyond what the text says and don\u2019t make a \u201creal-world\u201d inference (something that could be true but doesn’t have to be true).<\/p>\n

(2) Ignore the science! Well, no, you can\u2019t ignore it entirely. But you can ignore some of it. Start by using your SC skills to look at just the basic sentence: the subject and the verb. Then start adding in the extra info, piece by piece.<\/p>\n

(3) Did you notice that we never had to go back to that last part of the first sentence, exactly how the body\u2019s cholesterol levels are lowered? Sometimes, you can ignore some of the technical info forever. If possible, just try to understand why<\/em> it\u2019s there, not necessarily what<\/em> it\u2019s actually saying, so that you\u2019ll know later whether you need to come back to it. (In this case, I knew that it was trying to explain why cholesterol levels went down. But I never needed that info!)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

* GMATPrep\u00ae questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re going to kill two birds with one stone in this week\u2019s article. Inference questions pop up on both Critical Reasoning (CR) and Reading Comprehension (RC), so you definitely want to master these. Good news: the kind of thinking the test-writers want is the same for both question types. Learn how to do Inference questions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,25,10],"tags":[83,101,52743,233,347,380,392,428,483,52749,699,709,713,746,772],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-9236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critical-reasoning","category-reading-comprehension","category-verbal-on-gmat","tag-b-school","tag-business-school","tag-critical-reasoning","tag-gmat","tag-gmat-strategy","tag-gmat-verbal","tag-graduate-management-admission-test","tag-how-to-study-2","tag-manhattan-gmat","tag-reading-comprehension","tag-strategy","tag-study-plan","tag-study-tips","tag-tips","tag-verbal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9236"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17407,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9236\/revisions\/17407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9236"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=9236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}