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Chapter 11: Inferences
Effective reading requires understanding the vocabulary and sentences
you read and determining the essay’s organization (Thesis Statement &
Support), so you can see how the sentences are put together to make a
whole. We’ve covered the foundations of effective reading in previous
chapters. The next step is to move beyond what is actually written in the
essay to understand what the author believes to be true but does not
directly express. You discover the writer’s unstated assumptions
through Inference. Think of an inference as an educated guess* about the
writer’s assumptions (what he believes or assumes you’ll understand,
but does not actually state). Inference is an important part of reading.
*The Encarta Encyclopedia defines an educated guess as an “informed guess: a
guess that is based on a degree of experience, knowledge, or information.”
Inferences are not limited to reading. We actually make lots of
inferences every day. Whenever we do not have complete information
about people, situations, or events, we make inferences to fill in the
gaps. People who tend to be correct in their inferences are said to be
perceptive, while people who tend to be mistaken in their inferences are
said to be clueless. So it’s helpful to be good at inferences in reading and
in life.
The following are real life examples about which we could and do make
inferences. See which Inferences you would make:
 A student comes into class wearing a baseball cap. You could infer
any of the following:
1. Wearing a baseball cap is a fashion statement. It’s how he
wants to be seen by others.
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2. It’s sunny outside. He’s wearing the baseball cap to keep the
sun out of his eyes as he walked to class.
3. It’s a Colorado Rockies baseball cap, so he’s a Colorado Rockies
fan.
What inference would you make?
 Your professor seems to frown when you ask a question. You
could infer:
1. He’s having a hard day and is just trying to make it through.
2. He’s tired of your questions because he thinks they are not
very good.
3. He’s behind in what he needs to cover and wants to limit the
questions and move on.
4. He’s not really frowning; you’re insecure about this class, and
now you’re overreacting.
What inference would you make?
 While taking an exam, you notice another student looking toward
your paper. You infer:
1. He’s not cheating. He’s tired and stretching his neck and can’t
help but look in different directions.
2. He’s intending to cheat because he hasn’t done his homework
and doesn’t know the answers.
3. He’s intending to cheat, but he looks like someone who studies
hard and wouldn’t cheat unless he has no other way of passing
the class.
4. He has a foreign sounding name, and people like that are more
likely to cheat.
What inference would you make?
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To know which inference is correct, you need evidence, but you do not
usually have complete knowledge of people, situations, or events. The
trick is to effectively use the knowledge you do have to make an
educated guess. In the previous examples, you had to use your thoughts
and experience to guide your conclusion. You also needed to have
enough evidence, or else you might find yourself jumping to incorrect
conclusions.
In reading, inferences should be based on the support and vocabulary,
with the understanding that you need to test your assumptions against
the evidence. That’s what we mean by being perceptive.
One 19th century fictional detective who made a living and became
famous by making correct inferences was Sherlock Holmes in England
who cracked difficult cases in the crime stories of Arthur Conan Doyle.
Here’s an example of Sherlock Holmes’ ability to make inferences:
A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in the window,
rose as we entered….Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but
her hair was shot with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard.
Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.
“You must not fear,” said he soothingly, bending forward and patting her forearm.
“We shall soon set matters right, I have no doubt. You have come in by train this
morning, I see.”
“You know me, then?”
“No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove.
You must have started early, and yet you had a good drive in dog-cart [a small
two-wheeled horse drawn carriage], along heavy roads, before you reached the
station.”
The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my companion.
“There is no mystery, my dear madam,” said he, smiling. “The left arm of your
jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly
fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and
then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver.”
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“Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct,” said she.
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1892
http://www.enotes.com/best-sherlock-holmes-text/the-advantage-of-the-speckled-band
A drawing of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson by Sidney Paget.
Photograph: Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/jun/30/thomas-carnacki-supernatural-detective
Practice 1. Form an inference from the following scenarios:
1. You’re picking up some cereal and milk at a 7-11. Three people
enter after you. One positions herself at the door and keeps an eye
towards the outside. The second wears a heavy coat and
disappears into the aisles. The third approaches the clerk and
starts a loud argument with him.
Your Inference:
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2. An 18 year old student named Liz Watson has shopped at a
clothing store a couple times in the last year and has been
satisfied with the help she’s received and her purchases. At
college, Liz meets a girl from Costa Rica, named Andreina Acosta,
and they become friends. One day, Liz and Andreina go to the
clothing store to buy a dress. To Liz’s surprise, the clerk is not
friendly. She follows them around the store with her eyes, but
does not offer any help. When they bring up a dress to buy, the
clerk is almost rude. Unsmiling, she drops the change on the
counter instead of handing it to either Liz or Andreina, and stuffs
the dress into a bag without folding it.
Your Inference:
3. You’re student at Front Range Community College, driving in a
rural part of Colorado. As you descend a hill on the way into a
town, you see the speed limit is 45. Around a turn, you notice a
policeman following you. He turns on his siren and pulls you over.
After waiting for 10 minutes while he checks your license on his
computer, he gives you a ticket for going 45 in a 25 mph zone. You
tell him coming down the hill the speed limit sign read 45 mph. He
says you’re mistaken that the sign at the turn reads 25. He writes
a $100 ticket, but says if you do not contest the fine, you can send
in $40 instead.
Your Inference:
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4. You pass a corner on the way home from work each evening. One day
you see a man standing at the corner. Another man approaches. He
gives the man something and receives something in return. From
that day on, you often find the same man at the corner and
occasionally people come up to him to exchange what looks like
money for something in return.
Your Inference:
5. Your first day on the job at a large department store the supervisor
takes you around to meet the other salespeople and see the different
departments. As he introduces you to the salespeople in sporting
goods, a woman comes up the aisle from the escalator. She is
professionally dressed and walks in a confident, determined fashion.
Your supervisor and the sales people immediately turn their
attention away from you and toward her. You notice that when she
talks, they listen, and when she laughs, they laugh in response. In a
minute or two, she leaves sporting goods, without buying anything,
and only then do they return their attention to you.
Your Inference:
Just as we make inferences in our day-to-day lives, we also must make
inferences about what we read. Inferences are based on the writer’s
unstated assumptions, embedded in his writing. The writer might
assume that you, the reader, know her assumptions, so she doesn’t need
to actually state them in her essay. She also might base her assumptions
on prejudgments (prejudices) she has about a person or situation, ideas
she assumes the reader will accept without question. In either case,
inferences give you the best chance of understanding these unstated
assumptions. It’s what is sometimes called, “reading between the lines.”
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Accurate inferences are critical to becoming an effective reader in
college.
Read the following examples of unstated assumptions embedded in
essays and the inferences that can be made based on those assumptions:
 If an essay explains the terrible consequences of smoking, we can
infer that smoking is a bad idea or that the author does not want
us to smoke.
 If a writer makes the point that he does not want any part of
health care reform, we can infer that he fears increasing
government control of our lives, or that since he has health care,
he is not concerned with the millions of Americans who do not.
 If a writer gives an example of how he turns on multiple burglar
alarms and locks his doors whether he is in or out of his house, we
can infer that he fears a robbery, or we that he lives in a high
crime neighborhood, or that he is overreacting and a bit paranoid.
See if you can identify the unstated assumptions in the following
paragraphs.
Practice 2. Read the following paragraphs and answer the questions
that follow.
As you read, notice your thoughts, especially the three kinds of
thoughts covered in Chapter1:
1. Random Thoughts that just pop into your mind. “I wish I had
some coffee like the girl has at the table across the aisle. It sure
looks good!” “I wonder if it’s going to rain because I need to walk
to the bus after class.” “I’ve got to remember to call my mother
this afternoon to see if I can borrow the car,” and on and on.
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2. Judgments about people, events in your life, or the essay.
“This essay [or just one idea in the essay] is good or bad,
interesting or boring, worthwhile, or worthless,” and so on.
3. Negative self-thoughts. “I’m not understanding any of this stuff
because I’ve never been any good at reading and never will be! It’s
better to give up now and cut my losses.”
Choose one instance as you read the passage when you had one of
above types of thoughts and record it here:
Practice letting go of the thought and bringing your attention back
to the reading.
Use the following scale to rate how difficult it was for you to let go of
the thought and return your attention to the reading.
_____ Easy
_____ Somewhat Easy
_____ Somewhat Hard
_____ Hard
Paragraph 1:
Rocks and animals are different in a number of ways.An animal can
move under its own power; a rock cannot. An animal responds to
stimulation; a rock does not. An animal takes in nutrients and breathes;
a rock does not. An animal excretes wastes; a rock does not. An animal
grows and develops; this is not true of a rock. An animal can
reproduce—that is, have offspring—whereas a rock can't. And finally,
an animal, but not a rock, can and will die.
Part 1. Underline the Topic Sentence of the paragraph.
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Part 2. What can you infer about the author’s beliefs about rocks and
animals from the paragraph?
a. The author favors rocks over animals.
b. The author favors animals over rocks.
c. The author believes you can use animals and rocks as examples to
make more general statements about living and nonliving things.
d. The author use rocks and animals as metaphors.
Paragraph 2:
In one study, the researchers found that 80 percent of class time
involved questioning by the teacher. Primary and elementary school
teachers, for instance, asked three to six or even seven questions per
minute. According to another estimate, these teachers asked an average
of 350 questions a day. In fact, teachers were so engaged in asking
questions that they often did not even wait for students to reply. There
might be only one second between the end of one question and the start
of the next, and this was true even though students' answers are known
to improve when more time is allowed. By contrast, the typical student
would ask, on average, one question per month. The research found that
that asking questions is the predominant method that teachers use
in the classroom.
Part 1. Underline the Topic Sentence of the paragraph.
Part 2. What can you infer about the author’s evaluation of the question
method in the classroom?
a. The author had a bad experience with the question method when she
was in school.
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b. The author believes that the question method is just one of many
methods used in the classroom.
c. The author is positive about the question method as its used in the
classroom.
d. The author is negative about the question method as its used in the
classroom.
Paragraph 3:
Jonathan Haidt of the University of Virginia argues that this moral
sense is like our sense of taste. We have natural receptors that help
us pick up sweetness and saltiness. In the same way, we have
natural receptors that help us recognize fairness and cruelty. Just as
a few universal tastes can grow into many different cuisines, a few
moral senses can grow into many different moral cultures.
Part 1. What do the following terms or phrases in the paragraph mean:
 Cuisines:
 We have natural receptors that help us recognize fairness and
cruelty:
 Universal tastes:
Part 2. Underline the Topic Sentence of the paragraph.
Part 3. What can you infer about Jonathan Haidt from the paragraph?
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a. Jonathan Haidt is a physics professor at the University of Virginia.
____ yes
____ no ____ not enough evidence
b. Jonathan Haidt looks for non-religious based answers for how
people decide right from wrong.
____ yes ____ no ____ not enough evidence
c. Jonathan Haidt is an excellent cook.
____ yes ____ no ____ not enough evidence
d. Haidt believes we get our sense of right and wrong more from
other people than ourselves.
____ yes ____ no ____ both ____ not enough evidence
e. Haidt believes our sense of right and wrong comes more from
thinking through each issue than a belief in God.
____ yes ____ no ____ both ____ not enough evidence
Paragraph 4:
This built-in sense of right and wrong structures the way we
perceive and respond to the world. If you ask for donations with the
photo and name of one sick child, you are likely to get twice as
much money than if you had asked for donations with a photo and
the names of eight children. Our minds respond more powerfully to
the plight of an individual than the plight of a group.
Part 1. What do the following terms and phrases in the paragraph
mean:
 Built-in sense of right and wrong:
 Plight:
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Part 2. Underline the Topic Sentence of the paragraph.
Part 3. What can we infer about the author’s beliefs from the
paragraph?
a. The research leads the writer to believe that it’s better to be an
individual than part of a group.
____ yes
____ no ____ not enough evidence
b. The writer believes we do not have as much control over our
decisions about right and wrong as we think we do.
____ yes
____ no ____ not enough evidence
c. The writer believes that scientific research can answer important
issues in our life like deciding right and wrong.
____ yes
____ no ____ not enough evidence
Paragraph 5:
Researchers differ over what role reason plays in moral judgments.
Some, like Haidt, believe that we make moral judgments intuitively
and then construct justifications after the fact. Others, like Joshua
Greene of Harvard, liken moral thinking to a camera. Most of the
time we rely on the automatic point-and-shoot process, but
occasionally we use deliberation to override the quick and easy
method.
Part 1. What do the following phrases in the paragraph mean:
 The role reason plays in moral judgments:
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 We make moral judgments intuitively and then construct
justifications after the fact:
 “Automatic point-and-shoot” refers to what device?
 “Most of the time we rely on the automatic point-and-shoot
process, but occasionally we use deliberation to override the
quick and easy method”:
Part 2. Underline the Topic Sentence of the paragraph.
Part 3. What can we infer about the researchers from the paragraph?
a. Haidt and Greene disagree about the role of reason in making a
moral judgment.
____ yes ____ no ____ not enough evidence
b. Greene is more likely to be an amateur photographer than Haidt.
____ yes ____ no ____ not enough evidence
c. Haidt has more faith in a person’s ability to use moral reasoning
than Greene.
____ yes ____ no ____ not enough evidence
d. Greene is more likely to seek religious answers than Haidt.
____ yes ____ no ____ not enough evidence
2. We can infer what about the author’s, David Brooks, beliefs?
a. He believes that Haidt is more likely to be right than Greene.
____ yes ____ no ____ not enough evidence
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b. He believes that analogies and metaphors help to make a complex
point more understandable.
____ yes ____ no ____ not enough evidence
c. He’s a professor of psychology.
____ yes ____ no ____ not enough evidence
Optional Paragraph:
Where does our sense of right and wrong come from? People have very
different ideas about this important question. Most people think it is a
gift from God, who revealed His laws and elevates us with His love. A
smaller number think that we figure the rules out for ourselves, using
our capacity to reason and choosing a philosophical system to live by.
Moral naturalists, on the other hand, believe that we have moral
sentiments that have emerged from a long history of relationships with
other people. To learn about morality, you don’t rely upon revelation or
metaphysics; you observe people as they live.
The Moral Naturalists
David Brooks
The New York Times
July 22, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/opinion/23brooks.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=david%20brooks&st=Search
Part 1. What do the following terms in the paragraph mean:
 Revelation:
 Metaphysics:
Part 2. Underline the topic sentence of the paragraph.
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Part 3. What can you infer from the paragraph?
a. The writer believes in God.
____ yes
____ no ____ not enough evidence
b. “Moral naturalists” do not believe in God.
____ yes
____ no ____ not enough evidence
c. The writer favors “moral naturalists” over those who make their
decisions based on “revelations from God.”
d. The writer believes deciding right and wrong is an easy choice.
____ yes
____ no ____ not enough evidence
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Chapter Review Questions
1. What term is a synonym for, or means the same thing as, and
Inference?
(Click Here for Chapter Review of Inference)
2. A student comes into class wearing a baseball cap. Which of the
following is not an example of an Inference?
(Click Here for Inference Example)
a. Wearing a baseball cap is a fashion statement. It’s how he
wants to be seen by others.
b. It’s sunny outside. He’s wearing the baseball cap to keep the
sun out of his eyes as he walked to class.
c. You think wearing a baseball cap is cool and can’t wait to wear
one yourself.
d. It’s a Colorado Rockies baseball cap, so he’s a Colorado Rockies
fan.
3. Who was a famous 19th century fictional detective who made a living
by making correct inferences to solve difficult crimes.
(Click Here for a review of the famous detective)
Use the following paragraph to answer questions 4-9:
(1) Can people be influenced by information of which they are not
consciously aware? (2) The answer is a qualified yes. (3) For example, in
one study an experimental group was exposed to a subliminal list of
words related to competition, whereas a control group was exposed to a
subliminal list of neutral words. (4) The words were flashed on a screen
too rapidly for participants to identify them. (5) But later, when they
played a game, participants from the experimental group were
especially competitive. (6) In another study, one group of participants
was subliminally exposed to words conveying honesty (a positive trait),
and another group, to words conveying meanness (a negative trait). (7)
Then, all the participants were asked to read a neutral description of a
woman and then assess the woman's personality characteristics. (8)
Members of the first group gave her more positive ratings, whereas
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members of the second group tended to judge the woman more harshly.
(9) A review of more than 50 such studies found that subliminal
presentations of "comfort" phrases tended to reduce feelings of anxiety,
hostility, and threat, and to promote recall of more positive memories.
4. What does the term “a qualified yes” mean in the above
paragraph?
a. People can be influenced by information of which they are not consciously
aware.
b. The answer to the research question was "yes," but not in all cases.
c. Advertising has many ways of influencing behavior
5. What does the term "assess the woman's personality
characteristics" mean in the paragraph?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Make a positive judgment on the woman's personality
Make a negative judgment on the woman's personality
Decide if the woman would make a good friend
Make a judgment on the woman's personality
6. What does the term "convey" mean in the paragraph?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Communicate
Block
Emotion
Talk
7. What is the Topic Sentence of the Paragraph?
a. A review of more than 50 such studies found that subliminal presentations of
"comfort" phrases tended to reduce feelings of anxiety, hostility, and threat,
and to promote recall of more positive memories.
b. Can people be influenced by information of which they are not consciously
aware?
c. People can be influenced by information of which they are not consciously
aware.
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d. In one study an experimental group was exposed to a subliminal list of words
related to competition, whereas a control group was exposed to a subliminal
list of neutral words.
8. We can infer from the passage that "subliminal" means...
a. something disagreeable
b. beneath the level of consciousness
c. something difficult to understand
9. On the basis of this passage, we can conclude that subliminal
presentations...
a. can be used to alter people's behavior.
b. tend to have a negative effect on people.
c. tend to have very little impact on how people behave.