Some of the sections on the high school equivalency tests are basically reading comprehension tests.  On the Social Studies, Science, and Language Arts, Reading sections you will be expected to read, understand, and answer questions about the passage.  Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?  Unfortunately, a lot of the questions asked are ones that are not answered directly in the passage.  You will need to be able to read between the lines to make inferences, be able to draw conclusions, and take the knowledge that you already have and apply it to what you are reading.

As an adult, you have a wealth of life experience.  Your experience has helped you develop many of the reading and thinking skills you need to pass the test.  By working through the following exercises, you will refresh and further develop those skills, build new ones, and get practice applying the skills to the passages that you read on the high school equivalency test.

Inferences 

You make inferences every day.  When you figure out what someone means, you are making an inference.  When you infer something, you draw upon what you observe and know to come to some conclusion that might not be directly stated.  For example, if someone came in the door and they were putting down their umbrella and water was dripping off it, you could inferthat is was raining outside.

When an author expresses an idea without coming right out and saying it, you must “read between the lines” to figure out the unstated meaning.  There will be clues in the passage to help you do this.  Based on your observations and knowledge, you will be able to make an educated guess as to what the author is implying. The next example illustrates how specific clues support an inference.

A man wearing dark glasses taps his cane against the pavement.  His German Shepherd leads him across an alley.

Inference:  The man is blind.
Clues:  1.  Wears dark glasses
             2.  Walks with a cane
             3.   Is directed by a German Shepherd, probably trained as a seeing eye dog


Now you try one:  Type in your response.
A black limousine heads a long line of cars moving steadily through traffic.  Although it is early afternoon, all the car headlights are on.

Inference: 
Clues:  1. 
             2. 
             3. 


Do you see how your past experiences help you to make inferences?  If you had never seen or heard about a funeral, you probably couldn’t have answered that last question as easily. 

In your own experiences, you probably make inferences automatically.  You form first impressions about the people you meet.  You might make assumptions about what life is like in a city, a suburb, or a small town. However, once you have made an inference, do you check out its accuracy?  Do you ask yourself, “ Is there enough evidence to support the conclusion I have drawn?  Have I overlooked any facts?”  It’s all too easy to draw faulty inferences.

For example, on Halloween Eve, 1938, hundreds of Americans made the same faulty inference.  On that evening, the CBS Mercury Theater on Air presented a radio broadcast entitled “War of the Worlds.”  The script was adapted from an H.G. Welles science fiction novel.  The famous actor Orson Welles told the story of an invasion from the planet Mars.  Posing as an announcer, he told listeners that he had a “grave announcement.”  Then he proceeded to say, “Both the observations of science and the evidence of our eyes lead to the inescapable assumption that those strange beings who landed in the Jersey farmland tonight are the vanguard of an invading army from the planet Mars.”

Because the dramatic interpretation sounded real, hundreds of Americans panicked, convinced that Martians were actually destroying the country. 

These people mistakenly assumed the truth of the broadcast.  They feared that their lives were in danger.  Yet they didn’t check to find out whether their assumptions were based on fact.

How could they have avoided jumping to a hasty conclusion?

What can you learn from this example?  One important lesson is that you should understand all the facts before you make an inference.


Try these: 
Read each passage and then read the statements that follow.  Some of the statements are facts.  They can be found in the story.  Other statements are inferences.  Decide which statements are inferences and mark those.  Remember to ask yourself, “Is the statement found directly in the passage? (If so, it is a FACT)  Or is it something about which I have to make an assumption?  (If so, it is an INFERENCE.)

1.      Charlene awoke with a shriek.  Her pajamas were soaked with sweat, and she could feel herself trembling inside.  The night was dark and still, and the furniture in her room loomed like shadowy monsters.  Charlene closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep again.  But the night was too quiet, and her eyes popped open.  Suddenly Charlene heard a scratching noise at her window, and she buried her head under her pillow.
A. Charlene was scared.
B. A nightmare awoke Charlene.
C. Charlene’s pajamas were soaked.
D. The night was quiet.

2.    2.  People sometimes get hiccups after eating rapidly.  But for Charles Osborne of Anthon, Iowa, his hiccups began when he was butchering a hog.  Unable to find a cure, he continued to hiccup several times a minute for 67 years.
A. Osborne was from Iowa.
B. Osborne was a farmer.
C. Osborne did not find a cure for his hiccups.
D. Osborne’s hiccups lasted 67 years.

3.      Roy Campanella was a baseball catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers.  He was named the best player in the National League three times.  But his career came to a halt suddenly in 1958 when he was paralyzed in a car wreck.
A. Roy Campanella was a catcher.
B. The Dodgers played in Brooklyn.
C. Campanella had a car wreck in 1958.
D. His injuries were very serious.

4.      Lewis Lyons was the youngest artist ever to show his work at England’s Royal Academy of Arts.  He painted Trees and Monkeys when he was only three years old.  The academy showed the work in 1967.
A. Lyons was interested in monkeys.
B. Lyons’ work was shown in 1967.
C. Lyons was a good artist.
D. Lyons painted Trees and Monkeys.

5.   5.   Scientist have studied sleep and dreams. They have found that different kinds of dreams can be caused by the temperature of the bedroom.  As the bedroom gets colder, sleepers have more bad dreams.
A. Uncomfortable conditions cause bad dreams.
B. Sleepers in cold rooms have more bad dreams.
C. Some scientists study sleep and dreams.
D. People tell scientists about their dreams.


Here’s a longer passage—more like what you’ll see on the high school equivalency test.

The words still echoed in my ears:  “You’re pregnant, about two months along.”  The doctor broke the news to me after my examination.  She spoke with a thick accent.  I guessed that she was from India.

The people at the Community Clinic were very nice to me, especially the social worker.  She told me about the alternatives.  I could keep the baby, have an abortion, or give it up for adoption.

They didn’t know that my parents split up when I was fifteen.  I ran away and met Larry.  We lived together in Uptown and ran errands for his “important” friends.  Then I moved back with Mama after we had a fight.

I walked down Wilson Avenue back to the apartment.  The heat brought people out on the sidewalks, and they were hanging from the porches.  I felt that they were staring at me.

I had to tell Larry what happened.  I walked up the dark, musty stairway to apartment 252A.  I knocked and knocked, but he didn’t answer.  When I rang the office bell, I asked Sam where Larry was.

“Went to Texas, Sue.  Left about two nights ago.  He took everything with him but the roaches.  Y’know he still owes me back rent.  Is there…anything I can do for you?”  he asked with a startled look of concern.

I was shocked and turned away from Sam as I felt tears trickle down my face.  Damn that Larry.  Did he know too and then leave me?

I ran from the building and walked to the lakefront until the locusts buzzed in the trees. They were there, yet I couldn’t see them, just like my baby.

“Pregnant-pregnant, “ they seemed to say.  Were they happy for me or were they mocking me?  I really couldn’t tell.

1.      How does the news of the pregnancy affect the main character?
A. She is enthusiastic.
B. She appears indifferent.
 C. She is self-assured.
D. She chooses to keep the baby.
E. She is confused and upset.

2.      What can you infer about Sue’s childhood and adolescence?
A. She was brought up in a happy home.
B. Her parents put Sue’s needs ahead of theirs.
C. She and her family grew up in the South.
D. Sue was forced to grow up more quickly than usual.
E. As one of several children in her family, Sue didn’t get enough attention.

3.      What can you infer about Sue and Larry’s relationship?
A. They love each other very much.
B. They enjoy living and working together.
C. They are not able to work out their problems with each other.
D. Larry is happy about Sue’s pregnancy.
E. Larry wants Sue to give up the baby for adoption.

4.      Why does Larry go to Texas?
 A. He must find a job to support Sue and the coming baby.
B. He is behind on rent payments.
C. He can no longer live in their roach-infested apartment.
D. Larry knows about the pregnancy.
E. The passage does not say why he left.

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Resources:
Benner, Patricia Ann. (1996). Breakthroughs in Critical Reading. Contemporary Books: Chicago, IL.
Benner, Patricia Ann. (1988). Pre-GED Critical Reading Skills. Contemporary Books: Chicago, IL
Comprehension Skills Level F: Inferences. (1992). Steck-Vaughn Company: Austin, TX.
GED Test 4: Literature and the Arts. (2001). Contemporary Books, NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group: Lincolnwood, IL.
McClanahan, Susan D.; Green, Judith Andrews. (1996). Building Strategies: Reading. Steck-Vaughn Company: Austin, TX.
Pre-GED Literature and the Arts. (1995). Contemporary Books, NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group: Lincolnwood, IL
Sands, Stella; Lowe, Virginia. (1998). GED Program: Literature and the Arts. Cambridge Adult Education: Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Springboard for Passing the GED: Interpreting Literature and the Arts. (1994). Glencoe, Macmillan/McGraw-Hill: New York, NY.