Inferences
Objectives
Student will be able to:
use deductive reasoning to make inferences.
employ prior knowledge to assist in making inferences.
Introduction
You make
inferences
all the time in your daily activities. If you look out the window and see that everyone is wearing a jacket, you can infer that it is cold.
Readers also make inferences. They base their inferences on clues or evidence left by the author and by applying
prior knowledge.
Such
deductive reasoning
skills allow readers to draw conclusions and to make predictions.
Exercises
Read the following passage about a foreign student. Then answer the questions that follow.
1.
Based on the passage and your prior knowledge, what inferences about Andre can you make? Answer in complete sentences.
Student responses may vary. Acceptable answers include:
Andre likes to dress well.
Andre comes from a well-to-do family.
Andre is smart, as he speaks a foreign language fluently.
Andre is well-traveled.
1
.
Correct
Incorrect
Not Assigned
2.
Based on the passage, how does the narrator feel about Andre? Respond in complete sentences.
Student answers may vary. Acceptable answers include:
The narrator is in awe of Andre.
The narrator finds Andre different yet interesting.
The narrator is willing to accept differences.
2
.
Correct
Incorrect
Not Assigned
3.
The passage mentions that the house was "sparsely decorated." Which of the following inferences is the most likely to be true?
Circle
your response.
a.
Andre's parents don't have enough money to buy furniture.
b.
Andre's parents can't agree on how to furnish their home.
c.
Andre's house was broken into and the furniture was stolen.
d.
Andre's parents prefer a house with very little furniture.
d. Andre's parents prefer a house with very little furniture.
3
.
Correct
Incorrect
Not Assigned
Read the "Kisses the Rottweiler" and answer the questions that follow.
4.
Why did Tommy typically avoid this short-cut home?
a.
He likes taking long walks.
b.
It rarely rains where he lives.
c.
He wanted to avoid the large Rottweiler.
d.
He does not like walking down alleys.
c. He wanted to avoid the large Rottweiler.
4
.
Correct
Incorrect
Not Assigned
5.
Why did the owners name the Rottweiler Kisses?
a.
They thought he looked like a chocolate candy.
b.
They thought it would be funny to name a beast Kisses
.
c.
The dog is mean and doesn't give kisses.
d.
The dog likes to lick and give kisses.
d. The dog likes to lick and give kisses.
5
.
Correct
Incorrect
Not Assigned
Exhibit Preview
Close
It was raining hard, so Tommy decided to take a short cut home. As he started to run down the alley, he realized why he never took this route. There in the pouring rain was Kisses, a one-hundred pound Rottweiler!
Kisses!
Tommy thought.
What a name for such a beast!
Just then Kisses lunged toward Tommy and he fell to the ground, a large wet tongue lapping his entire face.
Exhibit Preview
Close
Andre was easily the most interesting person in my school. When he spoke, people listened; yet no one knew very much about him. He wore unusual clothes, clothes that you would see on a model in a magazine. He spoke English perfectly, but spoke with a foreign accent. No one else in my class did either of those things.
He was so interesting that one day I asked if I could walk home with him. I learned he grew up in Paris, where he learned English from his parents. He also lived in Germany, England, and Spain.
Andre lived in a large, modern house. It was sparsely decorated, making it appear as though no one really lived there.