Inference Practice Questions and Solutions PDF

Inference
Practice Questions & Solutions
Authored by: e-GMAT CR Team
e-GMAT LLC. Unauthorized copying for commercial or competitive purposes is not allowed.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................................................ 2
QUESTIONS FOR PRACTI CE - INFERENCE ....................................................................................................... 3
OG 13 QUESTION NO.91 ............................................................................................................................................... 4
OG 13 QUESTION NO.103 ........................................................................................................................................... 7
OG 13 QUESTION NO.104 ........................................................................................................................................ 10
OG 13 QUESTION NO.105 ........................................................................................................................................ 13
VERBAL REVIEW 2 N D ED. QUESTION NO.64 ............................................................................................ 15
VERBAL REVIEW 2 N D ED. QUESTION NO.75 ............................................................................................ 17
GMAT PREP MAGAZINE SUBSCRIBERS ........................................................................................................ 19
GMAT PREP PXC HOME COMPUTERS ............................................................................................................ 21
GMAT PREP COMCORP SHIPPING CLE RK .................................................................................................. 23
GMAT PREP PARASI TIC WASPS ......................................................................................................................... 26
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INTRODUCTION
Dear Students,
We hope that your preparation is proceeding smoothly.
After completing the Inference concept and application files, please be sure to practice the official
questions as recommended in this document. Ensure that you apply the process to solve these
questions.
Secondly, the CR team at e-GMAT is glad to share with you that we now provide detailed solutions
to the most challenging questions in OG13 (Q90-123), VR 2nd Edition (Q60-83) and GMAT Prep
Software (New and Old).
We are proud to share these solutions with you and hope that these solutions contribute to your
success in GMAT.
So in this document you will find the following:
1. List of practice questions from Official Guides that you should attempt.
2. Solutions of the most challenging Inference questions in official sources. Please note that
these solutions do not cover all the questions part of the list in point 1 above.
Well wait eagerly for feedback for these solutions (appreciative as well as critical) from your side.
Regards,
Chiranjeev Singh
PS: Please note that because of copyright issues, we cannot copy paste complete question text for
OG13 and VR 2nd Edition questions.
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QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE

OG13: 26, 38, 54, 55, 60, 66, 91, 103, 104, 105
Verbal Review 2nd Edition: 12, 14, 19, 43, 53, 57, 64, 75
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OG 13 QUESTION NO.91
Environmentalist: The commissioner of the Fish and Game Authority
The environmentalist's statements, if true, best support which of the following as a conclusion?
(A) The use of technology is the...
(B) It is possible to .
(C) The proportion of marine fish ....
(D) Modern technologies ...
(E) Marine fish continue .
SOLUTION
PASSAGE ANALYSIS
Environmentalist: The commissioner of the Fish
and Game Authority is no longer endangered.
Key-points from this statement:

(1) Environmentalist--author of the
argument
(2) Environmentalist comments on a claim
made by a certain authority
(3) Claim by the authority- increase in the
number of marine fish caught= marine
fish not endangered
This is a specious a lack of danger to that

resource.

(1) Environmentalist calls the above claim
false (conclusion of the argument)
(2) Gives an analogy to prove his/her point
(3) Analogy- just as it would be absurd to
deduce that the rain forest is not in
danger because the number of trees
being cut show how abundant it is, it
would be illogical to say that the marine
fish are not in danger since there have
been increases in its catch.
The real cause that deplete resources.

(1) Author cites increased efficiency in the
use of technology as the real cause for
the increase in the fish-catch
(2) Blames technology for depleting
resources in this situation
PRE-THINKING
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In this question, we need to find the conclusion of the passage. The conclusion has to come on the
basis of the given statements. In order to arrive at a possible conclusion choice, lets examine the
argument carefully.
From our passage analysis, we know that the environmentalist thinks that the claim made by a
certain authority is false. Now the authoritys claim is that:
increase in the number of marine fish caught = marine fish not endangered anymore
The author then holds the use of certain technologies responsible for having caused these increases
in the fish catch and accuses it for depleting resources in this case. Since the author makes this
accusation against the use of certain technologies, we can infer that the author thinks that:
(1) The use of some technologies sometimes interferes with safeguarding natural resources.
Also, since the author says that the increase in the catch of the marinefish does not mean that the
marinefish is not endangered, the author thinks that the marinefish continues to be exploited and
hence its status has not improved. If it was endangered before, it definitely is still endangered. .
Therefore, we can conclude that:
(2) The status of the marine fish is still endangered.
With these pre-thought answers, lets evaluate the answer choices.
ANALYSIS OF OPTION STATEMENTS

A. The use of technology is the...
This option is incorrect. It over-generalizes the

crux of environmentalists argument. The
environmentalist does say that the increases in
the fish-catch are due to the use of such
technologies that deplete resources; however,
on the basis of this statement, one cannot infer
that this is always the case with the use of
technology.
In our pre-thinking we considered an option
that could be mistaken for being on similar lines.
BUT our option was limited to the scope of
this argument. We said that :
The use of some technologies sometimes
interferes with safeguarding natural resources.
B. It is possible to .
This is different from saying that the use of

technologies is always responsible for
unjustifiably exploiting nature. Hence, as is, this
answer choice is not the correct answer.
This option is incorrect. It is out of scope. The
environmentalist never talks of using other
sources for measuring the number of fish in the
sea. In fact, he/she never even indicates in that
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C. The proportion of marine fish ....
D. Modern technologies ...

E. Marine fish continue .
direction. The discussion of the argument is

limited to how determining the
number/abundance of fish from its catches is
illogical.
This option is incorrect. It takes certain words
from the argument but completely changes the
context in which they have been used.
The author/environmentalist gives the analogy
of the rain forest to establish a point. His/her
point is that just as it would be absurd to deduce
that the rain forest is not in danger because the
number of trees being cut show how abundant it
is, it would be illogical to say that the marine fish
are not in danger since there have been
increases in its catch.
The environmentalist by no means has
compared--explicitly or implicitly, the respective
proportions of cut tree with the caught fish.
This option is incorrect. It is out of scope. The
author of the argument never touches on the
edibility/usability aspect of the fish.
This is the correct option. It is exactly on the
lines of our pre-thought answer.
In the argument, the environmentalist disputes
the claim that the increases in the number of
marinefish caught prove that these fish are not
endangered anymore. In fact, the author thinks
that the increases in the fish-catch represent a
depletion of the resource.
Therefore, one can safely conclude that the
marine fish continue to be endangered.
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For a trade embargo against over the embargo.
The claims above, if true, most strongly support which of the following conclusions?
(A) The balance of opinion ...
(B) As long as international ...
(C) A naval blockade ...
(D) Any trade embargo ...
(E) For a blockade of ...
SOLUTION
PASSAGE ANALYSIS
For a trade embargo country must be
sustained.
A total blockade over the embargo.
In this statement, the author presents two preconditions under which a trade barrier against a
country is successful. These conditions are:
(1) Great degree of international agreement
(2) Ability to execute the barrier: stopping
the entry and exit of goods from the
country against on which the barrier has
been imposed.
In this statement the author presents a
consideration. The author brings up the
likelihood of an international disagreement over
blocking a particular countrys (Patrias) ports
to make the trade barrier against it a success.
PRE-THINKING
Please note that the passage ends at the statement that that blocking Patrias ports is likely to lead
to an international disagreement. Now since the question stem asks us to conclude for the given
passage, we must take into account every piece of information given in it and frame a choice that
does not require any outside information. So lets get cracking.
So far we know that:
(1) Two necessary conditions for the success of a trade barrier:
a. Great degree of international agreement
b. Ability to execute the barrier
(2) Executing trade barrier on Patria is likely to lead to international disagreement
Now what can we possibly conclude from the given statements?
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We know chances are that one necessary condition for the trade barrier against Patria to become
success may not be fulfilled. Hence we can conclude that:
A trade embargo against Patria is not likely to be successful.
Please note that since the author doesnt concretely say that there will be a disagreement over the
execution of the trade barrier, in our conclusion we cannot use a definitive word such as will.
With this understanding, lets screen the answer choices.

A. The balance of opinion ...
B. As long as international ....
C. A naval blockade ...
D. Any trade embargo ...
This option is incorrect. From the passage, we

only that there will be disagreement over
blockade. So, it means that at least one country
will be against the blockade. However, balance
of opinion means majority. We cannot conclude
that majority of countries will support Patria.
This option too is incorrect. In our passage
analysis we clearly saw that for a trade barrier
to succeed we need two pre-requisites. This
choice says that one of them, namely
international agreement, is enough. But what
about the other condition? What about the
execution of the barrier? Since this choice walks
against the premise of the argument, this cannot
be the correct choice.
This option is incorrect. This choice merely
provides us with some extra information about
how the trade barrier will be executed in
Patrias case (through naval blocade) or the
purpose behind blocking its ports ( to ensure
that no goods enter or leave Patria) . If you
notice the logical progression of the argument
carefully, the author has already explicitly
moved past the point of discussing the how and
why aspect of the blockade of the ports.
Towards the end of the argument, the author is
concerned with the impact of the blockade.
Since the correct conclusion choice will carry
forward from this point, we can see that this
answer choice is not a good fit for the same.
Hence answer choice C is not correct.
This option is correct. This is in line with our
pre-thinking. Please note the mild language of
this answer choice:
would be likely to fail at some time.
The language of this choice is in keeping with
the stated opinion of the author:
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such an action would be likely to cause

international discord over the
embargo
Both the last statement and the answer choice,
do not concretely state the predictions made.
This clearly shows that answer choice D factors
in the last statement and does not require any
extra assumptions to be true; it follows the
logical progression of the argument. Hence, this
is the correct answer choice.
E. For a blockade of ...
This answer-choice is incorrect for two reasons:

(a) if you read carefully, this choice talks
about the success of the blockade of
Patrias ports. However, the argument
gives us no information regarding the
same. The only information given to us is
about the necessary pre-conditions of
the success of a trade embargo and an
implication of blocking Patrias ports. So,
this statement cannot be concluded.
(b) Even if we put aside the distinction

made above about the two different
kinds of successes, we can see that the
stated conclusion in this choice is not
justified. Reason: As per one of the preconditions for the success of a trade
embargo/barrier, there needs to be a
high/greater than normal degree of
international agreement. So it is NOT
necessary that the international opinion
has to be unanimous. A high degree
would suffice.
Hence answer choice E is not the correct
answer.
.
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Theater Critic: The play La Finestrina, ..
The considerations given best serve as part of an argument that
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
modern audiences would find

Groucho Marx once performed
in the United States
the performance of the
the director of La
SOLUTION
PASSAGE ANALYSIS
The play La Finestrina, . in a modern theater.
Although the actor in sixteenth-century Italy.
Key points from these two statements:

(1) Some play that is now performed at
Central Theater was written in Italy in
the eighteenth century
(2) The director of this play opines that the
current presentation of the play is as
close to the original presentation as
possible in a modern theater.
Key- points from this statement:
(1) An actor from the current presentation
of the play essays his role in the play like
a particular comedian from the
twentieth century.
(2) The acting style of the comedian (from
the twentieth century) was within an
acting tradition that began in Italy in the
sixteenth century.
PRE-THINKING
Please note that the above statements do not form an argument. As of now they are a part of fact
set. When we read the question-stem, we realize that we need to form an argument with the given
statements. In order to do so, we need to find the correct conclusion. Hence, essentially the question
stem asks us to look for a conclusion in the answer choices. So lets get cracking.
The statements are loaded with information. Lets try to simplify the presentation of the facts:
(1) A play was written in Italy in the eighteenth century
(2) That play is now performed at a theater
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(3) The current productions director says that his presentation of the play is as close to the
original as possible in a modern theater
(3) The author states that an actor in the current presentation essays his role in the play like a
particular comedian from the twentieth century.
(4) The acting style of the comedian from the twentieth century was within an acting tradition
that began in sixteenth century Italy.
So far the statements presented look like loose pieces of information. So the onus will be on the
conclusion to tie them up together. The common thread between the directors claim and the
authors opinion is that the actor in the current presentation of the play acts according to an acting
tradition that dates back to an era which is possibly closer to when the play was originally written
than the modern time.
With this understanding, lets screen the answer choices.

A. modern audiences would find
B. Groucho Marx once performed
C. in the United States
D. the performance of the
This option is incorrect. It is completely out of

scope. The preference or the likes and dislikes of
the audiences have not been mentioned in the
argument. Since a conclusion has to naturally
flow from the given premises, this option choice
is not correct.
This option too is incorrect. It is not based on
any of the premises given in the argument. The
passage neither explicitly nor implicitly
supports this statement. Hence, this answer
choice is incorrect.
This option is incorrect. It is out of scope. We
know nothing about the training of actors in the
twentieth century. All we know from the
passage is that the acting style of one of the
actors of the twentieth century (the comedian)
fell inside an acting tradition that began in
sixteenth century Italy. On the basis of this
information, we certainly cant draw a
generalized conclusion about the training of
actors in the twentieth century.
This option is correct. This choice matches our
understanding of and relation between the
premises given in the argument. If the acting
style of an actor in the current presentation of
the play dates back to an era that was closer to
when the play was originally written, then
certainly this fact does not go against the
directors claim that the play is as close to its
original version as possible in modern theater.
Moreover, please note the safe language used in
the correct answer choice:
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does not serve as evidence against the director's

claim
E. the director of La
The correct conclusion choice does not say that

the resemblance in the acting style of the actor
who plays Harlequin in La Finestrina proves
that the directors claim is valid. It just says that
this resemblance is not in the opposite direction
as the directors claim.
Also, this option choice perfectly ties up the
loose pieces of information given to us in the
argument. Hence, this is the correct answer
choice.
This answer-choice is incorrect. It picks up
words from the argument but changes the
context just enough to make it incorrect.
The author has given us no information to
support that the director must have advised the
actor on his acting style.
Also, please note that this answer choice uses
very strong language:
the director of La Finestrina must have advised
Unless explicitly mentioned or indicated in the
passage, using such strong words in the
conclusion cannot be justified. Hence, this is not
the correct choice.
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The cost of producing radios produce radios in Country Y.
The statements above, if true, best support which of the following assertions?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Labor costs in Country ...

Importing radios from Country ...
The tariff on a ...
The fee for transporting ...
It takes 10 percent ...
SOLUTION
PASSAGE ANALYSIS
The cost of producing in Country Y.
Even after transportation in Country Y.

1. There are two countries:
Country Q and Country Y
2. Cost of producing radios in country Q is
10% less than that in country Y
According to this statement, it is cheaper to
import radios from country Q to country Y even
after adding the following two costs:
a) transportation fees and b) tariff charges
PRE-THINKING
The question stem asks us to identify one statement from the answer choice that will hold true
purely based on the information given in the passage. Given the passage analysis, one possible
answer should jump right at you.
Lets look at the facts again:
1. Cost of producing radios in country Q is 10% less than that in country Y
2. It is cheaper to import radios from country Q to country Y even after adding the following
two costs: a) transportation fees and b) tariff charges
So, essentially the author is trying to say that the total cost of the two charges is not equal to the
difference in the cost of producing radios between the two countries. Since the difference in the
cost of producing radios is that the cost of producing radios in country Q is 10% less than that in
country Y, we can definitely infer that
The total cost of the transportation fee and the tariff charges, levied while importing radios
from country Q to country Y, is less than 10% of the cost of producing radios in country Y.
Keeping the above inference in mind, lets evaluate the answer choice given below.
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A. Labor costs in Country
B. Importing radios from Country
C. The tariff on a
D. The fee for transporting
E. It takes 10 percent ...
This option is incorrect. The correct inference

has to come out of the information given in the
passage. Since labor costs have not been
mentioned in the passage, no inference can be
made about the same. Therefore, answer choice
A is not correct.
This option is not correct. It too, like answer
choice A, is out of scope. Since no other
implication, except for monetary cost of
importing, has been given regarding the import
of radios from Country Q to Country Y, we
cannot infer anything about the elimination of
jobs in country Y.
This is the correct answer. It is a subset of the
inference choice that we thought of in the prethinking phase. As proved then, since the total
cost of the transportation fee and the tariff
charges levied while importing radios, is less
than 10% of the cost of producing radios in
country Y, we can definitely infer that any of
the these two charges are less than 10
percent of the cost of manufacturing the
radio in Country Y. Therefore, answer choice C
is correct.
This answer choice is incorrect. We cannot
deduce the information given in answer choice
D. This is because the information given in the
passage only gives us the upper limit of the two
charges but does not give us any lower limit of
each of the two charges involved while
importing the radios from Country Q to Country
Y. Hence, answer choice D is not correct.
This answer choice is incorrect. No information
has been given regarding the time taken to
manufacture the radios in either of the two
countries. Hence, we cannot deduce anything
about this element. Therefore, answer choice E
is beyond the scope of the argument.
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VERBAL REVIEW 2 N D ED. QUESTION NO.64

High levels of fertilizer...
To receive governmental ...
The statements above, if true, best support which of the following conclusions?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
The rules for governmental

The only solution to ...
Farmers can continue to ...
New farming techniques will ...
Governmental price supports for ...
SOLUTION
PASSAGE ANALYSIS
High levels of , pollute water supplies.
Experts therefore plantings yearly.
To receive governmental past several years.
In the first sentence of the passage we come to

know that when farmers try to produce high
yield of the same crop year after year, they need
high levels of fertilizers and pesticides to do so.
However, such a practice pollutes water
supplies.
We are then told that to avoid the above
situation, experts advise and encourage farmers
to change their crops and rotate their plantings
yearly.
From this final piece of information, we come to
know that in order to receive price support
benefits from the government, farmers need to
fulfill a criterion. The criterion is that they must
have produced the same crop (for which they
want to receive the benefit) for the past several
years.
PRE-THINKING
If you read the passage carefully, you will notice that there is no given conclusion. The passage just
provides several pieces of information. Our task in this question is to figure out one statement that
can be concluded from this information set. In order to do so, lets revisit the given information
once more:
1. Farmers indulge in heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers, which leads to water
pollution
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2. Reason for above: they want to get more productivity from the same land and for the
same crop
3. Experts advise crop rotation to avoid water pollution
4. Governments price support policy only benefits those farmers who have grown the
same crop for several years
Now, if you notice, statement number 3 and 4 above go in the opposite direction. Whereas on the
one side, experts urge farmers to diversify their crops in order to reduce water pollution, on the
other the governments policy encourages farmers to keep growing the same crop year after year.
Growing the same crop over several consecutive years, as we are told, contributes to water
pollution. From this analysis, we can clearly see that the governments rule for availing pricebenefits is incompatible with the experts advice. Accordingly, we can conclude that:
The governments price-support benefits discourage farmers to adopt the suggested

measures for reducing water pollution.
With the above analysis in mind, lets move on to evaluating the given answer choices.

A. The rules for governmental
B. The only solution to ...
C. Farmers can continue to

D. New farming techniques will ...
E. Governmental price supports for ...
This is the correct answer and it almost matches

the statement we came up with in the prethinking phase. As explained above, if farmers
are discouraged to adopt crop diversification
and plant rotation- - a measure directed at
reducing water pollution- because of the
governmental policy, we can conclude choice A.
Option B is incorrect as it suggests something
that is not at all supported by the information
given in the passage. The only solution
mentioned in the passage is of crop
diversification and plant rotation. Clearly, we
cannot conclude anything about ceasing farming
from the passage.
This is not correct choice. Since the passage does
not talk at all about the profit made by farmers,
we cannot conclude choice C.
This is not the correct answer. We cannot
comment on what will or will not happen in the
given situation. Our task in this question is to
conclude something that can be derived purely
on the basis of the given information. Since
there is no talk about future measures, we
cannot conclude choice D.
This choice too, like all the other incorrect
choices, talks an element that is never
mentioned in the given passage. Since no
information has been given about the levels of
price-support and their effect on debt of farmers
(if any), we cannot conclude choice E.
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VERBAL REVIEW 2 N D ED. QUESTION NO.75

United States hospitals have traditionally at or below actual costs.
Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the information above?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Although the advance of ...

If hospitals do not ...
Some patients have incomes ...
If the hospitals reduce ...
Even though philanthropic donations ...
SOLUTION
PASSAGE ANALYSIS
United States hospitals unreimbursed care.
Almost all paying hospital bills.
Recently, insurers have .. actual costs.
In the first statement we get to know that

hospitals in the US have traditionally relied
mostly on revenues from paying patients to
make up for the losses incurred from
unreimbursed care.
Here we are told that in the current scenario,
almost all paying patients rely on either
governmental or private health insurance to pay
their hospital bills.
In the final statement, we are told that off lately
insurers have been very strict in reimbursing
hospitals for the care availed by the insured
patients. The insurers have been limiting the
reimbursements to the hospitals to amounts at
or below actual costs.
PRE-THINKING
The accompanying question stem asks us to find a conclusion that is best supported by the given
passage. Lets revisit the information given in the passage to extract the maximum out of it. We are
told that:
1. two kinds of patients in US hospitals: paying and non-paying
2. US hospitals have traditionally relied on paying patients to make up for the losses for nonpaying ones
3. Now, almost all paying patients have some sort of insurance
4. Insurers are now strict with reimbursements: pay hospitals at or below actual costs
If you notice, point number 3 and 4 above do not go in favor of point 2. This is because if insurers
reimburse hospitals at or below the actual costs borne by them for paying patients, then the
hospitals will have difficulty extracting extra money out of these patients. Under such
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circumstances, the hospitals will not be able to rely on paying patients to offset the losses borne
from unreimbursed care. Accordingly, we can conclude that:
If US hospitals carry on with providing unreimbursed care, they must find other sources to
finance it.
With the above pre-thinking in mind, lets evaluate the given answer choices.

A. Although the advance of ...
B. If hospitals do not ...
C. Some patients have incomes ...
D. If the hospitals reduce
E. Even though philanthropic donations
This choice is incorrect. It talks about advance of

technology, and access to expensive medical
procedures by patients with varied financial
resources. As the passage doesnt give us any
information regarding these topics, we cannot
conclude anything regarding them.
This is the correct answer. It is very close to the
conclusion we came up with in the prethinking
phase. As the US hospitals will not be able to
finance the unreimbursed care from their
primary source- paying patients, due to the
stricter attitude of insurers regarding
reimbursements, they will have to look for other
sources of income to do so. If they cant find
alternate sources but still choose to carry on
with providing such care, then will naturally
suffer losses.
This is not the correct answer. In the passage,
we are not given any information regarding why
some patients may not have any form of
insurance. Infact there is no mention of patients
incomes, affordability of private insurance or
eligibility for governmental insurance. Clearly,
we cant conclude choice C from the given
passage.
This is not the correct answer. The passage
clearly states that the insurers now strictly
reimburse hospitals at or below actual costs. So
even if hospitals reduce their costs, the insurers
will still settle the hospital bills at or below
those reduced costs. Hence, there will be no
extra funds for reimbursed care from paying
patients.
This is not the correct answer. Choice E is not at
all supported by the passage. The passage
provides no information on either philanthropic
donations or their support to hospitals.
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GMAT PREP MAGAZINE SUBSCRIBERS

Finding of a survey of Systems magazine subscribers: Thirty percent of all merchandise orders
placed by subscribers in response to advertisements in the magazine last year were placed by
subscribers under age thirty-five.
Finding of a survey of advertisers in Systems magazine: Most of the merchandise orders placed in
response to advertisements in Systems last year were placed by people under age thirty-five.
For both of the findings to be accurate, which of the following must be true?
A. More subscribers to Systems who have never ordered merchandise in response to
advertisements in the magazine are age thirty-five or over than are under age thirty-five.
B. Among subscribers to Systems, the proportion who are under age thirty-five was considerably
lower last year than it is now.
C. Most merchandise orders placed in response to advertisements in Systems last year were
placed by Systems subscribers over age thirty-five.
D. Last year, the average dollar amount of merchandise orders placed was less for subscribers
under age thirty-five than for those aged thirty-five or over.
E. Last year many people who placed orders for merchandise in response to advertisements in
Systems were not subscribers to the magazine.
SOLUTION
PASSAGE ANALYSIS
Finding of a survey of Systems magazine
subscribers: Thirty percent of all merchandise
orders placed by subscribers in response to
advertisements in the magazine last year were
placed by subscribers under age thirty-five
Finding of a survey of advertisers in Systems
magazine: Most of the merchandise orders
placed in response to advertisements in Systems
last year were placed by people under age
thirty-five.
Orders by Subscribers under age 35 = 30% of

(All merchandise orders by subscribers)
Orders by People under age 35 = Majority of

merchandise orders
Most or Majority means over 50 percent.
PRE-THINKING
For both of the findings to be accurate, which of the following must be true?
This is an inference question. For both findings to be accurate, what else must be true?
The first finding is from a survey of subscribers to the magazine, while the second is from a survey
of advertisers. The first tells us that subscribers under 35 placed 30 percent of orders placed by
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subscribers, while the second tells us that people under 35 placed most of the orders placed as a
whole, and not just by the magazines subscribers.
Now, we see that subscribers under 35 can at most account for only 30% of the orders. Given that
people under 35 accounted for majority of the order, we can infer that more than 20% of the orders
were placed by non-subscribers under age 35.

A. More subscribers to Systems who have
never ordered merchandise in response to
advertisements in the magazine are age
thirty-five or over than are under age thirtyfive.
B. Among subscribers to Systems, the
proportion who are under age thirty-five
was considerably lower last year than it is
now.
C. Most merchandise orders placed in response
to advertisements in Systems last year were
placed by Systems subscribers over age
thirty-five.
D. Last year, the average dollar amount of
merchandise orders placed was less for
subscribers under age thirty-five than for
those aged thirty-five or over.
E. Last year many people who placed orders
for merchandise in response to
advertisements in Systems were not
subscribers to the magazine.
This choice refers to subscribers who have

never ordered merchandise. Since we are
looking for an inference about people under 35
who have ordered merchandise, this choice
cannot be the correct one.
We cannot infer anything about the proportion
of subscribers under age 35 based on
information about the orders placed by those
under 35. We do not have any relationship
between the number of subscribers and the
number of orders placed by them.
From the survey of the advertisers, we know
that most orders were by people under 35. This
means that fewer than 50% of the total orders
were by people over age 35. Therefore, this
option is actually against the information in the
passage and is therefore incorrect.
Since the passage does not mention the dollar
amount of merchandise for orders placed, we
cannot infer anything about it from the given
information.
This choice is in line with our prethinking. It
must be true for both the given findings to be
correct, since it states that many people who
placed orders were not subscribers. This
explains how most of the total number of orders
placed was by people under 35, even though
subscribers under 35 constituted only 30
percent of all merchandise ordered by
subscribers.
20 | P a g e
GMAT PREP PXC HOME COMPUTERS

First-time computer buyers buying PXC home computers typically buy models that cost much less
and have a smaller profit margin per computer than do PXC computers bought by people replacing
their computers with more powerful models. Last year PXC's profits from computer sales were
substantially higher than the previous year, although about the same number of PXC computers
were sold and the prices and profit margins for each computer model that PXC sells remained
unchanged.
If the statements above are true, which of the following is most strongly supported by them?
A. PXC's competitors raised the prices on their computers last year, making PXC computers more
attractive to first-time computer buyers.
B. The number of people buying PXC computers who also bought PXC computer-related products,
such as printers, was larger last year than the previous year.
C. Among computer buyers who bought a PXC computer to replace their existing computer, the
proportion who were replacing a computer made by a competitor of PXC was greater last year
than the previous year.
D. The proportion of PXC computers bought by first-time computer buyers was smaller last year
than the previous year.
E. PXC's production costs for its computers were lower last year than they had been the previous
year.
SOLUTION
PASSAGE ANALYSIS
First-time computer buyers buying PXC home
computers typically buy models that cost much
less and have a smaller profit margin per
computer than do PXC computers bought by
people replacing their computers with more
powerful models.
Last year PXC's profits from computer sales
were substantially higher than the previous
year, although about the same number of PXC
computers were sold and the prices and profit
margins for each computer model that PXC sells
remained unchanged.
This statement gives us two facts about firsttime computer buyers who buy PXC home
computers. They typically buy models that (1)
cost much less and (2) have a smaller profit
margin than do PXC computers bought by
people replacing their computers.
This statement tells us that PXCs profits from
sales last year were substantially higher than
the previous year, despite the fact that PXC sold
about the same number of computers and the
profit margins for its models did not change.
PRE-THINKING
If the statements above are true, which of the following is most strongly supported by them?
The question stem asks us to identify an inference that can be derived from the given information.
One of the key things to remember about such questions is that it is important to stay within the
21 | P a g e
scope of the information given in the passage. We cannot find a supporting statement that is about
something other than the information given in the passage.
What do we know from the passage?
1. First-time computer buyers who buy PXC computers usually buy models that cost much less
and have smaller profit margins than the PXC models bought by people replacing their
computers.
2. PXCs profits from computer sales went up significantly last year, even though it sold about
the same number of computers and its profit margins were unchanged.
What can we infer from this information? The first statement tells us that a PXC customer replacing
a computer is typically more likely to buy a more costly computer with a higher profit margin than
a PXC customer buying a computer for the first time. So, PXCs profits could have gone up despite no
change in the profit margins and the approximate number of computers sold if a greater proportion
of computers were bought by people replacing their computers rather than by first-time buyers.

A. PXC's competitors raised the prices on their
computers last year, making PXC computers
more attractive to first-time computer
buyers.
B. The number of people buying PXC
computers who also bought PXC computerrelated products, such as printers, was
larger last year than the previous year.
C. Among computer buyers who bought a PXC
computer to replace their existing computer,
the proportion who were replacing a
computer made by a competitor of PXC was
greater last year than the previous year.
D. The proportion of PXC computers bought by

first-time computer buyers was smaller last
year than the previous year.
E. PXC's production costs for its computers

were lower last year than they had been the
previous year.
The passage does not give us any information

about PXCs competitors, so we cannot derive
any inference about them. Therefore, this option
is incorrect.
The passage refers only to PXCs profits from
computer sales. Information about sales of
computer-related products is outside the scope
of the passage.
It is irrelevant which model the computer
buyers were replacing. Customers replacing
their computers are relevant to this context only
in terms of the information that they are
typically more likely to buy more costly PXC
models with higher profit margins than the
models bought by first-time buyers. This
statement cannot be derived from the passage.
This option is in line with our prethinking. If the
given statements are true and PXCs profits from
computer sales went up even though its
computer sales and profit margins remained
constant, then it stands to reason that a greater
proportion of its customers were replacing their
computers rather than buying computers for the
first time.
The passage says that the profit margins for
both kinds of computers have remained
unchanged. Therefore, this option statement
actually runs counter to the given information.
22 | P a g e
GMAT PREP COMCORP SHIPPING CLERK

Comcorp Shipping Clerk: Last week, no shipments of building supplies were sent out on Friday. The
five specially ordered shipments sent out last week were sent out on Thursday, and each of those
specially ordered shipments consisted entirely of building supplies. Four shipments were sent to
Truax Construction last week, none of which consisted of building supplies.
If the shipping clerk's statements are true, which of the following must also be true?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
All of Comcorp's shipments of building supplies last week were specially ordered.
None of Comcorp's shipments sent on Friday of last week was sent to Truax Construction.
None of the shipments sent by Comcorp by Truax Construction last week was specially ordered.
None of Comcorp's shipments sent on Thursday of last week was sent to Truax Construction.
All of Comcorp's shipments of building supplies last week were sent out on Thursday.
SOLUTION
PASSAGE ANALYSIS
Comcorp Shipping Clerk: Last week, no
shipments of building supplies were sent out on
Friday.
The five specially ordered shipments sent out

last week were sent out on Thursday, and each
of those specially ordered shipments consisted
entirely of building supplies.
Four shipments were sent to Truax Construction

last week, none of which consisted of building
supplies.
This statement tells us that Comcorp did not

send out any shipments of building supplies on
Friday last week. So, it could have sent out
shipments of other supplies on Fridaybut
none of the Friday shipments consisted of
building supplies.
This statement tells us that there were only five
shipments sent out last week that were specially
ordered. The use of the before five specially
ordered shipments tells us that there were no
more than five specially ordered shipments sent
last week. These five shipments were all of
building supplies and were all sent on Thursday.
This part tells us that Comcorp sent four
shipments to its customer, Truax Construction,
last week. None of Truaxs shipments consisted
of building supplies.
PRE-THINKING
If the shipping clerk's statements are true, which of the following must also be true?
The question stem asks us to identify a statement that can be inferred from the given information.
First, lets identify all the information given in the passage about shipments sent by Comcorp last
week.
23 | P a g e
1. No building supplies were sent on Friday.

2. All five specially ordered shipments were sent on Thursday, and all five consisted only of
building supplies.
3. Four shipments were sent to Truax, and none of these consisted of building supplies.
What can we derive from this information? First, from (2), we can infer that there were no special
orders sent out last week for shipments other than building supplies. We can also infer from this
statement that there were no specially ordered shipments sent on any day last week other than
Thursday.
Also, from the information given about Truax, we can infer that no specially ordered shipment was
sent to Truax last week, since none of its shipments consisted of building supplies, and all the
specially ordered shipments consisted of building supplies.

A. All of Comcorp's shipments of building
supplies last week were specially ordered.
B. None of Comcorp's shipments sent on Friday

of last week was sent to Truax Construction.
C. None of the shipments sent by Comcorp by

Truax Construction last week was specially
ordered.
D. None of Comcorp's shipments sent on

Thursday of last week was sent to Truax
Construction.
E. All of Comcorp's shipments of building

supplies last week were sent out on
This option is incorrect. The passage says that

all five specially ordered shipments sent last
week consisted of building supplies. This does
not mean that only five shipments of building
supplies were sent last week. Other shipments
of building supplies that were not specially
ordered could have been sent last week.
This option is incorrect. The only information
given in the passage about Friday is that none of
Fridays shipments consisted of building
supplies. Since none of the shipments sent to
Truax last week consisted of building supplies,
one or more of other shipments could have been
sent to Truax on Friday.
We know from the passage that all five specially
ordered shipments sent last week were for
building supplies. Since none of the four orders
sent to Truax consisted of building supplies, it
can correctly be derived from the passage that
none of the specially ordered shipments was
sent to Truax. This is the correct answer.
This option is incorrect. The passage does not
tell us how many shipments were sent on
Thursday. All five specially ordered shipments,
which consisted of building supplies, were sent
on Thursday. But there could also have been
other shipments sent on Thursday that were not
specially ordered, and one or more of these
could have been sent to Truax.
This option is incorrect. We know from the
passage that all five specially ordered shipments
24 | P a g e
Thursday.
sent last week were sent on Thursday, and that

all of these five shipments consisted of building
supplies. This does not mean that only five
shipments of building supplies were sent on
Thursday. Other shipments of building supplies
that were not specially ordered could have been
sent on Thursday.
25 | P a g e
GMAT PREP PARASITIC WASPS

Parasitic wasps lay their eggs directly into the eggs of various host insects in exactly the right
numbers for any suitable size of host egg. If they laid too many eggs in a host egg, the developing
wasp larvae would compete with each other to the death for nutrients and space. If too few eggs
were laid, portions of the host egg would decay, killing the wasp larvae.
Which of the following conclusions can properly be drawn from the information above?
A. The size of the smallest host egg that a wasp could theoretically parasitize can be determined
from the wasp's egg-laying behavior.
B. Host insects lack any effective defenses against the form of predation practiced by parasitic
wasps.
C. Parasitic wasps learn from experience how many eggs to lay into the eggs of different host
species.
D. Failure to lay enough eggs would lead to the death of the developing wasp larvae more quickly
than would laying too many eggs.
E. Parasitic wasps use visual clues to calculate the size of a host egg.
SOLUTION
PASSAGE ANALYSIS
Parasitic wasps lay their eggs directly into the
eggs of various host insects in exactly the right
numbers for any suitable size of host egg.
If they laid too many eggs in a host egg, the

developing wasp larvae would compete with
each other to the death for nutrients and space.
If too few eggs were laid, portions of the host

egg would decay, killing the wasp larvae.
This statement tells us about the way in which

parasitic wasps lay eggs. They lay their eggs
directly into the eggs of host insects. The wasp
eggs are laid in exactly the right numbers for
any suitable size of host eggs.
Note that suitable modifies the size of the host
eggs, not the number of wasp eggs that are laid
inside the host egg. When the size of the host
egg is suitable, the wasp lays exactly the right
number of eggs inside the host egg.
This statement tells us that the eggs laid by the
parasitic wasp into a host insects eggs cannot
be too many in number. This part corresponds
to the last part of the previous statement, which
says that the wasp lays exactly the right
number of eggs. The second statement tells us
why the wasp doesnt lay too many eggs. If it
does so, the wasp larvae would die because
there would not be enough nutrients and space
for all of them.
This part tells us what would happen if the wasp
laid too few eggs. Laying too few eggs would
cause portions of the host egg to decay. This
would kill the wasp larvae.
26 | P a g e
So, the passage tells us that the parasitic wasp

lays neither too few nor too many eggs within
the host insects eggs, but exactly the right
number.
PRE-THINKING
Which of the following conclusions can properly be drawn from the information above?
The question stem asks us to identify a conclusion that can be drawn from the given information.
So, we need to conclude something from the information stated in the passage.
Lets first note down the information given.
1. The parasitic wasp lays its eggs inside the host insects eggs in exactly the right numbers for
any suitable size of host eggs.
2. If it lays too many eggs, the larvae die because they compete to the death for nutrients and
space.
3. If it lays too few eggs, the larvae die because portions of the host egg decay.
Are there any conclusions we can make from any of these statements? We know from statement 2
that the reason wasp larvae would die if too many eggs were laid is that they would not get enough
nutrients and space. From this information, we cant conclude anything else about what would
happen if too many eggs were laid. Similarly, from statement 3, we know that the reason wasp
larvae would die if too few eggs were laid is that portions of the host egg would decay. From this
information, we cant conclude anything else about what would happen if too few eggs were laid.
So, the conclusion we need to make will probably come from statement 1. While we cant make an
exact prediction about what the conclusion will be, we can narrow down our choices to an option
related to the fact that parasitic wasps lay exactly the right number of eggs for any suitable size of
host egg.

A. The size of the smallest host egg that a wasp
could theoretically parasitize can be
determined from the wasp's egg-laying
behavior.
This choice fits the scope of the argument. It refers

to the wasps egg-laying behavior, which is what
the passage is about. It also tells us about the size
of the host egg, which is also referred to in the
passage.
What exactly does this choice say? It says that if
we study the wasps egg-laying behavior, we can
determine the size of the smallest host egg that a
wasp could theoretically parasitize. That is, we
can determine the size of the smallest host egg
that a wasp can lay its eggs in. We know from
the passage that the parasitic wasp lays eggs in
exactly the right number for any suitable size of
host egg. So, if we study the egg-laying behavior
27 | P a g e
B.
C.
D.
E.
of the wasp and find out size of the egg in which

a wasp lays only one egg, we can determine the
size of the smallest host egg that the wasp could
theoretically lay its own eggs in. Therefore, this
choice is the correct answer.
Host insects lack any effective defenses
The passage gives no information about the host
against the form of predation practiced by
insects possible defenses against parasitism by
parasitic wasps.
wasps. So, we cannot conclude anything from the
passage about such defenses.
Parasitic wasps learn from experience how
From the information presented in the passage,
many eggs to lay into the eggs of different host we cannot determine how the wasp knows exactly
species.
how many eggs to lay. It is possible that the wasps
knowledge is hereditary rather than learned from
experience.
Failure to lay enough eggs would lead to the
From the passage, we know the two ways in which
death of the developing wasp larvae more
wasp larvae can die if the wasp does not lay
quickly than would laying too many eggs.
exactly the right number of eggs. But we cannot
conclude which way would kill the larvae more
quickly. So, this choice cannot be derived from the
passage.
Parasitic wasps use visual clues to calculate the From the passage, we know that the wasp knows
size of a host egg.
exactly how many eggs to lay. However, we cannot
conclude that the wasp uses visual clues to
calculate the size of a host egg. There could be
some other way in which the wasp is able to
identify how many eggs to lay for a suitable size of
host egg.
28 | P a g e

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Inference

Practice Questions & Solutions

Authored by: e-GMAT CR Team

QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE

Key-points from this statement:

This is a specious a lack of danger to that

Key-points from this statement:

The real cause that deplete resources.

Key-points from this statement:

ANALYSIS OF OPTION STATEMENTS

This option is incorrect. It over-generalizes the

This is different from saying that the use of

C. The proportion of marine fish ....

D. Modern technologies ...

direction. The discussion of the argument is

A total blockade over the embargo.

ANALYSIS OF OPTION STATEMENTS

B. As long as international ....

C. A naval blockade ...

D. Any trade embargo ...

This option is incorrect. From the passage, we

such an action would be likely to cause

This answer-choice is incorrect for two reasons:

(b) Even if we put aside the distinction

modern audiences would find

Although the actor in sixteenth-century Italy.

Key points from these two statements:

ANALYSIS OF OPTION STATEMENTS

B. Groucho Marx once performed

C. in the United States

D. the performance of the

This option is incorrect. It is completely out of

does not serve as evidence against the director's

The correct conclusion choice does not say that

Labor costs in Country ...

Even after transportation in Country Y.

Key-points from this statement:

ANALYSIS OF OPTION STATEMENTS

B. Importing radios from Country

D. The fee for transporting

E. It takes 10 percent ...

This option is incorrect. The correct inference

VERBAL REVIEW 2 N D ED. QUESTION NO.64

The rules for governmental

Experts therefore plantings yearly.

To receive governmental past several years.

In the first sentence of the passage we come to

The governments price-support benefits discourage farmers to adopt the suggested

ANALYSIS OF OPTION STATEMENTS

B. The only solution to ...

C. Farmers can continue to

E. Governmental price supports for ...

This is the correct answer and it almost matches

VERBAL REVIEW 2 N D ED. QUESTION NO.75

Although the advance of ...

Almost all paying hospital bills.

Recently, insurers have .. actual costs.

In the first statement we get to know that

ANALYSIS OF OPTION STATEMENTS

B. If hospitals do not ...

C. Some patients have incomes ...

D. If the hospitals reduce