Reading comprehension – inference questions

Identify the subject of the question, and look for facts that relate to the subject. Make sure
that the statement refers strictly to the subject mentioned in the question. Don’t be tricked
by options that seem to be similar to wordings used in the text, but is irrelevant to the
subject nonetheless.

Elimination: When all options contain wordings from the passage, elimination is the best
way to find the answer. Eliminated ideas that are contradictory to the text, ideas not
mentioned in the text, ideas that cannot be directly deduced from the text (i.e. over-
elaborated ideas), etc.

Rewriting: sometimes, options that seem the most unfamiliar would be the true answer. By
rewriting, sentences that have the same main idea could take up two completely different
forms. Be aware that the identification of the idea itself is more important that matching
keywords.

According to paragraph 1, very thin models......

A. usually die from anorexia nervosa.
B. are very common in Spain, Italy, Brazil and India.
C. are taking positive steps against eating disorders.
D. are banned from fashion shows in some countries.
A growing number of countries are taking steps to regulate the fashion industry’s use of super
thin models in fashion shows. The governments of Spain, Italy, Brazil and India have
developed laws aimed at keeping ultrathin models out of shows. This is a positive step, and
other countries appear likely to follow suit. The move follows the announcement that Italian
fashion designer Donatella Versace’s daughter is suffering from anorexia nervosa — a
dangerous eating disorder — and news of the eating disorder related deaths of two Latin
American fashion models.

According to paragraph 5, online video clips have ……

A. become advertisements for products.
B. invaded the privacy of college students.
C. made some products famous.
D. allowed some people to make money.
However, for others, appearing in a video is not an infringement upon their privacy,
but, in fact, it is a way to gain instant stardom. Before Bus Uncle, the hottest stars
were two college students calling themselves ‘The Backdorm Boys’. They gained
instant celebrity status by posting a video of themselves miming to a famous
Backstreet Boys song. Their sudden popularity earned them spots in advertisements
for Pepsi and Motorola. The Backdorm Boys are not the only ones to have ridden the
wave of online video clips to success. Others seeking fame have even gone as far as
making and posting their own ads for famous brands in an attempt to attract the
attention of the products’ manufacturers. It is a unique self promotion strategy, and
for some of the hopeful stars, it has begun to pay dividends, with high paying
contracts to appear on television as brand spokespeople.

According to paragraph 6, the HKEDA hopes that ……

A. Hong Kong’s fashion industry will follow the
example set by Spain, Italy, Brazil and India.
B. more shops selling plus-sized clothing will open in
Hong Kong.
C. the Government will create laws that force the
slimming industry to act more responsibly.
D. the Government will create laws to regulate the use of
very skinny models in Hong Kong.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of Hong Kong’s legislative system, it is unlikely that
the Government will be able to pass any laws to restrict the use of super thin models
in Hong Kong. However, the HKEDA hopes that the members of the local fashion
industry will follow the international trend away from super skinny models, and begin
to act more responsibly. Specifically, the association is encouraging wider availability
of larger sized clothes and the use of medium sized instead of extra small sized
clothing in shop displays
.
According to paragraph 3, cloud-seeding ......
A. was invented five years ago.
B. is a widely accepted practice.
C. has been known to cause forest fires.
D. remains the subject of debate.
For decades, China has relied on cloud seeding, not only to end droughts, alleviate dust
storms and clear away dust, but also to fight forest fires. In fact, in the past five years, it has
conducted nearly 3,000 rainmaking missions, producing 210 billion cubic metres of water
over an area of 3,000,000 square kilometres. However, the potential and even the validity of
the artificial rainmaking technology have yet to be recognised by most other countries around
the world. Critics in the scientific community, who remain sceptical of China’s rainmaking
success, insist on referring to cloud seeding as an ‘unclear’ and ‘questionable’ science. In
response, weather specialists in China cite the figures and invite the critics to visit Beijing in
the wake of a dust storm, wait for the cloud seeding to take effect and then go outside and
look at the resulting clear sky.

According to paragraph 1, Warner Bros ....

A. is a Chinese company.
B. isn’t concerned with piracy.
C. has decided to stop selling DVDs in China.
D. used to sell DVDs at a higher price in China.
Warner Bros one of the largest film production companies in the United States has decided to
drop its DVD prices in China in an attempt to stem the tide of piracy in the country. It is
offering some of its films for less than HK$20 in major Chinese cities and although this figure
is still twice as high as the average price of pirated DVDs Warner Bros believes that people
will be willing to pay a little more for the real thing. If they turn out to be right the price
reduction could represent a major victory in the war against piracy.

According to paragraph 1, the University of Hong Kong ......

A. only accepts students from the Mainland.
B. interviewed 6,000 Mainland students last year.
C. interviewed 1,500 Mainland students last year.
D. accepted 3,000 Mainland students last year.
The number of Mainland high school graduates seeking post secondary education in Hong
Kong is continuing to rise. This year in June, the University of Hong Kong scheduled
interviews with more than 3,000 students from the Mainland — doubling the number of the
previous year. And the trend isn’t limited to the University of Hong Kong. Most educational
institutions in Hong Kong are processing more applications from Chinese students than ever
before. In fact, the six leading universities processed more than 30,000 applications from
Chinese students last summer.

According to paragraph 2, people who complain about the fashion industry think
that ……
A. fashion designers are very self-conscious about their
body shapes.
B. the use of very thin models has serious negative
consequences.
C. most women are too fat to wear fashionable outfits.
D. fashion models must be thin.

For many years, people have criticised the fashion industry for promoting the idea that
women must be thin to be beautiful. However, their complaints have fallen on deaf ears.
Fashion designers continue to use ultra thin models to display their clothes because they think
skinny models’ gaunt frames make clothes look better. Unfortunately, this means that many
clothes are designed to suit unnaturally thin body shapes, causing many normal sized women
to feel that they are too fat to be fashionable. Critics believe that this effect on women’s self
esteem can lead to increased risk of eating disorders and unhealthy weight loss.

According to paragraph 3, many clothing shops ……

A. display advertisements featuring skinny models.
B. do not stock fashionable clothes in larger sizes.
C. employ very skinny fashion models.
D. stock a wide range of clothing in many different sizes.
To make things worse, the message that thin equals beautiful is not limited to fashion
shows. It is being constantly reinforced by the media. Every day, women are exposed
to thousands of advertisements featuring skinny fashion models and messages about
the importance of losing weight so as to appear more attractive. In addition, many
clothing shops and boutiques only display the smallest sizes, and do not stock larger
sizes. What’s more, the sizes that they do stock are likely to run small, meaning that
even a normal sized woman may have difficulty fitting into a large sized garment.

According to paragraph 1, the robotic hand ......

E. is less advanced than artificial limbs.
F. looks like a human hand.
G. is controlled by a person’s brain.
H. controls a person’s thoughts.
A team of Japanese researchers from ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in
Kyoto and the Honda Research Institute in Saitama recently demonstrated the functionality of
a thought controlled robotic hand. The robotic hand reproduces the various movements of a
human hand by interpreting the real time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of a
person’s brain activity. The demonstration represents a giant step in the advancement of
artificial limbs and robotics that can be controlled by a person’s thoughts.
According to paragraph 1, posting video clips on the Internet is ......
A. less popular than it used to be.
B. a simple process.
C. hard to do.
D. a way for people to make friends in other countries.
Although it is not a new concept, posting video clips on the Internet has never been as popular
as it is now. With recent advances in mobile phone technology, people are capturing a record
number of reality based video clips with their 3G mobile phones and then flocking to any
number of web hosts in order to share their personal videos with the rest of the world. In most
cases, this global exposure is achieved with little more than a few clicks of a mouse

According to paragraph 2, Beijing University and Qinghua University ......

A. need to advertise.
B. only teach traditional subjects.
C. are more popular than ever before.
D. are losing some of their appeal.
The spike in popularity hasn’t occurred by chance. To attract more Mainland students Hong
Kong universities have recently increased their advertising campaigns in China’s biggest
cities. Now many of the best students are considering universities and colleges in Hong Kong
instead of traditional choices like the prestigious Beijing University and Qinghua University.

According to paragraph 1, Pluto ......

A. is closer to the sun than the earth is.
B. was discovered as a dwarf planet.
C. has shrunk in size.
D. is no longer classified as a planet.

According to paragraph 1, our solar system ......

A. had eight planets until last summer.
B. is comprised only of dwarf planets.
C. has fewer planets than it used to.
D. has been recently demoted.

After more than 75 years, the time has come to say good bye to our solar system’s smallest
and most distant planet. Last summer, members of the International Astronomical Union
(IAU) ruled that as Pluto didn’t meet their latest definition, it should no longer be considered
a planet. The tiny former planet, discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930, has been demoted
from a ‘planet’ to a ‘dwarf planet’. The official number of planets in our solar system now
stands at eight instead of nine.

According to paragraph 6, Michael Brown insists that ……

A. science often makes errors.
B. people can learn from science.
C. science can also remedy its mistakes.
D. people learnt the wrong thing from science.
Although it may be a sad farewell for some is there something positive to take from Pluto’s
demotion? Michael Brown insists that people can ‘learn that science is capable of correcting
itself when it makes errors, which is a useful lesson to see in action.’
According to paragraph 1, the writer ……
A. has a terrible memory for people’s names.
B. is a devout Christian.
C. performed weddings for many Japanese couples.
D. used to work as a model in Japan.

When I moved to Japan to work as an English teacher I never dreamed that I would end up
performing wedding ceremonies for nearly 100 happy Japanese couples. Now I’m not what
you would call a model wedding celebrant — I’m not a priest (I’m not even a Christian)
I don’t have a genuine wedding license and I have never been properly trained. However
all things considered I don’t actually think I did a bad job. I was always on time and I only
forgot one bride’s name.

According to paragraph 2, Food Not Bombs members think that ……

A. feeding people is better than killing them.
B. feeding people is more expensive than killing them.
C. the US Government has underestimated the cost of the Iraq war.
D. the US Government is responsible for causing world hunger.
The first Food Not Bombs chapter was formed by a group of anti nuclear protesters in
Massachusetts, USA in 1980 and there are now hundreds of chapters throughout the world.
The group has three main beliefs. Firstly, as their name suggests, they believe that all the
money, time and energy currently being spent on war should be spent on food for the hungry.
For example, the United States Government now estimates that the war in Iraq will end up
costing more than 500 billion dollars — that amount of money could end world hunger many
times over.
Feelings/ Attitude: When questions ask of the feeling or attitude of an individual, try to
identify any adjectives describing the individual or adverbs describing their actions.
If there are dialogues , deduce the tone of the person from dialogues. Deduce if the feeling is
positive, negative, or neutral. Use this to narrow down your options.

Attitudes of an individual can be deduced by evidence and facts presented, as well as

the use of wordings and tone in a passage. Deduce if facts provided by the writer puts
the object in appositive or negative light. Pay attention to the minute details in use of
wordings to deduce if the writer wants to convey a certain message to the readers.

From the information given in paragraph 3, how best would you describe Elvis
Ho?
He is ……
A. excited.
B. happy.
C. unhappy.
D. confused.
The media, seeking to cash in on the incredible popularity of the clip, identified both men in
the video and tried to set up a meeting between them. The young man, Elvis Ho, a 23 year
old property agent, was not impressed by the media frenzy and appealed: ‘Don’t bring him to
see me, please. I don’t want to be put under the spotlight so that you can use me to make more
drama. I really hope that the whole saga dies down soon.’

From the information in paragraph 6, how best would you describe the
writer’s attitude towards the future of thought-controlled robotics?
The writer is ……
A. optimistic.
B. concerned.
C. unimpressed.
D. doubtful.
However, unlike the Japanese developers, the German researchers feel that their technology is
ready for commercial adaptation. They have even begun to develop a cap that does not need
to be attached directly to a user’s scalp in order to make the device less bulky and more
comfortable to wear. Industry insiders foresee that the technology behind the thought
controlled computer will appear on the global market — in one form or another — in the near
future. As for Japan’s thought controlled robotic hand, experts agree that the wait will be
considerably longer, although they insist that it is not a matter of if but when. In both cases,
therefore, it is clearly only a matter of time before the phrase ‘mind over matter’ becomes
more than just an abstract expression.

The writer appears to think that his former employers were ……

A. greedy.
B. secretive.
C. thoughtless.
D. unpopular.
The agency didn’t seem to care about religion at all. As long as people were happy to pay for
western style weddings, they were happy to provide them. And there was certainly no lack of
demand. Every week I would perform five or six weddings, and the agency employed another
twelve westerners as well. I never found out what the agency charged for their services, but
you can be sure they were making a lot more than my 15,000 yen per wedding.
Choose the correct words to complete the sentence:
The writer feels _____ about his former job but _____ it.
A. amused…did not like
B. ashamed….liked
C. regretful...loved
D. uncomfortable…enjoyed

As it turned out, restaurants were quite common venues for weddings — many of the
ceremonies took place in French or Italian restaurants, and even the occasional
yakitori bar. The strangest place I ever had to perform a ceremony was a Wild West-
themed pizza restaurant whose name, translated into English, was ‘The Surprised
Donkey’. That suited me, as I never stopped feeling surprised that I was actually
performing weddings!
All the time I worked as a celebrant, it bothered me that I was performing the duties
of a priest or minister without the proper religious background. I shouldn’t have been
worried. Most of the couples weren’t Christian either, and they were paying for a
Hollywood-style display, not a genuine religious ceremony. I later found out that only
around one per cent of Japanese people are Christians, and most of them disapprove
of the western-style ceremonies which they see as being sacrilegious.

What is the writer’s attitude towards the future of GPS shoes? Give a reason for your answer.
(2 marks)

He / She is optimistic / excited / thinks they will do well in the future because the

possibilities of their uses are endless.

Using GPS technology to find people is a fairly recent trend but experts say it is growing
rapidly. With a rising interest among parents in using GPS for their children’s safety, it is
predicted that there will be a large increase in the production and market for smart shoes
as well as in their uses. Indeed, Daniel is now developing ways to use GPS devices in kids’
shoes for fun games for children. Although smart shoes are mainly used for personal safety at
the moment ,the possibilities of their uses ,it seems ,are endless.