Inference and Implication in Close Reading · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Read the hints the text drops

English · Reading Comprehension · ages 14-16
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. In the formula, what do you add to background knowledge?

    • Your own opinion about the characters
    • A list of new words from the passage
    • Text evidence from the passage

  2. What is an inference?

    • A prediction made before you read a word
    • Clues plus background, put together
    • A line copied exactly from the passage

  3. Writers explain every little thing, so readers never need to infer.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Two phrases seem to back your idea, but only one truly does. What should you do?

    • Quote both and let the reader decide
    • Drop both and trust your memory instead
    • Quote the exact words that carry it

  5. Henson writes that his party were explorers driven by a thirst for discovery. What does that detail support?

    • That they felt proud of the journey
    • That they were tired of the ice and cold
    • That they feared they would never return

  6. Which of these readings should you reject?

    • One built from several passage details
    • One the passage cannot support
    • One with the most words behind it

  7. Leo argues a poem is about space travel, but admits no line mentions space. What is wrong?

    • His reading strings quotations together with no argument
    • His reading is too short to be right
    • His reading needs imagination more than the words

  8. A detective notes a suspect's face change when one name is spoken. He knows the name, or he feels nothing. Which holds?

    • He recognises it, carried by the noticed change
    • He feels nothing, since the name means nothing to him
    • Both readings fit the clue equally well
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Read the hints the text drops W1-mt_ZsYmlv5QuC-s1

  1. Text evidence from the passage · Background knowledge plus text evidence equals inference.
  2. Clues plus background, put together · Clues plus knowledge make an inference. Guesses and quotes do not.
  3. False · Writers leave gaps, and inferences fill them in.
  4. Quote the exact words that carry it · Strong readers point at the words that truly carry the reading.
  5. That they felt proud of the journey · Thirst for discovery points to pride, not fear or confusion.
  6. One the passage cannot support · A reading the passage cannot support is out of scope.
  7. His reading needs imagination more than the words · A reading the text cannot carry must be given up.
  8. He recognises it, carried by the noticed change · The noticed change plus knowledge carries the first reading.
Worksheet · LightMySky