FACTS AND INFERENCES

Reading between the We must first distinguish between inferences and facts. A fact is a verifiable
piece of information; that is, it can be duplicated, measured, confirmed in
Lines: Making Accurate other sources, demonstrated, or proved. If I say that our living room is 20 feet
long, the matter can easily be proved or disproved with a tape measure. Here
Inferences are three more facts:

• Eucalyptus trees are native to Australia.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES • The gestation period for an elephant is 18 months.
Chapter 3 is a crucial chapter as you move beyond basic comprehension and • Watermelon contains more vitamin C than oranges.
learn to see beneath the literal and to see implications in your reading. You will
practice making inferences with material of varying levels of difficulty in this Inferences are derived from facts. From the above facts, we might infer the
chapter, which includes the following topics: following:
• Facts and inferences • Eucalyptus trees probably grow well in Australia.
• Inferences defined • The size of an animal determines the length of gestation. (For this infer- ence,
• Problems with inferences we draw on common knowledge: The human gestation period is nine months;
• Using evidence to make inferences an elephant's is 18.)
• Making open-ended inferences • Watermelon is a better source of vitamin C than oranges. We should
• Making inferences in textbook material probably eat more watermelon.

DEFINITION OF INFERENCES
William Lutz has defined an inference as "a statement about the unknown
based on the known." 1 We make inferences by reading between the lines, by
connecting facts to make sense of them when no explanation is offered, or by
drawing a conclusion about a future course of action. In the real world we
infer all the time. Here is an example from my town. Recently, a new Mexican
restaurant, La Famiglia, opened on the main highway in Half Moon Bay. The
town already has at least five Mexican restaurants, catering not only to the
significant Latino population in this area, but to the general population as
well. After the opening, every time I drove by I noticed that the front parking
lot was almost always empty, both at lunchtime and at night when one would
expect a crowd. In the back parking lot were a few cars, presumably for
employees.

Now six months later, the situation has not improved. From the mid-day to

1 1William Lutz is a professor of English at Rutgers University. This definition comes from his

essay "Abstracting Our Way into Doublespeak," from The New Doublespeak (1996).
the evening hours, one sees only one or two cars in the front lot. What PROBLEMS WITH INFERENCES
reasonable inferences can I make from these observations? The first possibility The foregoing little exercise reveals at least three difficulties with inferences:
is that the food isn't very good. This inference seems even more credible when
I reflected that two other restaurants used to be in the exact same spot and  We may make assumptions that get in the way of making accurate
that both survived for several years before they eventually moved into larger inferences.
spaces. But without eating there myself or without talking to a few people  We may not read carefully enough or pay close enough attention to new
who have eaten there, the inference re- mains only a possibility. not a
vocabulary.
certainty. A second possible inference is that the area is already saturated
with Mexican restaurants, all of them good. Five restaurants can make it in  We may indulge in stereotyping. This problem is particularly evident in
our community, but a sixth one serving mediocre food might not have a question 7, if we incorrectly infer that a professor is more likely to be a
chance of surviving that com- petition. Finally, I draw a conclusion-another man than a woman.
inference. If business doesn't pick up, La Famiglia will not survive. From this
example, one can see that inferences operate to some degree in a gray area: In the real world, the same holds true: The more we get carried away with our
they depend on facts, but they are not facts themselves. assumptions and make inferences based on facts we do not have, on an isolated
fact, or on facts we choose to ignore, the less probable it is that our inferences are
Practice Exercise 1 correct.
Carefully read the following report and the observations based on it. On the basis USING EVIDENCE TO MAKE INFERENCES
of the information presented, indicate whether you think the observations are true, The crucial element in learning to make accurate inferences is to consider
false, or doubtful. Circle "T" if the observation is definitely true, circle "F" if the carefully the writer's words-what he or she surely intends to suggest but
observation is definitely false, and circle "?" if the observation may be either true or does not say directly. This constitutes the evidence the justification for the
false. Judge each observation in order.' inference. As you saw from the foregoing exercise, we should not read
into the writer's words beyond what they suggest or imply. Relying on our
A  well‐liked  college  teacher  had  just  completed  making  up  the  final 
necessarily limited experience may lead us astray from the writer's real
examinations and had turned off the lights in the office. just  then a tall,  intentions, with the result that we misread or misinterpret. Thus, in this
broad figure with dark glasses appeared and demanded the examination.  textbook, it is safer to restrict your answers only to what the writer
The  professor  opened  the  drawer.  Everything  in  the  drawer  was  picked  suggests, and not base them on something you have read or experienced
up  and  the  individual  ran  down  the  corridor.  The  dean  was  notified  outside the text. In other words, an inference must be tied to the evidence.
immediately. 
Initially in the inference exercises, you will label inference questions in
  three ways.
1. The thief was tall, broad, and wore dark glasses. T F ?
2. The professor turned off the lights. T F ? • Probably accurate (PA). This kind of inference follows from the facts the writer
3. A tall, broad figure demanded the examination. T F ? presents or it is strongly implied by the author's words. We have enough
4. The examination was picked up by someone. T F ? information to say that the inference is most likely accurate.
The examination was picked up by the professor. T F ? • Probably inaccurate (PI). An inaccurate inference misstates or distorts the
5.
writer's words and observations.
6. A tall, broad figure appeared after the professor • Not in the passage (NP). These are inferences that you can't reasonably make
turned off the lights in the office. T F ?
because they're not implied in the passage. Either there is insufficient evidence
7. The man who opened the drawer was the professor F ? or there is no information in the passage to determine whether the inference is
8. The professor ran down the corridor T F ? accurate or not.
9. The drawer was never actually opened T F ? Of course, when you read assigned material or material on your own, you
10. In this report three people are referred to. T F ? would not label a writer's ideas in this way. You are asked to do so here only
to practice distinguishing between appropriate and inappropriate inferences.
To begin, read these two short passages and label the inference statements as Here is a second passage. This one represents a parable, a little story written
directed. Then study the answers and explanations that follow. The first is a to illustrate a moral truth.
short excerpt from Tobias Wolff's engaging autobiography. This Boy's Life. In it
Wolf£ describes the grades he received while attending the public high school A  customs  officer  observes  a  truck  pulling  up  at  the  border. 
in Concrete, a town in eastern Washington State. Suspicious,  he  orders  the  driver  out  and  searches  the  vehicle.  He 
pulls  off  panels,  bumpers,  and  wheel  cases  but  finds  not  a  single 
I brought home good grades at first. They were a fraud. I copied other  scrap  of  contraband,  whereupon,  still  suspicious  but  at  a  loss  to 
kids'  homework on  the bus  down  from Chinook  and  studied for  tests  in  know  where  else  to  search,  he  waves  the  driver  through.  The  next 
week, the same driver arrives. Again the official searches, and again 
the hallways as I walked from class to class. After the first marking period 
finds  nothing  illicit.  Over  the  years,  the  official  tries  full‐body 
I didn't bother to do that much. I stopped studying altogether. Then I was 
searches, X rays, and sonar, anything he can think of, and each week 
given  C's  instead  of  A's,  yet  no  one  at  home  ever  knew  that  my  grades 
the  same  man  drives  up  but  no  mysterious  cargo  ever  appears,  and  each 
had fallen. The report cards were made out, incredibly enough, in pencil,  time, reluctantly,  the customs  man waves the driver  on. 
and I owned some pencils myself.  Finally,  after many  years,  the officer  is about to retire. The driver pulls up. “I 
Tobias Wolff, This Boy's Life know  you're  a  smuggler,  the  customs  officer  says.  Don't  bother  denying  it. 
But  damned  if  I  can  figure  out  what  you've  been  smuggling  all  these years. 
On the basis of the evidence in the paragraph, mark these statements as follows: I'm  leaving  now. I  swear  to  you  I  can  do  you  no  harm.  Won't  you please 
PA (probably accurate), PI (probably inaccurate), or NP (not in the passage). tell  me what you've  been  smuggling?" 
“Trucks,” the driver says. 
1. ____Students at the high school in Concrete had to work hard to receive 
Todd Gitlin "Trucks "
A's.  Media Unlimited: How the Torrent of Images and Sounds Overwhelm
  Our Lives
2. ____Wolff wanted to get good grades so that he could go to college.  
  On the basis of the evidence in the parable, label these inferences as follows: PA
3. ____The  narrator  continued  to  receive  good  grades  only  because  he  (probably accurate), PI (probably inaccurate), or NP (not in the passage).
erased the teacher's marks and changed them to higher ones. 
1. ____The customs officer made a lifetime career out of trying to catch the 
 
truck driver smuggling illegal goods. 
4. ____The teachers were naive to record students' grades in pencil. 
 
 
2. ____The  first  time  the  customs  officer  encountered  the  truck  driver,  he 
  had good reason to be suspicious. 
 
3. ____The truck driver had been smuggling illicit goods for many years, but 
they were so cleverly hidden that the customs officer never found them. 
 
4. _____Sometimes in their fixation on observing small details, people miss 
the obvious. 
 Practice Exercise 2 B. This excerpt describes the poet Gary Soto's early experiences in elementary
school.
A.
The U.S. invasion of Iraq will be debated for years to come as history sorts  For  four  years  I  attended  St.  John's  Catholic  School  where  short  nuns 
out  its  perceived  accomplishments  and  disasters,  but  there  is  little  threw  chalk  at  me,  chased  me  with  books  cocked  over  their  heads, 
disagreement over one positive by‐product of the war: the opportunity to save  squeezed  me  into  cloak  closets  and,  on  slow  days,  asked  me  to  pop 
the country's unique marshes.  erasers  and  to  wipe  the  blackboard  clean.  Finally,  in  the  fifth  grade,  my 
Formerly  recognized  as  one  of  the  world's  great  wetland  ecosystems,  mother  sent  me  to  Jefferson  Elementary.  The  Principal,  Mr.  Buckalew, 
covering 12,000 square miles in southern Iraq and renowned for diverse plant  kindly  ushered  me  to  the  fifth  grade  teachers,  Mr.  Stendhaland  Mrs. 
and  animal  life,  the  marshes  also  provided  sustenance  to  the  traditional  Sloan. We stood in the hallway with the principal's hand on my shoulder. 
Ma'dan people (also known as Marsh Arabs) before Saddam Hussein drained  Mr. Stendhal asked what book I had read  in the fourth grade, to which, 
the  region  after  the  first  Gulf  War  as  a  political  punishment  of  the  Ma'dan.  after  a  dark  and  squinting  deliberation,  I  answered:  The  Story  of  the 
While some of the damage may be irreversible, environmentalists now believe  United  States  Marines.  Mr.  Stendhal  and  Mrs.  Sloan  looked  at  one 
the marshes can be at least partly restored.  another with a "you take him" look. Mr. Buckalew lifted his hand from my 
Amelia Bauerly, "Green Peace," Utne  shoulder and walked slowly away. 
Gary Soto, Living Up the Street
On the basis of the evidence in the passage, mark these statements as follows: PA
(probably accurate), PI (probably inaccurate), or NP (not in the passage.) 1. Which of the following can you infer about the author?
a. He was a model student.
1. ____Wetlands are an important component of the earth's environment. b. He had a reputation among teachers for being a troublemaker.
c. He had been asked to leave Catholic school.
2. ____The Ma'dan, or Marsh Arabs, were loyal to Saddam Hussein. d. He enjoyed public school more than Catholic school.

3. ____Saddam Hussein was a vengeful person. 2. What inference can you make about the book Soto says he read in fourth
grade, The Story of the United States Marines?
4. ____The Americans are in charge of restoring the marshlands of a. it was assigned reading at his former school.
southern Iraq. b. He probably hadn't read it.
c. He probably had read it.
d. There is no way to tell whether he had read it or not.
5. ____The Americans are in charge of restoring the marshlands of
southern Iraq.
3. What inference can you make about his new teachers, Mr. Stendhal and
Mrs. Sloan?
6. ____The marshes will be completely restored at some point in the future. a. They were impressed with Soto's answer.
b. Soto ended up in Mrs. Sloan's class.
c. Soto ended up in Mr. Stendhal's class.
d. They both thought Soto was something of a wise guy.
C. D.
By the end of the 1860s, when they were all the rage, bicycles were called  Sometime  during  the  late  1980s‐‐no  one  can  pinpoint  the  exact  date‐‐Ran 
velocipedes.  They  were  nicknamed  bone‐shakers.  Cartoonists  made  fun  Magruder,  the  president  of  the  thriving  Olive  Garden  chain  of  Italian 
of people  restaurants,  received  a  telephone  call  from  a  dissatisfied  customer.  The  call 
falling off bicycles all the time, of bicyclists getting stuck in packs behind  had been patched all the way up to Magruder because it was so ... different. 
horses  and  carriages,  of  bicyclists  crowding  onto  the  very  few  paved  The caller, named Larry, wasn't complaining about the food or the service or 
roads. Most bicyclists lived in cities; they toured into the countryside on  the prices. Instead, Larry was upset that he could no longer fit into any of the 
the  weekends.  As  a  group,  they  petitioned  for  better  roads  around  the 
chairs in his local Olive Garden. "I had to wait more than an hour and half to 
city  and  into  the  country,  establishing,  by  the  1880s  and  1890s,  what 
get a table," Larry told Magruder. "But then I found that there wasn't a single 
became known as the Good Roads 
Movement.  booth or chair where I could sit comfortably." 
Robert Sullivan, Cross County Magruder, a heavyset man easily moved to enthusiasm, was sympathetic to 
Larry's  plaint.  And  as  president,  he  could  do  something  about  it.  He  had  his 
Mark these statements as you did before. staff 
contact the company that manufactured the chairs for the chain and order a 
1. ____Bicycles, or velocipedes, were called bone-shakers because they were thousand large‐size chairs. He then had these distributed, three each, to every 
poorly designed. Olive  Garden  restaurant  in  the  nation.  It  was,  as  Magruder  later  told  the 
2. ____There is a strong connection between the Good Roads Movement and eminent restaurant business journalist Charles Bernstein, a perfect example of 
the increased popularity of bicycles at the end of the nineteenth century. his management philosophy… 
3. ____The writer is a bicycle enthusiast.
Greg Critser, Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World 

The passage ends with a quotation from Ron Magruder, which has been deleted.
Which of the following quotations is most likely what Magruder told Charles
Bernstein?

A. "These customers are a pain in the neck. As president of Olive Garden, I'm
not going to cater to their every little demand. Why doesn't he just lose
some weight?"
B. "We are going to go the extra mile for any customer, no matter what the
situation is."
C. "If every restaurant provided special chairs for its customers, we'd all soon
be broke."

What specific evidence in the passage leads you to this conclusion?

MAKING OPEN-ENDED INFERENCES and within an hour on the road burn off the 450 calories and then some. By the 
time I reached western Arkansas, the love handles on my waist had disappeared 
Making open-ended inferences asks you to draw your own inferences and state and I had to tighten my belt an extra notch to keep my pants up. 
them in your own words, which is a more realistic way of making inferences in David Lamb, Over the Hills 
your everyday reading. Study this first example, in which the writer John  
Hildebrand describes a horse named Blue. According to Lamb's experiences (and aside from overeating), why are so many
Americans overweight?
Not much bigger than a pony, Blue stood fourteen hands high and weighed 950  __________________________________________________________________ 
pounds. His mother was a bucking horse bought from a rodeo, mean and ornery   
as they come, her history written in overlapping brands that covered her flanks.  Practice Exercise 3
John Hildebrand, Mapping the Farm Answer each inference question in your own words.
1. California's  Golden  Gate  Bridge,  which  connects  San  Francisco 
Why did Blue's mother have so many brands? ________________________ and  Marin  County,  has  been  the  site  of  over  1,000  suicides  since  it 
opened  in  1937.  In  a  lengthy  New  Yorker  article  about  the  bridge,  Tad 
_____________________________________________________________
Friend ends with this anecdote. The bridge comes into the lives of all Bay 
(Making the correct inference here depends on your knowing the meaning of the
word brand as it pertains to livestock. If you are unsure, check the dictionary.) Area residents sooner or later, and it often stays. Dr. Jerome Motto, who 
has been part of two failed suicide‐barrier coalitions, is now  retired and 
living  in  San  Mateo.  When  I  visited  him  there,  we  spent  three  hours 
The second example is from David Lamb's book, Over the Hills, in which he talking  about  the  bridge.  Motto  had  a  patient  who  committed  suicide 
describes a cross-country bicycle trip he made from Virginia to California. Here he from  the  Golden  Gate  in  1963,  but  the  jump  that  affected  him  most 
contrasts the typical overweight American's concern with dieting and his own occurred in the seventies. "I went to this guy's apartment afterward with 
nutritional intake while on the road. the assistant medical examiner," he told me. "The guy was in this thirties, 
lived alone, pretty bare apartment. He'd written a note and left it on his 
Between  1980  and  1991‐when  the  diet  business  was  in  full  bloom‐the  average  bureau. it said, 'I'm going to walk to the bridge. If one person smiles at me 
adult  American  put  on  eight  pounds.  That,  says  the  National  Center  for  Health  on the way, I will not jump."'  
Statistics, is the equivalent of an extra one million tons of fat on the waistline of a  Motto  sat  back  in  his  chair.  "That  was  it,"  he  said.  11  1t's  so 
nation where one in three persons is certifiably overweight. Ironically, the more  needless, the number of people who are lost." 
we spend trying to get thin‐$15 billion a year on diet soft drinks alone, another $4  Tad Friend, "Jumpers," The New Yorker 
billion  on  stuff  like  Lean  Cuisine  and  pseudofood  appetite  suppressants‐the   
plumper  we  become.  Something  is  clearly  out  of  whack.  These  contradictions  What can you infer about the reason Dr. Motto's patient committed suicide?
were of no concern to me, however, because I had learned the secret of gluttony   
without guilt. Day after day I started the morning with French toast or pancakes,  ________________________________________________________________
enjoyed apple pie with double scoops of ice cream during pre‐noon coffee breaks, 
drank milk shakes, Hawaiian Punch and chocolate milk by the bucketful, snacked  Why do you think the author ends his article with this anecdote?
on three or four candy bars in the afternoon and often had room for a hot dog or 
two before I started thinking about dinner. Unlike the rest of America, the more  ________________________________________________________________
I ate, the less I weighed. I could eat two pieces of coconut custard pie at 11 A.M. 
 2. John McWhorter is a linguist at UC Berkeley. READING SELECTION
Rebracketing: The Story of Gladly, the Cross‐Eyed Bear 
  This excerpt comes from an article titled “Good Idea!”—a compendium of several
My  mother  used  to  recall  how,  when  her  church  choir  would  sing  the  hymn  offbeat suggestions to “fix the world” and to “spark your own creativity.” This
"Gladly  the  Cross  I'd  Bear"  when  she  was  a  little  girl,  she  thought  they  were  particular suggestion is called “Use Theater to Help Kids Settle Fights.”
singing  about  a  little  storybook  bear  named  Gladly,  who  was  afflicted  with  an 
ocular misalignment. The problem here was my mother misassigning functions to  Michael  Soth,  an  elementary  school  teacher  in  Oxford,  England,  was  sick  and 
the  words:  the  adjective  cross‐eyed  instead  of  cross  I'd  and  the  animal  bear  tired of seeing his pupils get in fights. Trying a little socially inventive ingenuity, he 
instead  of  the  verb  bear.  Language  change  is  driven  in  large  part  by  drew on the writings of the Brazilian theatrical director Augusto Boal, whose work 
misassignments of a similar nature, although on a less fantastical scale.  explores the boundaries between theater and social activism. Soth applied Boal’s 
It starts with little stuff. Did you ever wonder what the nick  in nickname was?  conflict‐resolution tool called Forum Theater in his classroom. 
What's  "nick"  about  the  name?  As  it  happens,  the  word  began  as  ekename;  in  When  students  fought,  Soth  assembled  the  entire  class  and  had  them 
earlier English, eke meant also." Now that made sense‐your "also" name. Through  reconstruct  the  fight  stage  by  stage.  When  everyone  agreed  on  what  had 
time, however, because the word was used so often after an‐an ekename‐people  happened, the kids involved re‐enacted the  fight  from  start to  finish. Then they 
began  to  interpret  the  n  in  an  as the  first  letter  of the  following  word. Hence  a  “performed” it again—but this time any student could yell “Stop!” at any point in 
nickname. What had occurred is a "rebracketing": what began as [an] [ekename]  the re‐enactment and take the stage to show alternative responses and solutions. 
became [a] [nickname]. Apron began as napron, borrowed from the French word  If the second re‐enactment didn’t lead to a peaceful conclusion, the fight was run 
naperron  for  "napkin."  Through  the  same  process  that  created  nickname,  a  again and again under the same rules, until a satisfactory solution emerged. 
napron became an apron.  Soth discovered that the initial reconstruction of the fight was important—every 
John McWhorter, The Power of Babe! student  involved  need  to  be  heard  fully  and  fairly.  But  once  the  kids  were  sure 
1. When my brother was around 7 years old, he asked me what the word that  Forum  Theater  was  a  genuine  forum  for  their  fears,  sense  of  justice,  and 
"donzerly" meant. When I asked him where he had heard that word, he said, creativity, they couldn’t get enough of it. “My main work was to hold them back 
"You know, the 'donzerly' light." (He meant "the dawn's early light" from the from all shouting ‘Stop!’ and wanting to suggest alternatives at once,” Soth said. 
national anthem.) Which of the two concepts that McWhorter discusses in the  
above passage-misassignment or rebracketing-is "donzerly" an example of? On the basis of evidence from the passage, mark these statements as follows: PA
(probably accurate), PI (probably inaccurate), or NP (not in the passage).
2. Explain the linguistic concept of rebracketing, using the change in the word
“napron” to "apron.” 1. _______ Michael Soth’s idea for conflict resolution was adapted from a
Brazilian theater director.
_____________________________________________________________
2. _______ The children were immediately convinced that acting out the
conflict was a good idea
_____________________________________________________________
3. _______ Oftentimes, Soth’s students had to perform more than one re-
_____________________________________________________________ enactment before the conflict could be resolved.

4. _______ The emphasis of Forum Theater is on finding alternatives to

 fighting rather than deciding who actually was at fault in a dispute.

5. _______ Soth’s Forum Theater has been effective but only in a limited way.

6. _______ On the basis of Soth’s efforts, other elementary school teachers

throughout England have adopted Forum Theaters of their own to
stop their students from fighting.

Adapted from:
Spears, Deanne. Developing Critical Reading Skills. 8th ed. New York: Mc-Graw
Hill, 2009. Print.
 water under the kitchen sink, you can infer that you have a plumbing problem. The
Critical Reading and Thinking inferences you make may not always be correct, even though you base them on the
LEARNING OBJECTIVES available information. The water under the sink might have been the result of a
spill. The traffic you encountered on the high- way might be normal for that rime
1. Make inferences and draw conclusions of day, but you didn't know it because you aren't normally on the road at that time.
2. Distinguish fact from opinion An inference is only the best guess you can make in a situation, given the
  information you have.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1:
Make inferences and draw conclusions How to Make Accurate Inferences and Conclusions
Look at the photograph below, which appeared in a psychology textbook. What When you read the material associated with your college courses, you need to
do you think is happening here? What are the feelings of the participants? make inferences and draw conclusions frequently. Writers do not always present
their ideas directly. Instead, they often leave it to you-the reader-to add up and
think beyond the facts they present, and to use your prior knowledge about the
topic. You are expected to reason out the meaning an author intended (but did not
say) on the basis of what he or she did say.
Each inference and conclusion you make depends on the situation, the facts
provided, and your own knowledge and experience. Here are a few guidelines to
help you see beyond the factual level and make accurate inferences from your
reading materials.

Understand the Literal Meaning

Be sure you have a firm grasp of the literal meaning. You must understand the
stated ideas and facts before you can move to higher levels of thinking, which
include inference making and drawing conclusions. You should recognize the
topic, main idea, key details, and organizational pattern of each paragraph you
have read.

Notice Details
To answer these questions, you had to use information you could get from the
As you are reading, pay particular attention to details that are unusual or stand out.
photo and make decisions based on it. The facial expressions, body language,
Often, such details will offer you clues to help you make inferences. Ask yourself:
clothing, and musical instruments presented in this photo provide clues. This
reasoning process is called "making an inference.” You also had to use your prior
 What is unusual or striking about this piece of information?
knowledge about concerts, performers, musicians, and so forth. When you use both
your prior knowledge and information from a text or image you "draw a  Why is it included here?
conclusion."
Inferences and conclusions are reasoned guesses about what you don't know made
on the basis of what you do know. They are common in our every- day lives.
When you get on a highway and see a long, slow-moving line of traffic, you might
predict that there is an accident or roadwork ahead. When you see a puddle of
Read the following excerpt, which is taken from an essay about a young Polish Add Up the Facts
immigrant to the United Kingdom, and mark any derails that seem unusual or
striking. Consider all of the facts taken together. To do this, ask yourself the following
questions:
Issue: Immigration
 What is the writer trying to suggest with this set of facts?
An Immigration Plan Gone Awry  What do all these facts and ideas seem to point toward or add up to?
 Why did the author include these facts and details?
Due  to  her  own  hardship,  Katja  was  not  thrilled  when  her  younger  brother 
called  her  from  Warsaw  and  said  that  he  was  going  to  join  her  in  the  United  Making an inference is somewhat like assembling a complicated jigsaw puzzle;
Kingdom (U.K.). Katja warned him that opportunities were scarce in London for a  you try to make all the pieces fit together to form a recognizable picture.
Polish  immigrant.  "Don't  worry/'  he  said  in  an  effort  to  soothe  her  anxiety.  "I  Answering these questions requires you to add together all the individual pieces of
already  have  a  job  in  a  factory."  An  advertisement  in  a  Warsaw  paper  had  information, which will help you arrive at an inference.
promised good pay for Polish workers in Birmingham. A broker's fee of $500 and  When you add up the facts in the article "An Immigration Plan Gone Awry,"
you realize that Katja's brother is the victim of a scam.
airfare were required, so her brother borrowed the money from their mother. He 
made the trip with a dozen other young Polish men.  Be Alert to Clues
The "broker" picked the young men up at Heathrow [airport] and piled them in 
a van. They drove directly to Birmingham, and at nightfall the broker dropped the  Writers often provide you with numerous hints that can point you toward accurate
whole  crew  off  at  a  ramshackle  house  inside  the  city.  He  ordered  them  to  be  inferences. An awareness of word choices, details included (and omitted), ideas
ready to be picked up in the morning for their first day of work. A bit dazed by the  emphasized, and direct commentary can help you determine a writer's attitude
pace, they stretched out on the floor to sleep.  toward the topic at hand. In "An Immigration Plan Gone Awry," the "ramshackle"
house, the men "piled» into a van, and the immigrants sleeping on the floor are all
Their rest was brief. In the wee hours of the night, the broker returned with a 
clues that something is amiss.
gang of 10 or so thugs armed with cricket [similar to baseball] bats. They beat the 
young Polish boys to a pulp and robbed them of all their valuables. Katja's brother  Consider the Author's Purpose
took  some  heavy  kicks  to  the  ribs  and  head,  then  stumbled  out  of  the  house. 
Once outside, he saw two police cars parked across the street. The officers in the  Also study the author's purpose for writing. What does he or she hope to
cars  obviously  chose  to  ignore  the  mayhem  playing  out  in  front  of  their  eyes.  accomplish? In "An Immigration Plan Gone Awry" the writer is critical of
Katja's  brother  knew  better  than  try  to  convince  them  otherwise;  the  police  in  immigrant brokers and of the police.
Poland  would  act  no  differently.  Who  knows,  maybe  they  were  part  of  the 
Verify Your Inference
broker's  seam.  Or  maybe  they  just  didn't  care  about  a  bunch  of  poor  Polish 
immigrants "invading" their town.  Once you have made an inference, check to make sure that it is accurate. Look
‐Batstone, "Katja's Story," from Sojourner's  back at the stated facts to be sure you have sufficient evidence to support the
inference. Also be certain you have not overlooked other equally plausible or
more plausible inferences that could be drawn from the same set of facts.
Did you mark details such as the $500 broker's fee, the promise of a well- paying
job despite scarce job opportunities for Polish immigrants, and the terrible sleeping
conditions?
EXERCISE 9.2: MAKING INFERENCES AND DRAWING
CONCLUSIONS
Read each of the following statements. Place a check mark in front of each
sentence that follows that is a reasonable inference or conclusion that can be made
from the statement.
1. Many job applicants have found that their postings on Facebook or their
tweets on Twitter have had negative effects on their job interviews.
a. Job recruiters look up candidates' online histories.
b. Young people should be careful about what they post online.
c. The majority of people over age 23 now have Facebook accounts.
d. Tweeting has become an accepted method of staying in touch with
friends.
2. Reality TV may look spontaneous and unscripted, but reality TV shows
are carefully edited before they are televised.
a. In truth, reality TV is not particularly realistic.
b. The directors and producers of reality TV may distort facts and
events.
c. Reality TV shows are cheaper to produce because there is no need
for writers to write the dialogue.
d. Most people now prefer to watch reality TV rather than sitcoms or
dramas.
3. The goal of health care reform in the United States is to ensure that as
many people as possible have medical insurance and decent medical care,
as in Canada and Europe.
a. The cost of medical care is likely to decrease.
b. Under the old medical care system, many people in the United
States had no access to medical care.
c. As a result of health care reform, there is likely to be a shortage of
doctors.
d. Canada and Europe currently do a better job of providing health
care to their citizens than the United States does.
EXERCISE 9-3: MAKING INFERENCES AND DRAWING
CONCLUSIONS
Read each of the following passages. Determine whether the statements following
each passage are true or false. Place a T next to each true statement and an F
next to each false statement.
A. Issue: literacy
On the surface, development statistics show impressive gains in education
among developing countries. By the early twenty-first century, more than
80 per- cent of children were enrolled in primary school, and five out of
six of the world's adults were literate, according to the United Nations
Development Report in 2008. Yet the same report notes that only slightly
over one-half of children attend school in sub-Saharan Africa and in many
developing countries few children even graduate from primary school.
Illiteracy rates in most middle-income nations are much lower, typically
less than 20 percent. However, millions of rural and urban children receive
no education whatsoever.
-adapted from Thompson and Hickey, Society in Focus, p. 239
1. In middle-income nations, urban children are more likely to be
denied an education than rural children.
2. Today, the great majority of the world's population is literate.
3. Literacy rates are generally higher in middle-income nations than
they are in developing nations.
4. More than half the children in sub-Saharan Africa will graduate
from primacy school.
5. The United Nations Development Report describes social trends in
developing (poor) nations.
B. Issue: Family and Family Trends LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2:
Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion
Many of you have probably grown up on tales of men running from
marriage, going to great lengths to avoid being "trapped." This folklore
When working with any source, readers and writers should try to determine
actually runs counter to the reality of women's and men's lives. In reality,
whether the material is factual or an expression of opinion. Facts are statements
men seem to prefer marriage to being single. For example, when asked if
that are true and can be verified. Opinions are statements that express feelings,
they would marry the same person again, they respond in the affirmative
attitudes, or beliefs and are neither true nor false. Following are examples of each:
twice as often as their wives. In addition, most divorced and widowed men
remarry, and the rate of marriage for these men at every age level is higher
Facts
than the rate for single men. Furthermore, when compared with single
1. Canada, the United States, and Mexico are all members of the North American
men, married men live longer, have better mental and physical health, are
Free Trade Agreement.
less depressed, have a lower rate of suicide, are less likely to be
2. Facebook has become the world's most popular social networking site.
incarcerated for a crime, earn higher incomes, and are more likely to
define themselves as happy.
Opinions
-Schwartz and Scott, Marriages and Families, p. 255
1. Employers should be banned from spying on employees and reading their e-
mail.
1. Marriage has a number of beneficial effects on men.
2. All immigration into the United States must be halted for a ten-year period.
2. Marriage is more beneficial to men than to women.
Facts, when verified or taken from a reputable source, can be accepted and
regarded as reliable information. Opinions, on the other hand, are not reliable
3. Married men are less likely to be in jail than married women are.
sources of information and should be questioned and carefully evaluated. Look for
4. More men than women are happy in their current marriage. evidence that supports the opinion and indicates that it is reasonable. For example,
opinion 2 is written to sound like a fact, but look closely. Would everyone agree
5. A man who has been married is not likely to marry again. with this statement? Can it be disputed?
Some writers signal the reader when they are presenting an opinion. Watch for
the following words and phrases:

according to it is believed that presumably

apparently it is likely that seemingly
in my opinion one explanation this suggests
in my view is possibly
 In the following except from a business textbook, notice how the author uses
qualifying words and phrases (underlined), as well as direct quotations from social
critics, to indicate opinions on the topic "Are advertising and marketing
necessary?"
Issue: Advertising and Ethics
too, often offer expert opinion, as in the following statement from an American
government text.
Ours is a complex system of justice. Sitting at the pinnacle of the judicial system 
is the Supreme Court, but its importance is often exaggerated. 
Lineberry et al., Government in America, p. 540 

Are Advertising and Marketing Necessary? The author of this statement has reviewed the available evidence and is providing
his expert opinion regarding what the evidence indicates about the Supreme Court.
More  than  50  years  ago,  the  social  critic  Vance  Packard  wrote,  "large‐scale  The reader is free to disagree and offer evidence to support an opposing view.
efforts are being made, often with impressive success, to channel. our unthinking 
habits, our purchasing decisions, and our thought processes by the use of insights  EXERCISE 9.5: DISTINGUISHING FACT AND OPINION
gleaned  from  psychiatry  and  the  social  sciences."  The  economist  John  Kenneth 
Read each of the following statements and identify whether it is fact (F), opinion
Galbraith charged that radio and television are important tools to accomplish this  (0), or expert opinion (EO).
manipulation of the masses. Because consumers don't need to be literate to use 
these  media,  repetitive  and  compelling  communications  can  reach  almost  1. Toyota is the world's largest automaker. 
everyone.  This  criticism  may  be  even  more  relevant  to  online  communications,  2. Apple Computers, already one of the world's most successful companies, 
where a simple click delivers a world of information to us.  will  continue  to  be  successful  because  of  its  history  of  innovation  and 
Many feel that marketers arbitrarily link products to desirable social attributes,  product design. 
fostering a materialistic society in which we are measured by what we own. One  3. Americans  spend  approximately  $40  billion  per  year  on  diet  aids,  diet 
influential  critic  even  argued  that  the  problem  is  that  we  are  not  materialistic  books, and diet foods. 
4. The best way to read a book is on the Kindle Fire. 
enough‐  that  is,  we  do  not  sufficiently  value  goods  for  the  utilitarian  functions 
5. A capital good, as defined by economists, is a good bought by 
they  deliver  but  instead  focus  on  the  irrational  value  of  goods  for  what  they 
6. businesses to increase their productive resources. 
symbolize.  According  to  this  view  for  example,  11Beer  would  be  enough  for  us  7. The  U.S.  government  is  comprised  of  three  branches:  executive, 
without the additional promise that in drinking it we show ourselves to be manly,  legislative, and judicial. 
young at heart, or neighborly. A washing machine would be a useful machine to  8. Anthropologists  believe  that  some  native  communities  in  the  Americas 
wash clothes rather than an indication that we are forward‐looking or an object  practiced human sacrifice. 
of envy to our neighbors."  9. According to Dr. Elaine Feldman, a psychologist who specializes in anxiety 
‐Solomon, Consumer Behavior, p. 23 management, deep breathing can greatly help people reduce their stress 
levels. 
10. The finest novels in English history were written by Jane Austen. 
Other authors do just the opposite; they try to make opinions sound like facts, or 11. The hammer and sickle are found on Russia's national flag. 
they mix fact and opinion without making clear distinctions. This is particularly
true in the case of expert opinion, which is the opinion of a recognized authority on
a topic. Political commentators on Sunday news programs (sometimes called
"pundits”) represent expert opinion on politics, for example. Textbook authors,
EXERCISE 9.6: DISTINGUISHING FACT AND OPINION  

Each of the following paragraphs contains both facts and opinions. Read each
paragraph and label each sentence as fact (F), opinion (0), or expert opinion
(EO).

A. Issue: Slavery and Freedom

 
1
Harriet  Tubman  was  born  a  slave  in  Maryland  in  1820  and  escaped  to 
Philadelphia in 1849. 2Her own escape presumably required tremendous courage, 
but that was just the beginning. 3Through her work on the Underground Railroad, 
Harriet  Tubman  led  more  than  300  slaves  to  freedom.  4During  the  Civil  War, 
Tubman  continued  her  efforts  toward  the  abolition  of  slavery  by  working  as  a 
nurse  and  a  spy  for  the  Union  forces.  5Today,  Americans  of  all  races  consider 
Harriet Tubman one of the most heroic figures in our country's history. 
 
Sentences: 1_____  2_____  3_____  4_____  5_____   
 
B. Issue: Drugs and Addiction
 
1
Those  big  stogies  that  we  see  celebrities  and  government  figures  smoking  are 
nothing  more  than  tobacco  fillers  wrapped  in  more  tobacco.  2Since  1993,  cigar 
sales  in  the  United  States  have  increased  dramatically,  up  nearly  124  per‐  cent 
between  1993  and  2007.3The  fad,  especially  popular  among  young  men  and 
women,  is  fueled  in  part  by  the  willingness  of  celebrities  to  be  photographed 
puffing  on  a  cigar.  4lt's  also  fueled  by  the  fact  that  cigars  cost  much  less  than 
cigarettes  in  most  states.  5Aiso,  among  some  women,  cigar  smoking  symbolizes 
being  slightly  outrageous  and  liberated.  6According  to  a  recent  national  survey, 
about  11  percent  of  Americans  aged  18  to  25  had  smoked  a  cigar  in  the  past 
month. 
‐Donatelle, Access to Health, p. 386 
 
Sentences: 1_____  2_____  3_____  4_____  5_____  6_____