Question 10·Easy·Inferences
Dr. Nguyen conducted a three-month study of 11th-grade students. She discovered that participants who averaged fewer than six hours of sleep per night answered, on average, 35 percent fewer questions correctly on their weekly vocabulary quizzes than their classmates who slept seven to eight hours. Nguyen concluded that sleep is an "underappreciated piece of the academic success puzzle" and suggested that schools help students develop better "sleep hygiene" practices.
Which inference about students' academic performance is best supported by the information in the passage?
For SAT inference questions, base your answer strictly on what the passage actually states or clearly implies, not on outside knowledge or guesses. First, underline the key relationships or comparisons (here, sleep hours vs. quiz scores and the researcher’s conclusion about sleep). Then, test each choice by asking: (1) Is this directly tied to those relationships? (2) Does it add new topics or details the passage never mentions (like diet or exact percentages of students)? (3) Does it use extreme language ("no benefit," "most") that the passage doesn’t support? Eliminate choices that introduce new information or overstate the evidence, and select the one that is a cautious, reasonable extension of the given facts.
Hints
Focus on the comparison in the study
Look closely at the two groups Dr. Nguyen compares. What is different about them, and how do their vocabulary quiz results differ?
Use Nguyen’s conclusion
Pay attention to the phrases "underappreciated piece of the academic success puzzle" and "sleep hygiene." What do these suggest about how Nguyen views the role of sleep in school performance?
Watch for information not in the passage
For each answer choice, ask: Does the passage actually mention this topic (like diet or how most students sleep), or is the choice adding something that was never discussed?
Avoid extreme or absolute claims
Be cautious of answers that say things like "no benefit" or make broad claims about "most" students if the passage never gives that level of detail.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the key data in the study
The passage compares two groups of 11th-grade students:
- One group averaged fewer than six hours of sleep per night.
- The other group slept seven to eight hours per night.
The fewer-sleep group answered, on average, 35 percent fewer questions correctly on weekly vocabulary quizzes than the 7–8 hour group.
Understand what this relationship means
If students who sleep 7–8 hours get much higher vocabulary quiz scores than those who sleep less than 6 hours, that shows a strong relationship between more sleep and better quiz performance.
Nguyen also calls sleep an "underappreciated piece of the academic success puzzle" and wants schools to promote better "sleep hygiene" (healthy sleep habits). This shows she believes sleep makes a meaningful difference in academic performance.
Test each answer choice against the passage
Now compare each option with what the passage actually says:
- Choice A (diet): The passage never mentions diet at all, so we cannot say anything about how diet compares to sleep in its effect on scores.
- Choice B (no benefit for top scorers): The passage only compares students by how much they sleep, not by whether they are already top scorers, and it never says that some students would not benefit.
- Choice C (most students already get 7–8 hours): The passage does not give any numbers about how many 11th graders get the recommended amount of sleep overall; it only describes the study participants and their two sleep groups.
Each of these choices adds information that is not supported by the passage.
Choose the inference best supported by the passage
The only choice that stays within the information given is the one that reflects the observed pattern: students who sleep more (7–8 hours) do better on vocabulary quizzes than those who sleep less than 6 hours, and the researcher views sleep as important for academic success.
Therefore, the best-supported inference is:
D) Increasing the amount of sleep a student gets is likely to improve that student's vocabulary quiz scores.