An inference question tests whether you can finish a text with a conclusion its clues support. Read the words before the blank to see what kind of ending you need. Then put each clue in a few words, including what happened in each place mentioned. Use those clues to predict the smallest conclusion: say what they show without turning a few examples into a rule for everyone. Wrong choices often add claims the text never tests.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look for the ridership change and the survey result. Put each finding in a few words.
- Hint 2
Connect the city's findings with the reports from other cities. What is the smallest conclusion that uses all three clues?
Step-by-step
Join the clues and limit the claim
Step 1Read the rise and the survey
The city reports overall bus ridership has increased by 12 percent, so the blank needs a conclusion about a measured rise in bus use. What does the survey add? Most new pass holders previously relied on walking or missed trips altogether, meaning they weren't already taking those trips by bus.
- Step 2
Connect the results across cities
Does the pattern appear elsewhere? Several other cities that implemented similar discounts reported comparable increases in transit usage, so the first city's result isn't our only evidence. Together with the survey, this pattern suggests that lower fares helped people start using transit. Predict a possible benefit of these discounts, since results from several cities don't guarantee what will happen everywhere.
- Step 3
Check how far each claim goes
The wording whenever any change is made covers fare changes the text hasn't tested, and the only way rules out other ways to raise ridership without evidence. The claim that cities spend more on transit adds data the text doesn't give. The phrase can lead makes a limited claim about the discounts studied, so it completes the conclusion. Choice B.