Question 112·Easy·Inferences
For nearly a decade, the Riverside Community Center has offered summer painting classes. Recently, however, the number of people signing up has dropped. In response, the center announced that anyone who registers for the advanced painting course will automatically be enrolled—at no additional cost—in the beginner’s course that meets earlier in the day. This new arrangement is most likely intended to ____
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For SAT inference questions like this, first identify the problem or situation described (here, declining enrollment), then note the action taken in response. Ask yourself what general goal that action most naturally serves, staying within the information given. Finally, test each answer against that goal and eliminate choices that (1) introduce new, unsupported ideas, (2) don’t logically follow from the change described, or (3) ignore the core problem stated in the passage.
Hints
Locate the problem the center faces
Reread the first few sentences and identify what difficulty the Riverside Community Center is experiencing with its painting classes.
Connect the new policy to that problem
Think about how automatically enrolling advanced-course students in the beginner’s course for free might change people’s behavior about signing up.
Check for support in the passage
For each answer, ask: Is this goal clearly suggested by the situation described, or is it adding new ideas (like mentoring or competition) that aren’t mentioned?
Watch for logical consequences
Consider whether the new arrangement would realistically increase or decrease things like class size, costs, or participation, and eliminate any choices that don’t logically follow.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the situation and problem
First, summarize the scenario in your own words:
- For almost ten years, the Riverside Community Center has offered summer painting classes.
- Recently, fewer people are signing up. This decline in sign-ups is the problem the center is trying to solve.
Identify the center’s response
Now look at what the center decides to do in response:
- Anyone who registers for the advanced painting course will also be enrolled for free in the beginner’s course earlier in the day. That means the center is offering more value (an extra class) for the same price to people who sign up for the advanced course.
Infer the most logical purpose of the change
Ask: Why would they offer a free extra class right after mentioning that sign-ups have dropped?
- When an organization has declining enrollment, a common solution is to make the offer more attractive so more people will sign up.
- Adding a free beginner class for advanced students is a reward or incentive that could make more people choose to register.
Test each answer choice against the passage
Now compare each option with the passage’s problem (declining sign-ups) and the solution (a free extra class for advanced registrants):
- Mentoring beginners is not mentioned, and the two courses meet at different times.
- Discouraging attendance at park classes is never mentioned.
- Reducing materials doesn’t fit, because more class time usually uses more supplies, not less. The only option that directly matches the likely goal of solving the low-sign-up problem by making the classes more appealing is “make it easier for the center to boost enrollment in its painting courses.”