Question 13·Easy·Inferences
A neighborhood café replaced its printed menu boards with digital screens that show rotating images of the items available. After the switch, the café noticed that sales increased most for the items whose pictures appeared more frequently in the rotation, even though the recipes, prices, and order in which the items were listed stayed the same.
What can most reasonably be inferred about the café customers’ ordering decisions?
For SAT Reading & Writing inference and completion questions, first underline what changed and what stayed the same in the passage—cause-and-effect often hinges on the one factor that varies. Then, before looking at the choices, briefly state in your own words what the passage suggests but doesn’t say outright. Finally, use process of elimination: cross out any choice that mentions details not in the text, contradicts the passage, or focuses on factors the passage says remained unchanged, and select the one that cleanly matches the implied relationship.
Hints
Notice the comparison after the change
Look closely at the sentence describing what happened after the café switched to digital screens. What happened to the sales of items whose pictures showed up more often?
Focus on what did NOT change
The passage says recipes, prices, and the order of items stayed the same. How does this help you decide which answer choices are unlikely to be correct?
Look for the factor that varies among items
For some items, one particular aspect of the new menu display happens more often than for others. Which answer choice talks about that kind of difference between items?
Eliminate choices not supported by the text
Cross out any answer that mentions something never discussed in the passage or something the passage says stayed the same. What are you left with?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what changed and what stayed the same
The café switched from printed menu boards to digital screens that rotate images of menu items. The passage clearly states that recipes, prices, and the order in which items were listed stayed the same. The only new variable mentioned is the rotating images and how frequently each item’s picture appears.
Connect the change to the result
After the change, sales increased most for the items whose pictures appeared more frequently in the rotation. That means there is a relationship between two things: how often an item’s image is shown on the screen and how much that item is ordered.
Decide what can be inferred about customer behavior
An inference is a logical conclusion based on the information given. Since recipes, prices, and listing order did not change, they cannot explain why certain items’ sales increased more than others. The only factor that varies among items and lines up with their sales differences is how often their images are shown.
Match the inference to the choices
Eliminate any answer choice that focuses on something that did not change (like prices) or is not mentioned (like ingredients or hours). The only choice that links customers’ ordering decisions to the factor that actually changed and correlates with higher sales—the frequency with which an item’s image is displayed—is D) Customers are influenced by how often an item’s image is displayed.