An inference question asks you to finish a text with a conclusion its clues support. Read the words before the blank to see what the writer is trying to show through the example. Put the original expectation and the later outcome in a few words, then predict the smallest conclusion they support. A conclusion must account for both, so reject claims that stretch the result beyond what the text can show.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look for the original expectation in the second sentence. What did the engineers think the paintings would do to driver behavior?
- Hint 2
Read the speed studies and the city's next decision together. What do those two clues add to Navarre's example?
- Hint 3
Predict the smallest conclusion that connects the forecast with what happened. How much can one pilot project tell us?
Step-by-step
Follow the expectation and the outcome
Step 1Find the starting expectation
The project was meant to enliven the streetscape, or make the streets look more lively. What did the engineers expect it to do for traffic? They predicted no measurable effect on driver behavior, so they expected a change in appearance without a traffic benefit. Navarre's conclusion needs to follow the evidence, so let's see whether that forecast held up.
- Step 2
Use the results to limit the prediction
What happened when the city measured speeds? Studies found a modest but consistent decline in average vehicle speeds, and the city incorporated painted crosswalks into its standard traffic-calming toolkit. The paintings had a useful traffic effect despite the original forecast. Let's stay close to the evidence: a change made for its appearance can also serve a practical purpose. The evidence comes from a limited project with a modest effect, so it supports a possibility, not a promise about every road.
- Step 3
Check how far each claim goes
How far can we take findings from several downtown crosswalks? Both replace traditional traffic engineering entirely and drivers will always slow down go too far for this limited project. The claim about only costly, large-scale infrastructure changes clashes with the benefit from painting the crosswalks. The choice about small aesthetic interventions uses can and may to describe a benefit the engineers didn't expect, without promising it every time. Choice A.