An inference question about a program tests what the facts support, not what might be true. Read the words before the blank to see what kind of ending you need. Then put the program’s goal and the recorded change into a few words. Use those clues to predict the smallest conclusion, keeping the people and time period the same. Check how much each choice claims, because a possible conclusion isn't proof of everything the program might do.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look at the challenge’s stated goal and the sentence beginning “Library records show.” Check who and which months the records cover.
- Hint 2
What does the change after the program began suggest? Predict a small conclusion from the goal and the records, without adding anything the passage doesn't tell you.
Step-by-step
From the clues to a small conclusion
Step 1Find the goal and the kind of ending
The challenge is designed to encourage children to read during school break. What does This information suggests that ask us to do with the facts? It calls for a conclusion supported by the text, so let’s pair the program’s goal with the library’s records rather than guess at other effects.
- Step 2
Join the goal and the recorded change
What changed since the program began? The average number of books checked out by children each June and July has increased by 40 percent. That means more borrowing during the school break the challenge is meant for, so our small prediction is that the program may have helped increase summer borrowing. The records count checkouts, so they don't tell us how many books children finished.
- Step 3
Match the strength of the claim
Which wording makes that claim without treating it as certain? The phrase has likely encouraged describes a likely effect, not a proven cause, and check out more books during the summer months matches what the records count. Choice D.