Question 153·Hard·Inferences

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Historians have often treated an imperial decree abolishing municipal grain subsidies in an ancient Mediterranean province as evidence that the subsidies ended promptly throughout the province. Recently cataloged records complicate that view. Before the decree, a temple in one river city had occasionally distributed grain purchased with private donations. After the decree, the city’s distribution registers continued to show regular allotments to many of the same households as before, but the listed distributor changed from the city council to the temple. Temple ledgers from this period record transfers from the council one or two days before each allotment, with the amounts closely matching the grain’s cost. Records from two inland cities, by contrast, show that council-funded allotments stopped soon after the decree. Finally, a later letter from the provincial governor orders the river city’s council to stop reimbursing the temple for grain distributed after the decree. Taken together, the evidence most strongly suggests that _____

Which choice most logically completes the text?

For a challenging inference question, separate changes in appearance from changes in substance. Track who formally administered the program, who benefited, where the funding originated, and whether the pattern differed across locations; then choose the option that accounts for all of those details without inventing an exemption or authorized policy not stated in the text.

Hints

Hint 1
Track separate features
Distinguish among the institution listed as distributor, the households receiving grain, and the source of the money.
Hint 2
Compare the temple’s activities over time
Contrast how the temple’s occasional distributions were funded before the decree with the timing and size of the transfers it received afterward.
Hint 3
Check the scope of each choice
The best completion must account for the river city’s records, the inland cities’ records, and the governor’s later order without claiming more than those sources establish.

Step-by-step

Step 1
Establish the earlier arrangement
Before the decree, the city council administered the regular municipal subsidy, while the temple made only occasional charitable distributions funded by private donations.
Step 2
Identify what changed and what continued
After the decree, many of the same households continued receiving regular allotments. The named distributor changed from the council to the temple, but the recipients and regular pattern of distribution remained substantially continuous.
Step 3
Trace the source of the funding
The council transferred money to the temple shortly before each allotment, and each transfer closely matched the cost of the grain. The governor’s later order to stop reimbursing the temple confirms that the postdecree distributions still involved public funding rather than only the temple’s private donations.
Step 4
Compare implementation across cities
The two inland cities stopped their council-funded allotments promptly, whereas the river city continued the practical substance of its program through a different listed distributor. Thus, implementation varied locally: the river city temporarily retained both the program’s recipients and its public financing.

Lessons that teach this

SAT Reading: Information and IdeasAdvancedCoreSAT inference questions: complete the text logically

Question 153·Hard·Inferences

Strategy

Hints

Step-by-step

Lessons that teach this

Study Hints

Strategy

Hints

Step-by-step

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