An inference question tests what you can conclude from the facts a passage gives you. When the text sets an expectation beside later results, find those lines and put each in a few words. Then ask, what do these facts imply? Your prediction can go one step past the lines, but it can't add events or reasons the text never gives. Check each part of a choice, because a believable story can still go beyond the evidence.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read the sentences on either side of However for the expectation and the later results.
- Hint 2
Compare the worry about visitors with the attendance record. What conclusion follows from those two details?
Step-by-step
Compare the worry with the results
Step 1Find the early expectation
The opening sentence says skeptics worried that almost no one would visit. For this inference question, put their expectation in a few words: they expected very little visitor interest. How can we test that expectation? The later attendance record will tell us whether what happened matched the worry.
- Step 2
Read the attendance record
Park reports that attendance has grown steadily every year since its opening. How did those visits compare with expectations? They were outpacing projections even after ticket prices were raised, so more people came than expected, and the higher prices didn't reverse the growth.
- Step 3
Draw the supported conclusion
What follows from the difference between the worry and the results? The skeptics expected almost no visitors, but steady growth beyond forecasts shows they were wrong about visitor interest. The choice saying the initial skepticism about visitor interest was misplaced draws that conclusion from the facts: misplaced means mistaken or not well founded. Choice D.