An inference question about a study tests what you can conclude from groups compared at different ages. Name each group and what it showed at each age, so you don't blend the results. Ask what changed between the groups and what didn't. Then predict a cautious conclusion, and keep the measured skill the same when you put it into words. A pattern in the groups studied doesn't guarantee the same outcome in every case.
Hints
- Hint 1
Separate the sentence into its early and age-seven comparisons. What happened in each group at each age?
- Hint 2
Look for the skill the laboratory tasks measured. That description tells you what you can infer from the later result.
- Hint 3
Check how certain the conclusion can be. How much can results from the children studied tell you about other children?
Step-by-step
Compare each age and stay cautious
Step 1Read the early comparison
The children exposed to two languages reached early speech milestones at the same ages as monolingual children. What does that comparison show? Their first words and two-word combinations weren't delayed, so the early result shows no delay. Since the blank draws a conclusion from both an early and a later result, let's also check what changed at age seven.
- Step 2
Identify the later skill
What did the age-seven tasks actually measure? The children exposed to two languages consistently outperformed their monolingual peers on laboratory tasks measuring cognitive flexibility, which means the ability to shift how you think. The later advantage is in flexible thinking, so the choice about language-based tasks changes the skill the researchers tested.
- Step 3
Predict a cautious conclusion
How strong can the conclusion be when the text says This finding suggests that? A consistent advantage among the children studied doesn't make the outcome certain for every child exposed to two languages. The later benefit is possible, not guaranteed. The choice that guarantees superior cognitive flexibility goes too far because a group result isn't a promise that each child will gain the same advantage.
- Step 4
Match both parts
The phrase delays early speech milestones contradicts at the same ages as monolingual children, so that choice turns the result around. Which wording joins the early finding to a cautious claim about later benefits? The choice with does not hinder early language development and may provide subsequent cognitive benefits covers both findings without promising an outcome for every child. Choice B.