An inference question tests whether you can use the text's clues to fill in a missing idea. Read the words before the blank to see whether it needs a reason or a conclusion. If a prediction is followed by because, ask what earlier fact could explain it. Put the clues in a few words and predict a reason with as few added ideas as possible. A believable reason still needs support from the text, so don't add facts the passage never gives.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read the final sentence and identify what the blank must explain.
- Hint 2
Compare what the library used to charge with what it changed last month. How could the fee policy change affect someone's decision to visit?
Step-by-step
Link the fee change to visits
Step 1Find the change and the prediction
The library permanently eliminated these fees and forgave all outstanding balances after decades of charging late fees. What does the blank ask us to explain? The final sentence predicts that the number of visitors to the library will soon rise and asks why, so the missing reason needs to connect the new fee policy to more visits.
- Step 2
Predict a small reason
Why might a visitor respond to this change? When the library charged small late fees for overdue materials, a late return could leave someone owing money. A visitor with unpaid fees might hesitate to come back, and another late return could add more charges. Removing old balances and ending future fees means the policy removes a possible reason to stay away.
- Step 3
Connect the reason to more visits
The phrase patrons will feel more welcome gives the next link: people who feel welcome may be more willing to visit. By connecting that feeling to the end of late fees, the choice turns the new policy into a reason for the predicted increase. Choice B.