SAT Inference Questions: A Reliable Method
Inference questions ask what must be true based on a passage. Here's how to stay inside the boundaries of what the text actually supports.
Stay on the Passage
The correct inference is always a small logical step from something stated in the passage. If the inference requires outside knowledge or a leap in logic, it's wrong.
Test Each Choice Against the Text
For each answer choice, find the sentence in the passage that proves it. If you can't find one in 15 seconds, that choice is almost certainly wrong.
What to do after reading this
- Turn the article into one action: a bank drill, a timed module, or a score calculation.
- Write down the exact skill or habit you are testing.
- Review the result before reading another guide.
Related SAT guides
- SAT Evidence-Based Questions Strategy
Command of evidence questions ask which quotation best supports a claim. Here is the matching approach that consistently works.
- How to Find the Main Idea on the Digital SAT
Main idea questions test whether you can summarize a passage in one sentence. Here's the fastest, most reliable approach.
Mistakes to avoid
- Reading multiple guides without doing practice between them.
- Using broad practice when the article points to a narrow skill.
- Treating format knowledge as score improvement before testing it under time.
Use this in practice
Practice on 1600.now
Apply what you just read. Run the numbers in the SAT score calculator, take a full Digital SAT module, or drill targeted skills in the question bank.
Post 26 of 52 in the 1600.now Digital SAT blog.