In this guide
"Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?" is one of the most common question stems in CLAT English, and one of the most commonly missed. The difficulty is not the reading. It is judgement: how far can you go beyond the words on the page before you have gone too far?
This guide gives you a test that settles that question, the traps that catch most candidates, and two original passages to practise on.
What an inference is
An inference is something the passage does not state directly but clearly implies. In CLAT, the correct inference is strongly supported by the text. It is close to "must be true", given what the passage says.
It is not:
- a restatement of a line (that is a detail question, although some easy inference answers are close paraphrases)
- a reasonable guess about the world
- something you know from outside the passage
The "must be true" test
For each option, ask: if everything in the passage is true, must this also be true?
If the answer is "yes", it is a strong candidate. If the answer is "it might be", "probably", or "it depends", reject it. There is almost always one option that passes the test cleanly.
The spectrum of support
Every option falls somewhere on this scale.
| Level | Meaning | CLAT verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Stated | The passage says it | Correct for detail questions; sometimes correct for easy inference questions |
| Must be true | Follows necessarily from what is stated | The ideal inference answer |
| Probably true | Likely, but needs an extra assumption | Usually wrong |
| Possible | Could be true; the passage is silent | Wrong |
| Contradicted | The passage says the opposite | Wrong |
Most wrong options sit in the "probably true" and "possible" rows. They feel sensible, which is why they trap careful but hurried readers.
Worked example 1
When a small town introduced a weekly farmers' market, local shopkeepers worried about losing customers. A year later, most reported higher sales on market days, as visitors who came for fresh produce also stopped at nearby shops.
Which of the following can be inferred?
(a) Farmers' markets always help local shops.
(b) Visitors bought nothing at the market.
(c) The town's supermarkets closed.
(d) The shopkeepers' early fear did not match what happened for most of them.
Answer: (d). They feared losing customers; most then reported higher sales. That must be true.
- (a) generalises from one town to "always" and all markets.
- (c) is never mentioned. It is possible at best.
- (b) contradicts the passage, since visitors "came for fresh produce".
Worked example 2
When a district's secondary schools moved their start time from 7.30 am to 8.45 am, many parents objected. Mornings would be rushed, they said, and children would simply stay up later. The district went ahead anyway, and after a year it compared its records with those of the previous year. Late arrivals had fallen by nearly half. Teachers of the first period reported fewer students dozing at their desks. Attendance in the first period rose, while attendance later in the day was unchanged. The district has not yet published the year's examination results, and it cautions that one year of data proves little.
Q1. Which of the following can be inferred?
(a) A smaller share of students arrived late after the change than before it.
(b) The later start time improved students' examination results.
(c) Students went to bed at the same time as before.
(d) All parents now support the later start.
Answer: (a). Late arrivals "had fallen by nearly half", so this must be true.
- (b) cannot be known: the results have not been published. A classic "probably true" trap.
- (c) is not addressed. The parents predicted later bedtimes, but the passage never reports bedtimes.
- (d) is unsupported, and "all" makes it extreme.
Q2. Each of the following can be inferred EXCEPT:
(a) Some parents expected the change to affect when children went to sleep.
(b) The district does not treat the first year's findings as conclusive.
(c) The change raised attendance throughout the school day.
(d) Fewer students appeared sleepy in the first period after the change.
Answer: (c). Only first-period attendance rose; later attendance "was unchanged". So (c) is contradicted.
- (a) follows from "children would simply stay up later".
- (b) follows from "one year of data proves little".
- (d) follows from the teachers' reports.
The traps
- Over-inference: going one step further than the evidence. "Late arrivals fell" does not mean "results improved".
- Outside knowledge: you may know research on school timings, but the question is about this passage.
- Extreme words: "always", "all", "only", "never" usually push an option past the evidence.
- Reversed cause: the passage says A came before B; the option says B caused A.
- Wrong subject: the passage says something about teachers; the option says it about parents.
Inference, assumption and detail
| Question | What you look for |
|---|---|
| Detail | What the passage says |
| Inference | What must follow from what it says |
| Assumption | What the author takes for granted without saying, which the argument needs |
Assumption questions appear more in the logical reasoning section, but knowing the difference keeps you from mixing them up in English.
Practice set
Among the old textile towns of the region, one has done better than the rest. When cheap machine-made cloth flooded the market, most weaving families in the area gave up their looms. In this town, a cooperative of weavers began selling directly to buyers in large cities, first through exhibitions and later online. They kept their traditional patterns but changed their colours and widths to suit city tastes. Today the cooperative's members earn more than they did a decade ago, though fewer young people join than the founders had hoped.
P1. Which of the following can be inferred?
(a) Machine-made cloth disappeared from the region.
(b) The cooperative's recovery involved reaching buyers outside its own town.
(c) Traditional patterns cannot be sold in cities.
(d) Young people in the town have no interest in weaving.
P2. Which of the following goes beyond what the passage supports?
(a) Most weaving families in the area stopped weaving after machine-made cloth arrived.
(b) The cooperative changed some features of its cloth.
(c) The founders hoped more young people would join.
(d) Online selling was the main reason the members' incomes rose.
P3. The final clause about young people suggests that the cooperative's success is:
(a) real but incomplete
(b) a complete failure
(c) caused by young people leaving for better jobs
(d) about to end
Answers:
- (b). It sold "directly to buyers in large cities". (a) is unsupported. (c) is contradicted, since the cooperative kept its patterns and succeeded. (d) is over-inference: "fewer than hoped" is not "no interest".
- (d). The passage lists exhibitions, online sales and design changes, and never ranks them, so "main reason" is over-inference. (a), (b) and (c) are all stated or directly implied.
- (a). Incomes are up, "though" fewer young people join. (b) and (d) ignore the gains. (c) invents a cause the passage never gives.
Practice habit
After each inference question, write down the sentence that supports the correct answer. If you cannot find one, you guessed. Over a few weeks this habit shows exactly where your reading slips.
What to do next
- Do ten inference questions this week using the must-be-true test, and note the level (stated, must be true, probably, possible, contradicted) of every option.
- Practise one EXCEPT question a day by marking options T or F.
- Read main idea and purpose questions and tone and attitude questions next.
A note on dates and numbers. Exam patterns, vacancies and schedules change from year to year. Always confirm the current details in the latest notification on the Consortium of National Law Universities website .
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