Little confusion regarding INFERENCE questions in CR & RC

Hi Prajat,

Yes, inferences can come in different 'forms' on Test Day, depending on the type of question, the content and the complexity of the wording of the prompt.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hey Prajat,

Just understand this: Inference is something that needs to be derived.
Usually you will have to find the inference that is not stated in the passage or the CR prompt.
Can you give an example, where inference is merely a restatement of the premise?

OptimusPrepJanielle

Hi,

As I have mentioned, in CR questions, we need to derive the inferences based on the given premise(s).

But in RC, I have found that inference can be a RESTATEMENT of the facts in the passage.
Here is an example of the same:

PASSAGE
Defined as an aggregate measure of production equal to the sum of the gross values added of all resident institutional
units engaged in production, plus taxes, and minus any subsidies on products not included in the value of their outputs,
GDP is a basic standard to measure the standard of living in a country and in turn the economic well-being of the
population. However, critics are of the opinion that national GDP figures do not reveal significant regional variations in
output, employment, and incomes per head of population. They justly contend that within each region there are areas of
relative prosperity contrasting with unemployment black-spots and deep-rooted social and economic deprivation and that GDP
figures on their own do not represent the distribution of income and the uneven spread of financial wealth.


The idea that rising national prosperity can still be accompanied by rising relative poverty is the opening line, and
rightly so, of the argument that critics present against the use of GDP as a measure of the general well-being of the
population of a region. Changes such as increase in pollution and other negative externalities can accompany rising
national output. Also, output figures reflect nothing but little on the quality of goods and services produced. Not to
mention that the quality of life for many could be severely diminished if the increase in national output has been achieved
at the expense of the leisure time of the workers working longer than usual hours.

QUESTION
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A.In countries where there is little disparity in the distribution of wealth, GDP is the best measure of standard of living.
B.Increase in pollution and other negative changes negate any increase in national output.
C.An increase in the overall goods produced by a nation does not on its own signify a corresponding increase in the quality of these goods.
D.The quality of life suffers when workers work more than their regular hours.
E.A country with a high GDP is very likely to have uneven spread of financial wealth.

--------->> The official answer is (C) An increase in the overall goods produced by a nation does not on its own signify a corresponding increase in the quality of these goods

This is simply a restatement of the second last statement of the passage
"Also, output figures reflect nothing but little on the quality of goods and services produced."


-------> So, in this case INFERENCE is a RESTATEMENT of a given fact.
If you look at the other options, you will find that each one of those are flawed.

Hey Prajat,

In this case, indeed inference is a re-statement of the words in the paragraph
For this question, we conclude that quantity does not affect the quality and that is what is written in the option C.

So, yes the inference can come in different forms based on the question.