What should you find in the passage?
FNEGE includes locating information and accurately summarizing it in Reading Comprehension. This Upsilar workshop practices those skills with two fictional scenarios. The labels “stated,” “inferred,” and “added” are our reading tool, not an official classification of question types.
An explicit fact can be paraphrased in different words. An inference connects information in the passage without adding a new assumption. An added claim requires outside knowledge, a presumed cause, or a generalization the passage does not provide. The claim may be true in the real world; that does not make it justified here.
For each statement, identify its subject, degree of certainty, and scope. “Some people” does not mean “the residents.” An observation over six weeks does not necessarily describe the whole year. Then find the sentence or sequence of sentences that supports the answer precisely.
What can you infer from a new attendance pattern?
Read the passage without using your own experience of libraries to explain people’s behavior. The explanation relies only on the information provided.
Texte fictif : « Pendant six semaines, une bibliothèque a fermé à 19 heures au lieu de 18 heures le mardi. Des visiteurs ont utilisé ce créneau supplémentaire. Parmi eux, certains déclarent être venus auparavant le mardi avant 18 heures. Le nombre total de prêts du mardi est resté stable. Chaque visiteur peut emprunter plusieurs livres ou n’en emprunter aucun. » Quelle conclusion est justifiée ?
Choose an answer.
The solution, step by step
Stable borrowing totals alone do not show that the number of visitors is stable.
The method in action
- Stable borrowing totals are stated directly. The passage also says that each visitor may borrow different numbers of books; it establishes no fixed relationship between loans and visits.
- It follows that an unchanged total of loans does not determine the number of visitors. For example, 20 loans could represent 10 people borrowing two books each or 20 people borrowing one book each. These cases illustrate the inference; they are not counts reported in the passage.
- The passage contradicts the first choice: some visitors during the new period had already visited on Tuesdays before 6 p.m. It also does not support a general preference. Visiting after 6 p.m. does not by itself show a preference. The third choice contradicts the stable loan total; the fifth claims visitor numbers stayed stable, which the passage does not establish.
How far can a measurement support a conclusion?
The second passage asks you to preserve the limits of an observation. A cautious statement may be the most precise when it matches exactly what was measured.
Texte fictif : « Deux bâtiments comparables ont été observés durant trois après-midi ensoleillés. La surface du toit végétalisé était moins chaude que celle du toit non végétalisé. L’étude n’a mesuré ni la température intérieure ni la consommation énergétique. » Quelle affirmation découle du passage ?
Choose an answer.
The solution, step by step
Under the observed conditions, the surface of the green roof was cooler.
The method in action
- This answer preserves what was measured—the roof surface—and limits the conclusion to the observations described.
- Because indoor temperatures were not measured, you cannot conclude that the interior was cooler. You also cannot conclude that it was not cooler.
- The passage provides no information about bills, winter conditions, or whether the effect persists. Those claims require additional information.
The pitfall
Treating missing information as a disproof
“The passage does not say X is true” does not mean “the passage says X is false.” In the second exercise, the energy effect remains undetermined. The passage rules out a conclusion about the effect, not the effect itself.
Also watch for statements that start accurately and then add an explanation. “Loans are stable because visitors are borrowing fewer books” combines a fact from the first passage with an invented cause. One unsupported part can make the entire statement incorrect.
How can you learn from an overinterpretation?
In your review, underline the word that goes beyond the text: “all,” “always,” “necessarily,” or “because of.” Then rewrite the statement in a form the passage supports. This turns a vague reading mistake into a specific issue of scope or causation.
When two answers seem similar, compare how much each one claims. The one that asserts more requires more evidence. Choose based on the passage and instructions, not automatically on the longer or more convincing wording.
Key takeaways
- An answer must stay within the scope of the evidence in the passage.
- What is not established is not necessarily false.
- Look for the word that adds a generalization, certainty, or cause.