simran2007 wrote:
Hi Carscass,
Could you please explain what the question below means?
It can be inferred from the passage that in animals less intelligent than the mammals discussed in the passage
I would like to know what it means in plain simple English, if you could rephrase it for me, it would be helpful.
Thank You..
In the GRE the phrase "inferred from the passage" means "found in the passage", 90% of the time. In the real world, the term "inferred" means "deduced". For example, "from the sound of the fire engine, I inferred that there is a fire raging somewhere". But the GRE is not the real world and the word "inferred", should be translated as "found".
So the above question can be paraphrased as
It can be found in the passage that in animals less intelligent than the mammals discussed in the passage OR
According to the passage in animals less intelligent than the mammals discussed in the passage However, in 10% of the instances "inferred" does mean "deduced".
So your plan of action should be, to first look in the passage to find the answer, and if you can't find it, then and only then, deduce from the information given in the passage, to come to a conclusion that is not obvious from the passage.