Worked examples
Two examples
Example 1
A passage written for this example
Which conclusion does the passage support?A. After 1914, no ship ever sailed around Cape Horn again.The Panama Canal opened on August 15, 1914. Before it, a ship sailing from New York to San Francisco had to go all the way around Cape Horn, at the southern tip of South America. The canal cut nearly 8,000 miles off that trip. A French company had tried to build a canal in Panama in the 1880s and failed, defeated by poor planning and by diseases carried by mosquitoes. The United States took over the work in 1904 and finished it ten years later.
B. The canal made voyages by sea between the East and West Coasts of the United States much shorter.
C. The French finished the canal in 1904.
D. The canal was the hardest building project in history.
- A conclusion is not stated in the passage. It follows from what is stated, and it claims no more than that.
- What does the passage state? Before the canal, a ship from New York to San Francisco went around Cape Horn. The canal cut nearly 8,000 miles off that trip.
- New York is on the East Coast and San Francisco on the West. So the canal made sea voyages between the coasts much shorter. That is B.
- A goes too far. The passage says the canal cut the trip; it never says no ship ever went around Cape Horn again. Watch for words like no, never, every, all.
- C contradicts the passage: the French failed, and the United States took over in 1904.
- D is not supported: the passage never compares the canal with other projects.
Answer: B
Example 2
A passage written for this example
Which conclusion does the passage support?A. A voter’s second choice can count if the first choice is dropped.In 2019, New York City voters approved a change in the way the city chooses its candidates. Since 2021, in primary elections and special elections for city offices, voters may rank up to five candidates in order, from first choice to fifth. If no candidate wins more than half of the first-choice votes, the candidate in last place is dropped. Each ballot for that candidate then goes to the voter’s next choice. The counting goes on, round by round, until one candidate has more than half of the votes still being counted. About 73 percent of the voters approved the change.
B. A candidate must win more than half of the first-choice votes, or no one wins.
C. Ranked voting is used in every election in New York State.
D. Most voters rank all five candidates.
- Start from what the passage states: if no one has more than half, the last-place candidate is dropped, and each ballot for that candidate goes to the voter’s next choice.
- So if a voter’s first choice is dropped, the ballot moves to the second choice, and the second choice counts. That is A. It is never said in those words, but it follows.
- B contradicts the passage: when no one has more than half, the counting goes on in rounds until someone does.
- C goes too far: the passage says city primaries and special elections, not every election in the state.
- D is not supported: the passage says voters may rank up to five. It says nothing about how many most voters rank.
Answer: A
Where this is taught: Skills Quiz 1, Reading a passage: First, the idea · Skills Quiz 1: the worked example · Skills Diagnostic, Part 1
In your Kaplan book: Unit 3, Chapter 1, Lesson 1: Determine Central Idea and Draw Conclusions · Map of the Terrain, topic 1: Reading a passage
The drill
Ten questions
How many:
Read what is in the box first. Then tap your answer; a few questions ask you to choose words from a drop-down instead, the way the GED test does. Press Check my answers at the bottom.Read what is in the box first. Circle your answer; where there are brackets, circle the choice that fits. The answer key, with the reasoning, is on the last page.