What is implied is not always said

Not everything is said outwardly in life. For example, your friend might not say that they like a particular movie (out of embarrassment because it might be considered a child’s movie, like The Trolls movie), but when you go to their house, you may find all these posters that suggests to you that your friend does in fact, like the Trolls movie (although they won’t confirm or deny it).

Writing and text is similar.

Not everything is written. Some things are implied. That means, the writer assumes that you will understand or ‘get them’ when they provide hints or tips.

Questions that require you to provide ‘implied’ information are those with keywords/phrases like:

• implied
• suggest
• ascertain
• interpret
• how does … feel…?

How do you answer such questions?

The key lies in finding ‘hints’ in the text (much like the Trolls posters in your friend’s room).

And…where are the hints? Well, they’re within the words themselves.

To answer these questions, follow the general approach and then locate certain keywords that would lean towards a certain option.

For example, a question like this:

How does Nala feel when Simba runs away?

The answer to this may not be outwardly provided to you, but you can gather how Nala would feel through ‘hints’ in the text. For example, you might get:

• Teary – this is a keyword that suggests sadness.
• Nala felt the sudden urge to vomit – this is a content hint that shows a more violent reaction to the news.
• She paced around the room – this is a content hint that shows worry and desperation.

From these ‘hints’ you’d say that Nala feels shock and worry about the incident.

And then, you’d evaluate among the provided options to get the right answer.

Easy right? With implied questions, start getting hints from:

• Keywords
• Content

But be careful. One keyword or one piece of content doesn’t answer a question. It is many together that ‘lean towards’ a certain option.

Let’s see this in action now.

Example Question/s

Watch video for explanation of the following question/s:

Fort McPherson was left behind at eight in the morning, and three hundred and fifty-seven miles had yet to be traversed before reaching Omaha. The road followed the capricious windings of the southern branch of the Platte River, on its left bank. At nine the train stopped at the important town of North Platte, built between the two arms of the river, which rejoin each other around it and form a single artery, a large tributary, whose waters empty into the Missouri a little above Omaha.

The one hundred and first meridian was passed.

Mr. Fogg and his partners had resumed their game; no one—not even the dummy—complained of the length of the trip. Fix had begun by winning several guineas, which he seemed likely to lose; but he showed himself a not less eager whist-player than Mr. Fogg. During the morning, chance distinctly favoured that gentleman. Trumps and honours were showered upon his hands.

Once, having resolved on a bold stroke, he was on the point of playing a spade, when a voice behind him said, "I should play a diamond."

Extract from Around the World in Eighty Day by Jules Verne.

What game is Mr. Fogg and his partners likely to be playing?

A a traditional card game.
B checkers.
C chess.
D a drawing competition.

Fort McPherson is likely to be a:

A river
B person
C train
D town

What does the presence of the following statement suggest? “The one hundred and first meridian was passed.”

A they have counted one hundred meridians.
B their game score is one hundred and it’s the first time they’ve reached that score.
C progress had been made on their travels.
D the trip was excessively long.

Key Rules to remember

• Words like suggest, implied, ascertain and interpret generally represent ‘implied’ answers. This means, the answer isn’t written down but suggested through hints.
• Look for keyword hints and content hints.
• Remember, to use an on-balance approach – one word doesn’t determine everything or an overall suggestion, it is many words combined that collectively lends itself to one option over another.

Practice time!

Now, it's your turn to practice.

Click on the button below and start your practice questions. We recommend doing untimed mode first, and then, when you're ready, do timed mode.

Every question has two solutions videos after you complete the question. The first is a quick 60 second video that shows you how our expert answers the question quickly. The second video is a more in-depth 5-steps or less explainer video that shows you the steps to take to answer the question. It's really important that you review the second video because that's where you'll learn additional tips and tricks.

Once you're done with the practice questions, move on to the next checkpoint.

Now, let’s get started on your practice questions.