NBT Academic Literacy: Inference and Implied Meaning Flashcards

Passage: "The conference on urban poverty attracted scholars from fourteen countries. The opening address lasted forty minutes and covered historical context. When the floor was opened, delegates from affected communities waited in vain for the panel to acknowledge their raised hands." What does this passage imply about the conference?

Answer: Those with lived experience of poverty were marginalised in discussions about it

Community delegates being ignored while academics dominate implies the very people affected by poverty were excluded from the conversation about it.

Passage: "The scientist submitted her findings three times to the journal over two years. Each time she received reviewer comments calling for 'further research.' She published the paper in a competing journal, where it was downloaded 50,000 times in the first month." What can be inferred about the original journal's repeated rejections?

Answer: The rejections may have reflected the journal's resistance to the findings rather than their quality

Repeated vague rejections followed by extraordinary public uptake upon publication elsewhere implies the original journal may have been biased rather than evaluating quality objectively.

Passage: "The new shopping centre was built adjacent to the informal settlement, yet the entry points were designed to face the highway rather than the settlement's pathways." What does the design imply?

Answer: The shopping centre was not intended to serve residents of the informal settlement

Deliberately orienting access away from the adjacent community implies that community's exclusion was intentional in the design.

Passage: "Every time a new public sculpture is unveiled in the city centre, the mayor delivers a speech about 'investing in our community's identity.' The sculpture unveiled last week cost 4 million rand. The city's public libraries have been closed for three years due to budget cuts." What does the author most likely want the reader to infer?

Answer: The city's stated community values are contradicted by how it allocates resources

Juxtaposing expensive public art with library closures implies the city's 'community investment' rhetoric is contradicted by its actual spending priorities.

Passage: "The medication had passed all required clinical trials. The package insert listed 47 potential side effects. Sales representatives focused their presentations exclusively on the drug's efficacy data." What can be inferred about the sales representatives' approach?

Answer: They prioritised information that would encourage prescriptions over complete transparency

Presenting only efficacy data while ignoring 47 listed side effects implies a selective strategy aimed at maximising prescriptions rather than informing fully.

Passage: "Students who completed the optional after-school reading programme showed a 30% improvement in their academic literacy scores. Participation was free, but the programme ran from 15:00 to 17:00 on weekdays." What barrier to participation does the passage imply?

Answer: Students from working families may be unable to attend due to domestic or work responsibilities after school

The timing detail implies that students who care for younger siblings or work part-time after school would be excluded, raising an equity concern.

Passage: "The biography of the industrialist described his rise from poverty to wealth, and called him 'a self-made man who built his empire through sheer determination.' It did not mention the interest-free loan from his father-in-law or the government contracts his company received in its first year." What is the author of the passage implying?

Answer: The biography presents a misleading account by omitting key factors in the industrialist's success

The passage highlights the omission of crucial advantages to imply that the 'self-made' narrative obscures the real sources of success.