Passage Analysis & Inference
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Reading Strategy & "Must Be True"
Before the passage: read all attached questions. Know what to look for.
During the passage: annotate mentally — where is the main claim? Where does it shift to a counterargument?
Answering inference questions: only what the passage directly states or clearly implies. No external knowledge.
⚡ The correct answer to "must be true" questions is almost always a paraphrase of a specific sentence — not a logical extension, not a reasonable inference from general knowledge. Just the text.
Worked example
HFT passage (Q1 in the question bank): "Proponents argue... institutional and retail investors benefit from reduced explicit transaction costs." Question: what benefit do proponents claim? Answer B: "Reduction of explicit transaction costs for investors." — direct paraphrase of the text. Wrong trap: option C ("guaranteeing permanent liquidity") — the passage says liquidity is 'phantom' and withdraws during crises. The proponents don't claim permanence.
Exam strategy
Focus on understanding underlying concepts — exam questions test application, not memorization.
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