Inferences about views | Quick guide (article) | Khan Academy

Comparative Reading variants

You will often encounter questions on comparative reading sets that ask you to draw an inference about views. Sometimes these questions will ask you to determine what the author of one passage would think about a point made in the other passage:

• “If the author of passage A were to read passage B, he or she would be most likely to agree with which one of the following?”

Here, the strategy is the same as for a single-passage inference about views question, with the added task of having to “”compare the two authors’ views** on the given topic.

You’ll also frequently encounter questions that ask you what the two authors would agree or disagree on:

• It is most likely that the authors of the two passages would both agree with which one of the following statements?

Your task is to find the common ground in their viewpoints.

Remember, passages in comparative reading sets are always paired for a reason—they deal with the same or closely related topics, and the authors usually have dissimilar viewpoints. Sometimes their viewpoints will be in direct opposition, but usually the relationship between the viewpoints is more nuanced than that. The authors often agree on some basic points while disagreeing on others. Sometimes they draw different conclusions from the same facts, or recommend different plans-of-action. Sometimes one argues in favor of a conventional theory, while the other advocates a newer alternative.

Whatever the relationship is, it’s important to understand the nuances of the two authors’ respective viewpoints before answering these questions.