Information and IdeasEasy–MediumInferences (drawing a supported conclusion from a comparison)
Information and Ideas practice question
Sleep researchers surveyed thousands of high school students in districts with different schedules. Students at schools that began classes after 8:30 a.m. reported sleeping, on average, about 40 minutes longer each school night than students at schools that began before 7:45 a.m. Interestingly, the surveys found no meaningful difference between the two groups in the time students reported going to bed on school nights.
Based on the text, what can most reasonably be inferred about the 40-minute difference in sleep?
- A. It occurs mainly because students at later-starting schools wake up later, not because they fall asleep earlier.Correct
- B. It shows that students at earlier-starting schools stay up later than other students do.
- C. It indicates that most high school students need about 40 additional minutes of sleep each night.
- D. It explains why students at later-starting schools earn higher grades than other students.
Answer: A. It occurs mainly because students at later-starting schools wake up later, not because they fall asleep earlier.
Since bedtimes were essentially the same for both groups, the extra sleep must come from the other end of the night—later wake-up times at later-starting schools. (B) contradicts the text, which reports no meaningful bedtime difference; it reflects misreading the comparison. (C) confuses a measured average difference between groups with a biological requirement, an unsupported leap. (D) introduces academic performance, which the text never mentions, and also assumes a causal claim about grades that the data cannot support.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. It shows that students at earlier-starting schools stay up later than other students do.
- The text explicitly reports no meaningful difference in bedtimes between the two groups, so this directly contradicts the passage.
- C. It indicates that most high school students need about 40 additional minutes of sleep each night.
- A 40-minute average difference between two groups isn't a statement about how much sleep students need — that's a leap from measurement to biological requirement.
- D. It explains why students at later-starting schools earn higher grades than other students.
- Grades are never mentioned in the passage, and the sleep data couldn't establish a causal link to academic performance anyway.
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