HSPT Verbal Skills

HSPT Verbal Skills focuses on enhancing vocabulary, reading comprehension, and verbal reasoning skills essential for success on the HSPT.

Advanced Topics

Critical Reading and Inference

Going Beyond the Words

Critical reading means thinking deeply about what you read. Inference is reading between the lines to figure out what’s not directly stated.

How to Make Inferences

  • Use what you know (your knowledge).
  • Add it to what the text says.
  • Ask, “What is the author hinting at?”

Why It Matters

The HSPT often asks you to infer the author’s purpose, feelings, or what happens next. Being able to infer is a superpower for understanding people, articles, and stories in real life.

Useful in the Real World

Inference helps you read people's emotions, figure out instructions, and spot hidden messages in ads or stories.

Examples

  • You read, 'She grabbed her umbrella before leaving,' and infer it might rain.

  • The author describes a character’s trembling hands, so you infer the character is nervous.

In a Nutshell

Critical reading and inference help you understand ideas that are hinted at, not stated.