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Learn to build airtight conclusions anchored in the words on the page, not guesswork.
The ability to draw conclusions from written text is one of the oldest and most essential intellectual skills. Ancient Greek philosophers like Aristotle formalized logical reasoning — the practice of moving from specific observations to broader truths. In the centuries that followed, scholars in law, science, and literature all relied on the same fundamental skill: reading carefully, identifying relevant evidence, and arriving at defensible conclusions. Today, standardized tests like the ISEE measure this skill because it is the foundation of critical thinking in every academic discipline.
On the ISEE, every correct answer can be justified by something in the passage. The test is not checking whether you know outside facts — it is checking whether you can read carefully, connect ideas, and reach a logical conclusion. This lesson will teach you exactly how to do that, step by step.
Drawing a conclusion means taking what the author has stated or strongly implied and arriving at a judgment that logically follows. On the ISEE, you will encounter questions that ask things like "Based on the passage, the reader can conclude that..." or "The passage suggests that..." These questions are testing whether you can move beyond what is literally written to what the text strongly supports. Let's break this skill into its core principles.
The diagram below illustrates the step-by-step process you should follow every time you encounter a conclusion question on the ISEE. Notice that the process starts with the question itself, then moves through the passage, and only arrives at an answer after evidence has been gathered and evaluated. This is the opposite of what many students do — picking an answer that "sounds right" and then trying to justify it afterward.
The most important steps in this process are Steps 2 and 5 — both require you to physically locate words in the passage. Many students skip this, relying on a general impression of the passage instead. On the ISEE, general impressions lead to trap answers. Specific evidence leads to correct answers.
To understand how drawing conclusions works on the ISEE, you need to distinguish between three levels of comprehension. The first level is explicit information — facts directly stated in the passage. The second level is inference — something strongly implied but not directly stated. The third level is conclusion — a judgment you form by combining multiple pieces of evidence or inferences. Conclusion questions on the ISEE operate at the second and third levels.
| Level | What It Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Explicit | Stated directly in the passage | "The experiment took place in 1952." |
| Inference | Strongly implied by one or two details | "The lab was equipped with the latest instruments" → The researchers had adequate funding. |
| Conclusion | A broader judgment combining multiple inferences or evidence | Combining funding evidence + positive tone + description of results → The author views the experiment as a success. |
Conclusion questions on the ISEE use specific language patterns. Look for these key phrases in the question stem: "Based on the passage, the reader can conclude...", "The passage suggests that...", "It can be inferred from the passage that...", "Which of the following is best supported by the passage?", or "The author would most likely agree that..." All of these require you to go beyond literal details and arrive at a logical next step.
Think of building a conclusion as forging a chain. Each link in the chain is a piece of textual evidence. If even one link is missing — if you cannot find the text to support it — the chain breaks, and the conclusion falls apart. On the ISEE, wrong answers often look reasonable but are missing a link. Your job is to test every answer choice by tracing its chain back to the passage.
The ISEE is carefully designed, and its wrong answer choices are not random — they are crafted to attract students who are rushing or reasoning loosely. Understanding the most common trap patterns will help you avoid them. At the same time, learning to spot evidence signals — the words and phrases that authors use to guide your understanding — will help you find the right answer more quickly.
Pay special attention to the "Too Extreme" trap — it is the most common one on the ISEE. If a passage says that a scientist "contributed significantly" to a discovery, a wrong answer might claim the scientist was "solely responsible." The shift from "contributed significantly" to "solely responsible" is exactly the kind of exaggeration that test-makers use to lure careless readers. Always compare the strength of the answer choice's language against the strength of the passage's language.
Let's walk through a complete example. Read the following short passage, then follow the five-step process to answer the conclusion question.
Question: Based on the passage, the reader can conclude that the transition to solar energy in Greenfield is—
Students typically use one of several approaches when answering conclusion questions. Some approaches are much more reliable than others. The table below compares the most common strategies so you can adopt the strongest ones and abandon the weakest.
| Approach | How It Works | Reliability on ISEE |
|---|---|---|
| Gut Feeling | Pick the answer that "sounds right" without returning to the passage | Low — easily misled by trap answers |
| Memory Scan | Try to remember the passage from the first read, then choose | Medium — memory is unreliable under pressure |
| Keyword Matching | Look for answer choices that reuse exact words from the passage | Medium — test-makers reuse words in wrong answers too |
| Evidence Tracing | Return to the passage, find specific evidence, and match it to answer choices | High — directly tests what the ISEE rewards |
| Elimination + Confirmation | Systematically eliminate unsupported choices, then confirm the remaining one with evidence | Very High — combines two strong strategies |
The ISEE Upper Level may include paired passages — two shorter texts on related topics. Conclusion questions on paired passages often ask you to synthesize information across both texts. For example, you might be asked what both authors would agree on, or what conclusion the evidence from both passages supports. The core skill is the same — trace evidence — but now you need to trace it across two sources.
| Skill | Single Passage | Paired Passages |
|---|---|---|
| Finding Evidence | Locate evidence in one text | Locate evidence in both texts and compare |
| Drawing Conclusions | Combine evidence within one passage | Combine evidence across passages; identify areas of agreement or conflict |
| Trap Awareness | Watch for extreme or unsupported choices | Also watch for answers supported by only one passage when the question asks about both |
| Author Perspective | Identify one author's viewpoint | Compare two authors' perspectives and find where they overlap or diverge |
As you advance in your ISEE preparation, you will also encounter questions that require recognizing author bias and rhetorical strategies. A conclusion question might ask what the author's purpose is or what persuasive technique is being used. These questions still follow the same evidence-tracing principle: identify specific language choices (loaded words, appeals to emotion, expert citations) and draw a supported conclusion about the author's strategy.
For the following questions, read the passage excerpt carefully and select the answer best supported by the text. Remember: trace each answer back to specific evidence in the passage.
Drawing conclusions on the ISEE requires you to move beyond what is explicitly stated and arrive at a judgment that is logically supported by textual evidence. Follow the five-step pathway: read the question, locate evidence in the passage, determine what the evidence implies, eliminate unsupported or extreme answer choices, and confirm your answer by pointing to specific words in the text. Watch out for the five major traps — too extreme, outside knowledge, reversed logic, wrong scope, and emotionally appealing — and favor answers that use moderate language, match the passage's tone, and are directly anchored in the text.
For paired passages, apply the same evidence-tracing method to both texts and ensure your conclusion is supported by evidence from each passage independently. The most reliable strategy combines evidence tracing with process of elimination. Practice this approach until it becomes second nature, and you will tackle conclusion questions on the ISEE with speed and confidence. Remember: there is no penalty for wrong answers, so always select your best choice — but let the text guide you there.