Today on Inside the TOEFL Test,

we're going inside the TOEFL iBT Listening section.

Specifically, the inference questions.

Inference questions ask the listener

to show an understanding of the meaning of something

when it is not directly stated in the lecture or conversation.

You can recognize inference questions

because they use phrases like

"What are the implications of ...?",

"What does the professor imply...?"

or "What can be inferred...?"

Let's look at a sample question from a literature lecture about

detective novels, including a famous one called The Moonstone.

First, here is an excerpt from the lecture:

PROFESSOR: Um, so in The Moonstone, as I said,

uh, Collins did much to establish the conventions

of the detective genre.

Uh, I'm not gonna go into the plot at length,

but, you know, the basic setup is ...

um, there's this diamond of great uh ..

of great value, uh, a country house,

uh, the diamond mysteriously disappears

in the middle of the night,

um, the local police are brought in,

in an attempt to solve the crime,

and they mess it up completely, uh,

and then the true hero of the book arrives.

That's Sergeant Cuff.

Now, Cuff, this extraordinarily important character um ...

well, let me try to give you a sense of who Sergeant Cuff is,

by first describing the regular police.

And uh this is the dynamic that you're going to see

throughout the history of the detective novel,

um, where you have the regular cops-who are well-meaning,

but officious and bumblingly inept-and uh they are countered

by a figure who's eccentric, analytical, brilliant, and ...

and able to solve the crime.

So, uh first the regular police get called in

to solve the mystery-

Um, in this case, detective, uh, Superintendent Seegrave.

When Superintendent Seegrave comes in,

uh he orders his minions around, uh they bumble,

and they actually make a mess of the investigation,

uh which you'll see repeated-

um, you'll see this pattern repeated,

particularly in the Sherlock Holmes stories

of a few years later where, uh, Inspector Lestrade,

this well-meaning idiot, is always countered, uh,

by Sherlock Holmes, who's a genius.

MICHAEL: Now, let's look at the question.

NARRATOR: What does the professor imply

when he says this:

PROFESSOR: Well, let me try to give you a sense of

who Sergeant Cuff is, by first describing the regular police.

MICHAEL: We can see that this is an inference question

because it uses the word "imply" and asks the listener

to understand the meaning of something

that is not directly stated by the professor.

When the professor says this:

PROFESSOR: Well, let me try to give you a sense of

who Sergeant Cuff is, by first describing the regular police.

MICHAEL: He is hinting that there is a difference

between the behavior of the regular police

and that of Sergeant Cuff.

This contrast is supported in other parts of the passage.

For example, the speaker describes the regular police

as "bumblingly inept."

He also says it is common in detective novels for them

to be countered by a specific character,

in this case Sergeant Cuff, who is "brilliant".

Taken together, we can see that the best answer is A,

Sergeant Cuff is unlike the regular police in The Moonstone.

Here's a tip for improving your listening skills:

Listen to recordings of two speakers

with different viewpoints

about the same topic.

What words do the speakers use to support their ideas?

Are the words mainly positive or negative?

Then look at how they imply positive or negative ideas

without saying them directly.

There are lots of ways to improve your English skills.

Whatever you do, keep practicing.

And good luck on your TOEFL test.