How to use evidence from a passage to support, predict and conclude
TEAS 7 outline: Use textual evidence to predict, infer and conclude
Also covers HESI A2 Reading (Supporting details)
- Evidence is a detail in the passage that makes a claim more likely true.
- A sentence that only repeats the claim is not evidence for it.
- Restate the claim, predict what proof looks like, then test each option.
- A supported conclusion usually combines two or more details.
- Keep the passage's limits: words like may, most, and some.
Key facts
- Evidence is a fact, number, example or observation in the passage that makes a claim more likely to be true.
- The best supporting sentence does the proving work; a sentence that only repeats the claim is not evidence for it.
- An inference is an unstated idea that follows logically from details in the passage; it is not a guess and not your opinion.
Show all 6 key factsShow fewer
- A supported conclusion usually combines two or more details from the passage.
- A good prediction follows the passage's cause-and-effect pattern; signal words include because, so, therefore and as a result.
- Qualifiers such as may, most and some limit a claim; the right answer keeps the same limits as the passage.
Quick check1 question · 2 more at the end
Small Moves in the Staff Cafeteria
Last fall, the wellness committee at Riverside Medical Center tried an experiment in the staff cafeteria. The committee did not change any prices or remove any foods. Instead, it moved bottled water into the cooler beside the cash registers, where sugary sodas had always been, and moved the sodas to a cooler at the back of the room. It also placed a basket of whole fruit at each register.
The cafeteria's sales records tell the story. In the three months before the change, water made up about 30 percent of bottled drinks sold; in the three months after, about 45 percent. Fruit sales nearly doubled, while sales of chips, which stayed on their usual rack, did not change.
Not everyone noticed the experiment. In a short survey, most staff members said they had not realized that anything had been moved. Several night-shift workers, however, complained that the back cooler is locked after 10 p.m., so they cannot buy soda at all during their breaks.
The committee plans to present the results to hospital leaders next month. Its members believe that where food is placed may influence choices as much as what it costs. They caution, however, that three months is a short time and that some of the change might fade once the new setup becomes familiar.
Which sentence from the passage best supports the claim that the new layout changed what staff members bought?
Correct answer: C.
The best supporting evidence for a claim about buying is a measurement of buying. The sales figures compare water's share of drink sales before and after the change, which is direct proof that purchases shifted. Background details, survey answers about awareness, and the committee's own beliefs do not show what people bought.
A This describes how the experiment was set up; it says nothing about whether purchases changed.
B This is evidence about whether staff noticed the change, not about what they bought.
C Correct: before-and-after sales numbers directly show that drink purchases shifted toward water.
D This restates the committee's opinion, which is a claim, not evidence that proves it.
Full lesson
Each part starts with its main idea. Open a part when you want the details.
The short answer: Textual evidence is the specific sentence or detail in a passage that makes a claim more likely to be true. To choose it, restate the claim, predict what proof would look like, and test each option. For conclusions and predictions, combine two or more details and choose the answer that needs the smallest leap beyond what the passage actually says.
1 What counts as textual evidence?Textual evidence is a specific detail from the passage that makes a claim more likely to be true. 1 min
Textual evidence is a specific detail from the passage that makes a claim more likely to be true. A claim is the point being argued. Evidence is the fact, number, example or observation that backs it up.
Evidence must come from the text you are given. If you need outside knowledge to make an answer work, it is not textual evidence.
| Question asks you to… | What you are looking for |
|---|---|
| Choose the best support | The sentence that proves the claim |
| Draw a conclusion | An idea two or more details add up to |
| Predict an outcome | The next step the passage's pattern points to |
2 How do you pick the sentence that best supports a claim?Decide what the proof should look like before you read the choices. 1 min
Decide what the proof should look like before you read the choices. Then the right answer is easy to recognize.
- Restate the claim in a few plain words.
- Predict the proof: a number, an example, a result.
- Test each choice: if this sentence is true, is the claim more likely?
- Reject choices that repeat the claim, are about something else, or point the other way.
3 What does that look like on a real text?Work the four steps on a short original example, and notice what each wrong choice is missing. 1 min
Work the four steps on a short original example, and notice what each wrong choice is missing.
In March, a hospital unit mounted a hand-sanitizer dispenser beside the door of every patient room. Over the next two months, the unit went through about twice as much sanitizer as before. Trained observers found that staff cleaned their hands at about 8 in 10 room entries, up from about 6 in 10. Rooms whose dispensers were often found empty showed no change.
Claim: the door dispensers improved staff hand cleaning.
- Restate: dispensers led to more hand cleaning by staff.
- Predict: a before-and-after measure of staff behavior.
- Test: "about 8 in 10 room entries, up from about 6 in 10" measures exactly that.
- Reject: "twice as much sanitizer" is weaker, since visitors or patients may have used it too. The empty-dispenser sentence is about rooms where nothing changed.
The empty-dispenser detail still matters for conclusions. Rooms without working dispensers did not improve, which supports the idea that the dispensers, not something else, made the difference.
4 How do you draw a conclusion or predict an outcome?Combine two or more details, then choose the answer that needs the smallest leap. 1 min
Combine two or more details, then choose the answer that needs the smallest leap. An inference is an idea the passage does not state outright but its details logically lead to. It is never just a guess.
- Turn details into "if, then" statements. If a full dispenser is at the door and staff clean their hands more, then refilling the empty ones should help those rooms too.
- Follow the cause and effect. Signal words such as because, so, therefore and as a result show the pattern a prediction should continue.
- Keep the passage's limits. If the text says "may" or "most," an answer saying "always" or "all" goes too far.
From the dispenser text, a fair prediction is that keeping every dispenser full would raise hand cleaning in the rooms that showed no change. Claiming staff will now clean their hands at every single entry is an overreach.
5 Which wrong answers look most tempting?Most wrong choices are real details or reasonable ideas that simply fail to prove the point asked about. 1 min
Most wrong choices are real details or reasonable ideas that simply fail to prove the point asked about.
| Trap | Why it fails |
|---|---|
| Repeats the claim | Says the same thing, proves nothing |
| True but off target | Real detail, different point |
| Outside knowledge | Might be true, but not in the passage |
| Extreme leap | Always, never, all, or an unstated cause |
Common mistakes
The traps students fall into most. Read these before you practice.
Watch out: Restating the claim, not proving it: a sentence that says the same thing in other words is not support.
Watch out: True but off target: a real detail from the passage that is about a different point than the claim.
Watch out: Outside knowledge, not the passage: an answer that may be true in real life but is not supported by the text.
Watch out: Too big a leap: always, never, all, or a cause the passage never states turns a fair conclusion into an overreach.
Watch out: Half the evidence: an answer that ignores a detail pointing the other way, such as a caution or exception.
How to remember it
Ask "Claim, Proof, Leap?" every time you face an evidence, inference or prediction question. Name the claim, find the proof, and keep the leap small.
Self-check:
- In the dispenser text, why is the observers' count stronger support than the amount of sanitizer used?
- Write one conclusion from the dispenser text that uses two details.
- Rewrite "Dispensers always make staff clean their hands" so the passage would support it.