Lab Activity 51: Inferences: Educated Guesses

Chapter 11: Inferences
Lab Activity 51: Inferences: Educated Guesses

Objective
To draw logical conclusions based on inferences from the details presented.

Step 2: Read the passage from The Read-Aloud Handbook, and then answer the questions that follow.

1 In exactly the same way that the child is conditioned by a soothing tone of voice to expect calmness and security, so, too, can the child be conditioned to the sound of the reading voice. Over a period of months the child will recognize it as an unthreatening sound, one that is associated with warmth, attention, and pretty pictures, and he will gravitate naturally to that sound.

2 Dorothy Butler demonstrates this thesis in Cushla and Her Books, where the parents began reading aloud to Cushla Yoeman at 4 months of age. By 9 months the child was able to respond to the sight of certain books and convey to her parents that these were her favorites. By age 5 she had taught herself to read.

3 What makes Cushla's story so dramatic is the fact that she was born with chromosome damage which caused deformities of the spleen, kidney, and mouth cavity. It also produced muscle spasms-which prevented her from sleeping for more than two hours a night or holding anything in her hand until she was 3 years old-and hazy vision beyond her fingertips.

4 Until she was 3, the doctors diagnosed Cushla as "mentally and physically retarded" and recommended that she be institutionalized. Her parents, after seeing her early responses to books, refused; instead, they put her on a dose of fourteen read-aloud books a day. By age 5 the psychologists found her to be well above average in intelligence and a socially well-adjusted child.

—Trelease, The Read-Aloud Handbook, 5th ed., p. 31

5. The topic of the selection is

a. the inaccuracy of medical diagnoses.

b. unusual genetic defects.

c. the importance of proper prenatal care.

d. the benefits of reading aloud.

6. Paragraph 1 presents what kind of thought pattern?

a. definition and example

b. contrast

c. comparison

d. cause and effect

7. Which sentence best states the central point of this selection?

a. In exactly the same way that the child is conditioned by a soothing tone of voice to expect calmness and security, so, too, can the child be conditioned to the sound of the reading voice.

b. Children who hear strange sounds grow up fearful of strangers.

c. The reading voice must always be by the same person in order for the child to develop a love of books.

d. Reading aloud can create early development in walking and talking.

8. How many examples in paragraph 2 support the thesis of the selection?

a. one

b. two

c. three

d. four

9. What inference can you make about Cushla's parents?

a. They were optimistic, diligent people who wanted to find a solution.

b. Their culture did not allow for the institutionalization of infants.

c. They had previous experience with handicapped children.

d. The experience of having a handicapped child put a strain on their relationship which would ultimately result in a divorce.

10. The conclusion a reader can infer from the selection is

a. Cushla Yoeman's handicaps were not as bad as the doctors initially believed.

b. Parents could help their children accomplish a great deal simply by reading aloud to them beginning in infancy.

c. Cushla Yoeman's parents should have institutionalized their daughter at birth.

d. The problem with schools today is poor teaching, not poor parenting skills.