Consider the following statement and choose the option that follows. Statement: The company has decided to switch to renewable energy sources for its operations. Inferences: I. The company aims to reduce its carbon footprint. II. The company’s current energy sources are expensive.

Correct — A.
Rule: an inference must come from what the statement says, not from a reason you add.

I: renewable sources emit far less carbon than coal or oil, so the switch points to cutting the carbon footprint. It follows.
II: the statement says nothing about cost. The switch could have many reasons, so II does not follow.

Only I follows → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Only II follows — Only II keeps the guess and drops the plain reading. The statement never mentions the price of the present energy, while a lower carbon footprint is the direct effect of the switch.
• (c)
  Both follows — Both follows accepts II, but cost is never mentioned. A company can move to renewables even if its present power is cheap, so II cannot be drawn.
• (d)
  Neither follows — Neither follows throws out I. Lower emissions are the direct effect of switching to renewable energy, so I is the natural reading of the decision.

In a statement–inference item, an inference follows when it is the natural reading of the statement: something the statement makes clear without outside facts.

A switch to renewable energy directly lowers the carbon a company's operations produce, so aiming at a smaller carbon footprint reads straight out of the decision. A claim about the price of the current energy needs information the statement does not contain.

Key facts

• Solar, wind and hydro power emit far less carbon dioxide than coal, oil or gas.
• A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas an activity or organisation produces, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent.
• An inference that needs a fact the statement does not give, such as a price, does not follow.

Common traps

• Accepting II from outside knowledge about energy prices, which the statement never mentions
• Rejecting I because the statement does not use the words carbon footprint

No directly related past PYQ was found.