When we're asked to make an INFERENCE about what the passage suggests, we're looking for what MUST be true, even if it was not directly stated.
You looked for evidence in the passage, and found "firms... will be reluctant to terminate less-productive workers." Here's what we can infer from that:
- some workers are less productive than others
- employers do not make decisions about whether to terminate solely on productivity
- wrongful termination liability can sometimes be a factor in the decision about whether to terminate
Here are some things we cannot infer:
- why some employees are more productive than others
- how employers feel personally about this
- what exactly is the tipping point that will lead employers to terminate
- outside factors that affect employment
- the long-term financial consequences of hiring or firing any individual
Answer C states "a wrongful termination lawsuit is LESS costly to a company than continuing the employment of an unproductive worker." If anything, the fact that companies are reluctant to terminate suggests that they believe it's at times MORE costly to incur a lawsuit than to fire the employee.
Either way, though, C is too definitive. "... is less costly" is far too absolute. That would have to mean in every case, always. Situations at different companies will always vary, so a right answer would have to include words like "it is likely to be more costly," or "in some cases it may be less costly," etc.
Any answer that's too definitive is almost certainly wrong on RC inference questions.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
