In other words, inferential questions require us to question why the author phrased words in the way he or she did (CHALLENGE THE AUTHOR), or why the characters in the story do what they do (QUESTION THE CHARACTERS).
Let's take an example. In HK paper Q16, we are asked why the author underlined the word "claiming".
(CHALLENGE THE AUTHOR) We must instantly ask ourselves why did he not use other words, like "proposing" or "theorising" or "suggesting". These alternatives have a positive feel about the ideas being proposed, whereas "claiming" has a negative feel. What does this negative feel then tell us about how the author views the ideas by Lowell?
One good answer is that the author is not convinced by the ideas given by Lowell.
Inaccurate answers include "The author feels that the ideas are not valid/ true". This is unacceptable, because the word "claim" can be used for statements that are true as well. For example, "Scientists from Australian National University recently claimed to have discovered the elusive element number 117". This statement is true, but the use of the word "claimed" tells us the attitude of the writer. Compare the sentence now with "Scientists from Australian National University recently reported the discovery of the elusive element number 117".
Now let's look at HK paper Q6ii. In this question, we are asked to suggest a reason for why Jack moved in the manner he did.
(QUESTION THE CHARACTERS) Jack was moving in a stealthy manner, and you know that the entire text was on him being on a food hunt. If he is hunting, should he be noisy and announce his arrival to the entire forest? Can he afford to do so if his prey is near? Therefore, an accurate inference would be that he did not wish to alert his prey to his presence.
Inaccurate answers include "Jack was hiding from predators". This is erroneous, because he is the predator in the entire text, and, in a lion-like manner, he approached his prey cautiously. This mistake indicates poor understanding of the text.
Do raise any question on inferential skills here, and we will look at it as a class!