Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT4) Practice Exam 2025 – The All-in-One Study Resource for Exam Success!

The statement about "Captain Ahab wanted to kill the whale. He cursed at it." demonstrates anaphoric inference, which involves the use of a reference that relates back to something previously mentioned in the text. In this case, the whale serves as the subject of Ahab's curses, indicating a specific relationship between Ahab's intentions and his emotions towards the whale.

Anaphoric inference allows readers to understand that when Ahab curses at the whale, it’s not just a general expression of anger; it directly ties to his desire to hunt it down, which was established in the first part of the statement. This connection enhances comprehension by allowing the reader to make associations between the actions and emotions presented, imply deeper motivations, and track narrative coherence.

The other options involve different methods of reasoning or understanding: deductive inference relies on applying general rules to specific instances, while inductive inference draws broader conclusions from specific observations. Contextual inference would involve understanding meanings or implications based on the context but does not specifically focus on the relationship between referred subjects like anaphoric inference does.