Which of the following best describes why background knowledge helps when reading informational texts?

• A. It helps you guess the author’s intentions based on personal preferences.
• B. It helps you connect ideas, assess credibility, and infer meaning more accurately.
• C. It makes you overlook errors and inconsistencies.
• D. It is only useful for fiction.

Answer: (C)

Background knowledge helps you connect ideas, evaluate credibility, and infer meaning more accurately when reading informational texts. When you already know related facts or context, you can see how the author’s points fit together, recognize whether evidence supports the claims, and interpret terms or data more quickly from context. This makes you better at drawing meaning and judging reliability.

That’s why this option best describes the benefit: it captures how background knowledge aids understanding, not just guessing author motives, nor ignoring errors, and it applies to nonfiction as well as fiction.