Question

the fish just ate and grew and grew
till they needed a bigger tank.
so walt went out to buy them one
with all the money from his bank.

then one day something crazy happened,
too crazy to be true.
he looked into his tank and noticed that
the four had become forty - two!

forty - two fearsome, ferocious fish,
and with that walt finally knew
that the next time he wanted to get a pet,
just one would surely do.

the bolded text requires an inference, or a guess, about missing details. based on the text,
which sentence is most likely to be true?

walt buys more fish from a pet store.

some of the fish escape from the tank.

the fish in the tank have babies.

walt miscounts how many fish are in the tank.

Explanation:

1. Analyze "Walt buys more fish from a pet store": The poem says Walt used money from his bank to buy a bigger tank, not more fish. So this is unlikely.
2. Analyze "Some of the fish escape from the tank": The poem shows the number of fish increased (from 4 to 42), so escaping would decrease the number, which doesn't match.
3. Analyze "The fish in the tank have babies": The number of fish went from 4 to 42, a large increase. Having babies is a common way for fish numbers to grow in a tank, so this is plausible.
4. Analyze "Walt miscounts how many fish are in the tank": The poem presents the event as "something crazy happened" and the increase is significant (4 to 42). A miscount is less likely than natural reproduction (having babies) for such a large increase.

Answer:

The fish in the tank have babies.