locating main ideas[1]

8/8/2019 Locating Main Ideas[1]

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Reading for main ideas

Reading is the key to the door of knowledge and information. By reading a reader can

find a lot of information that he/she does not know before. However, reading has severaltechniques that a reader should know and apply in order to be able to grasp information

easily. One of the many techniques of reading is to locate the main ideas of the passage.

The technique of locating the main ideas of the passage is to know how a paragraph is

designed. A paragraph is made up of sentences that convey information about a topic.

The writer usually introduces the topic of the paragraph in the first sentence of a

paragraph. This is called a "topic sentence." The topic sentence states the mainidea; other sentences are supporting details which offer more information,rephrasing, clarifications, and examples to help the reader understand the mainidea.

For example, read the following paragraph and look for the topic sentence of the

paragraph.

There are three reasons why Canada is one of the bestcountries in the world. First, Canada has an excellent health

care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at

a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of

education. Students are taught by well-trained teachers andare encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally,

Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian

cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live.As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

The topic sentence of the paragraph above is shown in blue.

Position of Topic Sentences

The topic sentence of a paragraph may be in the first or last sentence. The topicsentence may also be the fist and last sentence of the paragraph—“sandwich-style.” The second topic sentence in the “sandwich-style” paragraph also servesas a concluding sentence.

Notice the positions for the topic sentence in each. The topic sentences areunderlined1.

1 The three sample paragraphs are taken from Writing Academic English, 2nd edition by Alice Oshima and

Ann Hogue, 1991 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.



Hurricanes

Hurricanes, which are also called cyclones, exert tremendous

power. These violent storms are often a hundred miles in diameter,and their winds can reach velocities” of seventy-five miles per

hour or more. Furthermore, the strong winds and heavy rainfallthat accompany them can completely destroy a small town in a

couple of hours. The energy that is released by a hurricane in oneday exceeds the total energy consumed by humankind throughout

the world in one year.

Famous School “failure”

Albert Einstein, one of the world’s geniuses, failed hisuniversity entrance examination on his attempt. William Faulkner,

one of America’s noted writers, never finished college because he

could not pass hid English courses. Sir Winston Churchill, who isconsidered one of the masters of the English language, had to have

special tutoring in English during elementary school. These

examples show that failure in school does not always predict

failure in life.

Synonyms

Synonyms, words that have the same basic meaning, do not always

have the same emotional meaning. For example, the words

‘stingy” and “frugal” both mean “careful with money.” However,

to call a person stingy is an insult, while the word frugal has amuch more positive connotation. Similarly, a person wants to be

slender but not skinny, and aggressive not pushy. Therefore, youshould be careful in choosing words because many so-called

synonyms are not really synonymous at all.

For more information about locating main idea,

please visit:

(http://www.educ.utas.edu.au/users/lharriso/LESLEY/LITERACY/G

athering1.html)



is acidic, it should be treated with an alkaline solution,such as bicarbonate of soda. A wasp sting, on the other hand, is alkaline, so it should be treated with an acidicsolution, such as vinegar.

The main idea of the passage is

(A) the pain of wasp stings(B) treating stings with acids(C) different treatments for bee and wasp stings(D) the difference between acids and bases

The fist sentence of the first paragraph mentions a bee sting and a waspsting and states that these two types of stings have one basic difference,and the first sentence of the second paragraph states that these two typesof stings should be treated quite differently . From this, it can be

determined that the topic of the passage is different treatments for beeand wasp stings. Answer (C) is therefore the best answer to this question.3

You have learnt how to locate and determine the mainidea. Your task is to do some exercises on locating anddetermine the main idea.

Exercises:

Pa ssage 1 :

So You Have Allergies?

You’re feeling wretched: You’re sneezing, your eyes are watery and you have a runny

nose. You might recognize these symptoms as those of allergic rhinitis, also known as

hay fever, but are they? Many of the symptoms we experience that we believe to beallergies may in fact just be a cold, or some other non-

allergic reaction to an irritant. But how do you know for

sure?

There are many forms and types of allergies, and allergicrhinitis is considered to be the granddaddy of them all—

responsible for the greatest misery in the most people. It

usually shows up before age 20. But it can develop at anyage, even in babyhood. Today, allergic rhinitis affects

over 15% of Canadians. A third of them are children.

3 Taken from Longman Introductory Course for the TOEFL Test by Deborah Phillips, 2001, Pearson

Education, inc.



Hay fever used to be considered nothing more than an annoyance, not really worth

treating seriously and certainly not capable of inflicting much of an economic and physical toll. But today we know that allergic rhinitis is associated with several other

respiratory illnesses, including asthma, and that it can significantly affect your ability to

work or study. In fact, it’s estimated that people with allergic rhinitis miss more than400,000 days of work and school each year—and suffer through over three million days

of restricted activity.

Unfortunately, most of us, even those of us who do have allergies, underestimate the

consequences. A national survey conducted by the American College of Allergy, Asthma,

and Immunology found that while 94% of allergy sufferers reported that allergies

affected their quality of life—including work productivity, sleep, concentration, and evensex—just half of them considered the disease to be a serious medical condition. Nearly

two-thirds hadn’t seen a doctor the last time their symptoms flared up.

© Tomas DelamoAcclaim Images

(Taken from Reader’s digest:http://www.readersdigest.ca/health/n_health_have_allergies.html)

The main idea of the passage is

(A) consequences of allergic rhinitis according to a survey

(B) sneezing, watery eyes and a runny nose are the symptoms of allergic rhinitis

(C) the danger of allergic rhinitis

(D) The symptoms, and effects of allergic rhinitis

1. Correct Answer: D

Pa ssage 2 :

Sweat: It’s Good for What Ails You

If you are someone who needs serious incentive before putting on your sneakers and working up a sweat, it’s time

to listen up. Exercise is one of the most effective

prevention and treatment strategies you can do against

many common ailments.



In fact, many health experts now advise everyone to be active at least 30 minutes every

day, from light activities, such as walking, to more intensive workouts, such as aerobics.

For conditions like arthritis, depression, diabetes, heart disease and many more, exerciseis simply good medicine. If you have one of these conditions, even the thought of

exercise might seem daunting, but give it a try—you won’t regret it. (Taken from

Reader’s digest: http://www.readersdigest.ca/health/n_health_have_allergies.html)

The main idea of passage 2 is

(A) Exercise is simply good medicine for arthritis and depression

(B) Exercise is one of the most effective prevention and treatment strategies against

many common ailments.

(C) serious incentive before putting on sneakers and working up a sweat

(D) Every body should get a sweat.

2. Correct answer: B

Passage 3:

Eating Right to Age Well

As you age, your energy needs change. Your body requires

fewer calories, but at the same time, it needs more of certain

nutrients—nutrients that researchers are discovering mayactually slow the aging process.

While aging is inevitable, many of the degenerative changes

that prevail past middle age are not—if preventive steps aretaken. Medical research confirms that good nutrition can

prevent, or at least slow down, certain debilitating conditions

such as osteoporosis, diabetes, and heart disease. In fact, one

report estimates that one-third to one-half of the health problems of people over the age of 65 are related to diet.

(Taken from http://www.readersdigest.ca/food/home.html)


(A) One-third to one-half of the health problems of people over the age of 65 arerelated to diet

(B) the effect of nutrition on age

(C) Good nutrition can prevent or slow down certain debilitating conditions

(D) old people should eat good nutrition

3. Correct answer: C



Passage 4:

Be Kind to Your Container Plants

Almost anyone who has grown container plantings hasexperienced the frustration of planters that look great for

the first couple of weeks, but then start to decline. Not to

worry. With a little understanding of how plants grow incontainers, what to use for soil, and how to feed and

water properly, you’ll have the tools to keep your

container plants looking great throughout their growing

lifetimes.

Potting Soils

Unlike plants growing in the ground, container plants

don’t have the luxury of endless soil in which to stretch

out their roots. Containers only hold a small volume of soil in a defined space. And we often further reduce this available space by putting a

number of plants in each container.

Success with container plantings, whether you’re planting in window boxes or in oldwork boots, begins from the ground up. Garden soils or purchased topsoils intended for

garden beds aren’t appropriate for containers: they are too heavy, and tend to drain

slowly, so roots confined to small spaces run the risk of rotting and dying. Additionally,the gardener who fills large planters with soil from a garden bed will find the planters

excessively heavy to move.

(Taken from http://www.readersdigest.ca/homegarden/home.html)


(A) The soil used in container plantings.

(B) The management of container plantings

(C) The effects of container for plants

(D) The endurance of container plantings at homes

JAWABAN: B



Passage 5:

Used Car Buying Tips

Whether you go through a dealer or deal directly with a

private owner, the simplest way to pay less for a car is to buy a used car. But the lower price tag often carries somerisk with it. When it comes to buying used cars, the

message is definitely buyer-beware. Find out all you can

about the car’s history and its condition before you purchase it. And if you need to spend a little hard-earned

cash in the process, rest assured it is money well spent.

Buying from a Dealer

Buying nearly new is often the easiest way to get your

money’s worth. Many brand new models lose up to half

their value in the first two years. So buying a two-year-old car gets you a half-price bargain that is still in good shape and unlikely to incur high

repair bills.

Buying from a dealer is usually more expensive than buying privately, but it may

provide you with more recourse should there be problems down the road.


(A) Getting good used car with affordable price

(B) Carefulness in buying used cars

(C) Synchronization between buying vehicles and the allocation of fund

(D) New car is better than old car

Passage 6:

Passage 7:

Passage 8:

Passage 9:

Passage 10:



Activity 2: For your additional exercises, please visit: Pearson LongmanLab Manual Online at: http://wps.ablongman.com/long_henry_er_1

The rain forest is home to many creatures. Monkeys,toucans and macaws live in the rain forest. Blue Morpho

butterflies and anteaters also live in the rain forest.

Click on the main idea.

A) Sloths and tapirs are other creatures that live in the rain forest.

B) The rain forest is home to many creatures.

C) Monkeys, toucans and macaws live in the rain forest.

Soccer players learn many skills when playing soccer. Soccer players learn

how to dribble and pass the ball. They also learn how to control the ball so

they can eventually score. Most importantly, soccer players learn how to

work together with their teammates.

Click on the main idea.

A) They also learn how to control the ball so they can eventually score.

B) Soccer players learn how to dribble.

C) Soccer players learn many skills when playing soccer.

There are many fun things to

do at the beach. Swimming is

one thing that can be done atthe beach. Snorkeling is

another thing that can be

enjoyed. Playing beach

volleyball can be a lot of fun. It

is also fun to look for shells.

(A) There are many fun things to doat the beach.

http://www.beaconlearningcenter.com/WebLessons/GetTheIdea/default.htm#page3%23page3





















c. All cartoons are bad.

d. Some cartoons are bad for Maria.

3. Samantha, I can’t eat or sleep when you are gone. I need

to hear your scratchy voice and see your lovely toothless

smile. I miss that special way that you eat soup with your

fingers. Please come home soon!

What is the main idea of this paragraph?

a. Samantha, you have bad manners. b. Samantha, you should see a dentist.

c. Samantha, I miss you.

d. Samantha, I have lost my appetite.

4. Someday we will all have robots that will be our

personal servants. They will look and behave much like

real humans. We will be able to talk to these mechanicalhelpers and they will be able to respond in kind.

Amazingly, the robots of the future will be able to learn

from experience. They will be smart, strong, and untiring

workers whose only goal will be to make our lives easier.

Which sentence from the paragraph expresses the main

idea?a. Someday we will all have robots that will be our personal

servants.

b. We will be able to talk to these mechanical helpers and

they will be able to respond in kind.



c. They will look and behave much like real humans.

d. Amazingly, the robots of the future will be able to learn

from experience.

Americans have always been interested in their Presidents’ wives. Many First Ladies have beenremembered because of the ways they have influencedtheir husbands. Other First Ladies have made the historybooks on their own.

At least two First Ladies, Bess Truman and Lady BirdJohnson, made it their business to send signals duringtheir husbands’ speeches. When Lady Bird Johnson

thought her husband was talking too long, she wrote anote and sent it up to the platform. It read, “It’s time tostop!” And he did. Once Bess Truman didn’t like whather husband was saying on television, so she phonedhim and said,” If you can’t talk more politely than that inpublic, you come right home.”

Abigail Fillmore and Eliza Johnson actually taught their husbands, Millard Fillmore and Andrew Johnson, thethirteenth and seventeenth Presidents. A schoolteacher,Abigail eventually married her pupil, Millard. When ElizaJohnson married Andrew, he could not read or write, so

she taught him herself.

It was First Lady Helen Taft’s idea to plant the famouscherry trees in Washington, D. C. Each spring theseblossoming trees attract thousands of visitors to thenation’s capital. Mrs. Taft also influenced the malemembers of her family and the White House staff in astrange way: she convinced them to shave off their beards!

Shortly after President Wilson suffered a stroke, EdithWilson unofficially took over most of the duties of thePresidency until the end of her husband’s term. Earlier,during World War I, Mrs. Wilson had had sheep broughtonto the White House lawn to eat the grass. The sheepnot only kept the lawn mowed but provided wool for anauction sponsored by the First Lady. Almost $100,000was raised for the Red Cross.

Dolly Madison saw to it that a magnificent painting of

The HumanitarianAmerican governm

Dolly Madison wa

Eleanor Roosevel

The First Ladies a



George Washington was not destroyed during the War of 1812. As the British marched toward Washington, D. C.,she remained behind to rescue the painting, even after the guards had left. The painting is the only object fromthe original White House that was not burned.

One of the most famous First Ladies was Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.She was active in political and social causes throughouther husband’s tenure in office. After his death, shebecame famous for her humanitarian work in the UnitedNations. She made life better for thousands of needypeople around the world.

What is the main idea of this passage?

2

Of the many kinds of vegetables grown all over the world, which remains the favorite of youngand old alike? Why, the potato, of course.

Perhaps you know them as “taters,” “spuds,” or “Kennebees,” or as “chips,” “Idahoes,” or even“shoestrings.” No matter, a potato by any other name is still a potato- the world’s most widelygrown vegetable. As a matter of fact, if you are

an average potato eater, you will put away at leasta hundred pounds of them each year.

That’s only a tiny portion of the amount grownevery year, however. Worldwide, the annualpotato harvest is over six billion bags- each bagcontaining a hundred pounds of spuds, some of them as large as four pounds each. Here in theUnited States, farmers fill about four hundredmillion bags a year. That may seem like a lot of “taters,” but it leaves us a distant third amongworld potato growers. Polish farmers dig up justover 800 million bags a year, while the Russianslead the world with nearly 1.5 billion bags.

The first potatoes were grown by the Incas of South America, more than four hundred yearsago. Their descendants in Ecuador and Chilecontinue to grow the vegetable as high asfourteen thousand feet up in the Andes



Mountains. ( That’s higher than any other foodwill grow.) Early Spanish and English explorersshipped potatoes to Europe, and they found their way to North America in the early 1600s.

People eat potatoes in many ways-baked,

mashed, and roasted, to name just three.However, in the United States most potatoes aredevoured in the form of French fries. One fast-food chain alone sells more than $1 billion worthof fries each year. No wonder, then, that thecompany pays particular attention to the way itsfries are prepared.

Before any fry makes it to the people who eat atthese popular restaurants, it must pass manyseparate tests. Fail any one and the spud is

rejected. To start with, only russet Burbankpotatoes are used. These Idaho potatoes haveless water content than other kinds, which canhave as much as eighty percent water. Once cutinto “shoestrings” shapes, the potatoes are partlyfried in a secret blend of oils, sprayed with liquidsugar to brown them, steam dried at high heat,then flash frozen for shipment to individualrestaurants.

Before shipping, though, every shoestring ismeasured. Forty percent of a batch must bebetween two and three inches long. Another fortypercent has to be over three inches. What aboutthe twenty percent that are left in the batch? Well,a few short fries in a bag are okay, it seems.

So, now that you realize the enormous size andvalue of the potato crop, you can understand whymost people agree that this part of the foodindustry is no “small potatoes.”


Potatoes from Ireland started the PotatoRevolution.The average American eats 50 lbs of potatoes ayear.

French fries are made from potatoes.



Potatoes are a key vegetable in America.

The various terms for potatoes have a longhistory.

3

What does the word patent mean to you? Does itstrike you as being something rather remote fromyour interests? If it does, stop and think amoment about some of the commonplace thingsthat you use every day, objects that you take for granted as part of the world around you. Thetelephone, radio, television, the automobile, andthe thousand and one other things (even thehumble safety pin) that enrich our lives todayonce existed only as ideas in the minds of men. If it had not been possible to patent their ideas andthus protect them against copying by others,these inventions might never have been fullydeveloped to serve mankind.

If there were no patent protection there would belittle incentive to invent and innovate, for once thedetails of an invention became known, hordes of imitators who did not share the inventor’s risksand expenses might well flood the market with

their copies of his product and reap much of thebenefit of his efforts. The technological progressthat has made America great would wither rapidlyunder conditions such as these.

The fundamental principles in the U. S. patentstructure came from England. During the gloriousreign of Queen Elizabeth I in England, theexpanding technology was furthered by thegranting of exclusive manufacturing and sellingprivileges to citizens who had invented newprocesses or tools- a step that did much toencourage creativity. Later, when critics arguedthat giving monopoly rights to one personinfringed on the rights of others, an importantprinciple was added to the patent structure: TheLord Chief Justice of England stated that societyhad everything to gain and nothing to lose bygranting exclusive privileges to an inventor,



because a patent for an invention was granted for something new that society never had before.

Another basic principle was brought into lawbecause certain influential people in England hadmanaged to obtain monopoly control over such

age-old products as salt, and had begun chargingas much as the traffic would bear. The publicoutcry became so great that the government wasforced to decree that monopoly rights could beawarded only to those who created or introducedsomething really unique. These principles are themainstays of our modern patent system in theUnited States.

In colonial times patent law was left up to theseparate states. The inconsistency, confusion,

and unfairness that resulted clearly indicated theneed for a uniform patent law, and the men whodrew up the Constitution incorporated one.George Washington signed the first patent law onApril 10,1790, and less than four months later thefirst patent was issued to a man named SamuelHopkins for a chemical process, an improvedmethod of making potash for use in soapmaking.

In 1936 the Patent Office was established as aseparate bureau. From the staff of eight that itmaintained during its first year of operation it hasgrown into an organization of over 2500 peoplehandling more than 1600 patent applications andgranting over 1000 every week.

The Patent Office in Washington, D. C., is theworld’s largest library of scientific and technicaldata, and this treasure trove of information isopen for public inspection. In addition to morethan 3 million U. S. patents, it houses more than 7million foreign patents and thousands of volumesof technical literature. Abraham Lincoln patented

a device to lift steam vessels over river shoals,Mark Twain developed a self-pasting scrapbook,and millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt invented ashoe-shine kit.

A patent may be granted for any new and usefulprocess, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter ( a chemical compound or



combinations of chemical compounds), or anydistinct and new variety; of plant, includingcertain mutants and hybrids.

The patent system has also helped to boost thewages of the American worker to an

unprecedented level; he can produce more andearn more with the computer, adding machines,drill press or lathe. Patented inventions also helpkeep prices down by increasing manufacturingefficiency and by stimulating the competition thatis the foundation of our free enterprise system.

The decades of history have disclosed little needfor modification of the patent structure. Our patent laws, like the Constitution from which theygrew, have stood the test of time well. They

encouraged the creative processes, broughtuntold benefits to society as a whole, and enabledAmerican technology to outstrip that of the rest of the civilized world.


The patent system encourages free enterprise.

The Constitution protects the patent system.

The patent system in England has been influentialin American patent development.

Patents are important tools for inventors.

Patented inventions protect the inventor, freeenterprise, and the creative process.

4

Most people think it’s fine to be “busy as a

beaver.” Little do they know. Beavers may workhard, but often they don’t get much done.

Beavers are supposed to be great tree cutters. Itis true that a beaver can gnaw through a tree veryquickly. (A six-inch birch takes about tenminutes.) But then what? Often the beaver doesnot make use of the tree. One expert says thatbeavers waste one out of every five trees they



cut.

For one thing, they do not choose their treeswisely. One bunch of beavers cut down acottonwood tree more than one hundred feet tall.Then they found that they could not move it.

In thick woods a tree sometimes won’t fall down.It gets stuck in the other trees. Of course, doesn’tthink to cut down the trees that are in the way. Soa good tree goes to waste.

Some people think that beavers can make a treefall the way they want it to. Not true. (In fact, abeaver sometimes gets pinned under a fallingtree.) When beavers cut a tree near a stream, itusually falls into the water. But they do not planit that way. The fact is that most trees leantoward the water to start with.

Now what about dam building? Most beaver dams are wonders of engineering. The best onesare strongly built of trees, stones, and mud. Theyare wide at the bottom and narrow at the top.

Beavers think nothing of building a dam morethan two hundred feet long. One dam, inMontana, was more than two thousand feet long.The largest one ever seen was in New

Hampshire. It stretched four thousand feet. Itmade a lake large enough to hold forty beaver homes.

So beavers do build good dams. But they don’talways build them in the right places. They justdon’t plan. They will build a dam across thewidest part of the stream. They don’t try to find aplace where the stream is narrow. So a lot of their hard work is wasted.

Beavers should learn that it’s not enough to be

busy. You have to know what you’re doing, too.For example, there was one Oregon beaver thatreally was a worker. It decided to fix a leak in aman-made dam. After five days of work it gaveup. The leak it was trying to block was the lockthat boats go through.




Beaver’s may be hard working animals, but theydon’t always choose the most efficientmechanisms.

Beavers are excellent dam builders.New Hampshire was the site of the largest beaver dam.

Beavers are well developed tree cutters.

Beavers are poor surveyors of aquaticenvironments in some cases.

5

The raisin business in America was born byaccident. It happened in 1873 in the San JoaquinValley of California. Many farmers raised grapesin this valley. That year, just before the grapeharvest, there was a heat wave. It was one of theworst heat waves ever known. It was so hot thegrapes dried on the vines. When they werepicked, California had its first raisin crop.

People were surprised to find how good raisinswere. Everybody wanted more. So the SanJoaquin farmers went into the raisin business.Today, of course, they do not let the grapes dryon the vines. They treat them with much morecare.

In late August the grapes start to ripen. They aretested often for sweetness. The growers wait untilthe sugar content is twenty-one percent. Thenthey know the grapes are ripe enough to bepicked.

Skilled workers come to the vineyards. They pickthe bunches of grapes by hand. The workers filltheir flat pans with grapes. They gently empty thepans onto squares of paper. These squares liebetween the long rows of vines. They sit in thesun.

Here the grapes stay while the sun does its work.It may take two weeks or longer. The grapes arefirst dried on one side. When they have reached



the right color, they are turned to dry on the other side. The grapes are dried until only fifteenpercent of the moisture is left. Then they haveturned into raisins.

The raisins are rolled up in the paper on which

they have dried. Trucks take them from thefields. They are poured into big boxes calledsweatboxes. Each box holds one hundred andsixty pounds of raisins. Here, any raisins that area bit too dry take moisture from those that have abit too much. After a while they are all just moistenough.

The big boxes are trucked next to the packagingplant. They are emptied onto a conveyor belt thatshakes the raisins gently. This knocks them from

their stems. A blast of air whisks the stems away.The water bath is next. Then the plump brownraisins have a last inspection. They are againchecked for moisture and sugar. Then they go ona belt to packing machines. Here they are pouredinto packages, which are automatically weighedand sealed. The raisins are now ready for market.


The creation of raisins in America was anaccident.The process of raisin development requiresmultiple steps.Raisins on the grocery store shelf undergo a brief fermentation process.Raisins are cleaned thoroughly at the packingplant.California has been the leader in American raisindevelopment.

6

In 1976, Sichan Siv was crawling through the jungle, trying to escape from Cambodia. By 1989,however, Siv was working in the White House, inWashington D. C., as an advisor to the President



of the United States. How did this strange journey come about?

Like millions of Cambodians, Siv was a victim of abloody civil war. One of the sides in this war wasthe Cambodian government. The other was a

group called the Khmer Rouge. When the Khmer Rouge won the war, the situation in Cambodia gotworse. Many people were killed, while otherswere forced into hard labor. Sometimes entirefamilies were wiped out.

Siv came from a large family that lived in thecapital of Cambodia. After finishing high school,Siv worked for a while with a Cambodian airlinecompany. Later, he taught English. After that, hetook a job with CARE, an American group that

was helping victims of the war.Siv had hope to leave Cambodia before theKhmer Rouge took over the country.Unfortunately, he was delayed. As a result, heand his family were taken from their homes andforced to labor in rice fields. After a while, Sivmanaged to escape. He rode an old bicycle for miles, trying to reach Thailand where he would befree and safe. For three weeks he slept on theground and tried to hide from the soldiers whowere looking for him. Caught at last, he wasafraid he would be killed. Instead, he was put intoa labor camp, where he worked eighteen hourseach day without rest. After several months, heescaped again; this time he made it. The journey,however, was a terrifying one. After three days of staggering on foot through mile after mile of thickbamboo, Siv finally made his way to Thailand.

Because he had worked for an American charitygroup, Siv quickly found work in a refugee camp.Soon he was on his way to the states. He arrived

in June of 1976 and got a job-first picking applesand then cooking in a fast-food restaurant. Siv,however, wanted more than this; he wanted towork with people who, like himself, had sufferedthe hardship of leaving their own countriesbehind. Siv decided that the best way to preparefor this kind of work was to go to college. Hewrote letters to many colleges and universities.



They were impressed with his school recordsfrom Cambodia, and they were impressed with hisbravery. Finally, in 1980, he was able to study atColumbia University in New York City. After finishing his studies at Columbia, Siv took a job

with the United Nations. He married an Americanwoman and became a citizen. After several moreyears, he felt that he was very much a part of hisnew country.

In 1988, Siv was offered a job in the White Houseworking for President Reagan’s closest advisors.It was a difficult job, and he often had to worklong hours. However the long hard work wasworth it, because Siv got the opportunity to helprefugees in his work.


Persistence and courage are global ideas.

Siv covered a large area during his life.

Siv persevered to become an American citizen

Siv overcame numerous challenges to come toAmerican and help others.

Siv persevered to become an American citizen.

7

When you want to hang the American flag over the middle of a street, suspend it vertically withthe blue field, called the union, to the north andeast-west street. When the flag is displayed withanother banner from crossed staffs, the Americanflag is on the right. Place the staff of theAmerican flag in front of the other staff. Raise the

flag quickly and lower it slowly and respectfully.When flying the flag at half-mast, hoist it to thetop of the pole for a moment before lowering it tomid-pole. When flying the American flag withbanners from states or cities, raise the nation’sbanner first and lower it last. Never allow the flagto touch the ground.




The American flag is the symbol of American

freedom.The American flag has fifty stars.

Placing the American flag inappropriately willdraw government intervention.American flag should be flown differently incertain situations.The flag should be lowered quickly andrespectfully.

8

What if someone told you about a kind of grassthat grows as tall as the tallest trees? A grassthat can be made as strong as steel? A grassfrom which houses, furniture, boats, andhundreds of other useful things can be made? Agrass that you would even enjoy eating? Wouldyou believe that person? You should, for thatgrass is bamboo, the “wood” of 1,001 uses.

Bamboo may look like wood, but it is part of the

family of plants that includes wheat, oats, andbarley. It is a kind of grass. This grass is not justa material for making useful products. Youngbamboo is eaten, often mixed with other vegetables, in many Asian foods.

Bamboo grows in many parts of the world. In theUnited States it grows in an area from Virginiawest to Indiana and south to Florida, Louisiana,and Texas. Most bamboo, however, is found inwarm, wet climates, especially in Asia and on theislands of the South Pacific Ocean.

In most Asian countries, bamboo is nearly asimportant as rice. Many Asians live in bamboohouses. They sit on bamboo chairs and sleep onbamboo mats. They fence their land with bambooand use the wood for cages for chickens andpigs.



Bamboo is used to build large buildings as wellas homes. When it is glued in layers, it becomesas strong as steel. On some islands in the SouthPacific, bamboo is even used for water pipes.This extraordinary material has many other uses.

It is used to make musical instruments, such asflutes and recorders. Paper made from bamboohas been highly prized by artists for thousands of years.

Bamboo is light and strong, and it bends withoutbreaking. It is cheap, floats on water, almostnever wears out, and is easy to grow. Nothingelse on earth grows quite so fast as bamboo. Attimes you can even see it grow! Botanists haverecorded growths of more than three feet in justtwenty-four hours! Bamboo is hollow and has a

strong root system that almost never stopsgrowing and spreading. In fact, only after itflowers, an event that may happen only onceevery thirty years, will bamboo die.

There are more than a thousand kinds of bamboo. The smallest is only three inches talland one-tenth of an inch across. The largestreaches more than two hundred feet in height andseven inches in diameter. No wonder, then, thatthe lives of nearly half the people on earth would

change enormously if there were no longer anybamboo. No wonder, too, that to many peoplebamboo is a symbol of happiness and goodfortune.


Bamboo has at least 2,000 uses.

Bamboo grows at an amazing rate and is foundprimarily in Asia.Bamboo is an amazing grass that can be used inmultiple ways.

There are at least a 1,000 types of bamboo.

Bamboo could be considered a flower in somecases.



9

Every year since 1986, some of the world’s mostdaring runners have gathered in the desert of Morocco. They are there to take part in one of themost difficult races in the world. The Marathon of the Sands, as it is called, covers over 125 miles of desert and mountain wilderness. The runnerscomplete the course in fewer than seven days,and they run with their food, clothing, andsleeping bags on their backs.

The Marathon of the Sands was founded in 1986by Patrick Bauer. His idea was to give therunners, who come from all over the world, aspecial kind of adventure. Most of the runners in

this race have found that they form deepfriendships with the other runners during their days and nights in the desert. Facing terrible heatand complete exhaustion, they learn much aboutthemselves and each other.

For most of the runners, though, the challenge of the race is the main reason for coming. On thefirst day, for example, they run fifteen milesacross a desert of sand, rocks, and thornybushes. Few runners finish the day withoutblistered and raw feet. They also suffer from alack of water. (They are allowed less than ninequarts of water during each day of the race.)Most of all, they are exhausted when they arriveat the campsite for the night.

The second day, the runners are up at 6:00 A. M.Within a few hours, it is 100 degrees F, but therunners do not hesitate. They must cover eighteen miles that day. That night, they rest.They must be ready for the next day’s run.

On the third day, the runners must climb giantsand dunes- the first they have faced. Dust andsand mix with the runners’ sweat. Soon their faces are caked with mud. After fifteen miles of these conditions, the runners finally reach their next camp.

The race continues like this for four more days.The fourth and fifth days are the worst. On the



fourth day, the runners pass through a levelstretch and a beautiful, tree-filled oasis, but then,on this and on the next day, they cross more thantwenty-one miles of rocks and sand dunes. Thetemperature soars to 125 degrees F, and many

runners cannot make it. Helicopters rush fallenrunners to medical help. Runners who make it tothe end of the fifth day know that the worst isover.

On the sixth day, heat and rocks punish theracers terribly. In the Valley of Dra, the windpicks up and, as the desert heat is thrust againstthem with great force, they grow more and moreexhausted.

The seventh day is the last, with only twelve miles

to be covered. The dusty, tired, blistered runnersset out at daybreak. Near the finish line, childrenrace along with the runners, for everybody hascaught the excitement. The ones who have runthe whole marathon know they haveaccomplished what most people could not evendream of. “During the hard moments,” says onecontestant who has raced here twice, “I’d think,‘Why am I here?’ Then I’d realize I was there tofind my limits.”


The Marathon of the Sands race tests the limits of human endurance.

The runners run at their own pace.

The race causes the strong to stumble and theweak to not finish.

The seventh day is the hardest day of the race.

Every runner runs the race to find their human

limits.

10

High in the Andes Mountains in Peru stands theancient city of Machu Picchu. No one knows why thisgreat city was built, nor is it likely that we will ever



know. Nevertheless, the deserted city of MachuPicchu is important for what it reveals about theancient Inca people of South America.

The Incas once ruled a great empire that covered alarge part of the South American continent. The

empire was more than five hundred years old whenthe first Spanish explorers, looking for gold, went tothat continent in the sixteenth century.

The Incas were an advanced people. They wereskillful engineers who paved their roads and builtsturdy bridges. They plowed the land in such a waythat rains would not wash away valuable soil. Theydug ditches to carry water into dry areas for farming.

Even though they did not know about the wheel, theIncas were able to move huge stone blocks- some asheavy as ten tons- up the sides of mountains to buildwalls. The blocks were fitted so tightly, withoutcement of any kind, that it would be impossible to slipa knife blade between them! The walls have stoodfirm through great storms and earthquakes that havedestroyed many modern buildings.

The Incas were great artists, too. Today, Incan dishesand other kinds of pottery are prized for their wonderful designs. Since both gold and silver werein great supply, the Incas created splendid objects

from these precious metals.

While it is true that the Incas had no written language,they kept their accounts by using a system of knottedstrings of various lengths and colors. The sizes of the knots and the distances between themrepresented numbers.

At its height, the Incan empire included as many asthirty million people. The emperor ruled them with aniron hand. He told his subjects where to live, what toplant, how long they should work-even whom they

could marry. Since he owned everything, the emperor gave what he wished when he wished- and in theamount he wished -to his people.

In 1533 Spanish explorers led by Francisco Pizarromurdered the emperor of the Incas. Earlier, the heir to the Incan empire had also been killed. The Incas,who had always been entirely dependent on their



emperor, now had no recognized leader. TheSpaniards easily conquered the empire and plunderedits riches.

Have the Incas disappeared from South America?Not at all. In Peru alone, once the center of that great

empire, eighty percent of the twenty million peopleare descendants of the Inca people. Evidence of theIncan empire can be found in many other places inSouth America as well. You can even visit MachuPicchu. The remains of this ancient city still standhigh in the mountains of Peru, an awesome tribute tothis once powerful empire.


The Incas once inhabited the ancient city of MachuPicchu.

Peru was the primary country of the Incas.

The Incan empire can be found in ancient cities andwas plundered by the Spanish.Spanish conquerors destroyed the Incan empire in thethirteenth century.

Machu Picchu was the capital of the Incan empire.

http://testprepreview.com/modules/readingmainidea.htm

1. A number of recent books with titles like Raising Cain , Real Boys , and Lost Boys all focus on

the same issue: Today’s teenaged boys are feeling more anxiety than ever before about their

physical appearance. Bombarded by advertising featuring well-muscled, semi-clad young men,

teenage boys are experiencing what teenage girls have been coping with for years. They are

afraid that they cannot possibly live up to the media’s idealized image of their gender. Young

boys below the average in height, weight, or both suffer the most. Often, they are brutally teased

by their brawnier peers. Some react to the ridicule by heading for the gym and lifting weights. Yeteven those who successfully “bulk up” don’t like feeling that they are considered worthless if they

lose their hard-won muscle tone. Others, convinced that no amount of body building can help,

often withdraw from social contact with their peers. This is their way of avoiding taunts about their

size or shape. Still, they are understandably angry at being badly treated because of their body

type. Although school psychologists generally recognize that boys today are having severe body

image problems, they are at a loss about what to do to solve those problems.

Main Idea







a. More than in previous generations, teenaged boys are getting into body building.

b. Teenaged boys today are showing more anxiety about their physical appearance than did boys

of previous generations.

2. In 1997, the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission reported that skateboarding injuries

were up by 33 percent. Mountain climbing injuries were also up by 20 percent. Similarly,snowboarding injuries showed an increase of thirty-one percent. By all accounts, many

Americans are having a love affair with risky sports; as a result, they are injuring themselves in

ever greater numbers. One reason for the growing participation in risky, or extreme, sports has

been put forth by Dan Cady, a professor of popular culture at California State University.

According to Cady, previous generations didn’t need to seek out risk. It was all around them in

the form of disease epidemics, economic instability, and global wars. At one time, just managing

to stay alive was risky, but that feeling has all but disappeared, at least for members of the

privileged classes. To a degree Cady’s theory is confirmed in the words of adventure racer Joy

Marr. Marr says that risk has been “minimized” in everyday life, forcing people to seek out

challenges in order to prove themselves. (Source: Karl Taro Greenfield. “Life on the Edge.” Time .

September 6, 1999, p.29).

Main Idea

a. According to Professor Dan Cady if California State, many Americans yearn for the days when

just staying alive was a difficult task.

b. More and more Americans are taking up high-risk sports; as a result, injuries from these sports

are increasing.

Exercise 2

Directions: Read each passage. Then complete the main idea statement begun on the blanks

that follow the paragraph.

1. In several states across the nation, there has been successful drive to end “social promotion.”

In other words, children who do not achieve the required score on a standardized test will no

longer be promoted to the next grade. Instead, they will have to repeat the grade they have

finished. Yet despite the calls for ending social promotion--many of them from politicians looking

for a crowd-pleasing issue--there is little evidence that making children repeat a grade has a

positive effect. If anything, research suggests that forcing children to repeat a grade hurts rather

than helps their academic performance. In 1989, University of Georgia Professor Thomas Holms

surveyed sixty-three studies that compared the performance of kids who had repeated a grade

with those who had received a social promotion. Holms found that most of the children who had

repeated a grade had a poorer record of academic performance than the children who had been

promoted despite poor test scores. A similar study of New York City children in the 1980s

revealed that the children who repeated a grade were more likely to drop out upon reaching high

school. The call to end social promotion may have a nice ring to it in political speeches. Yet there

is little indication that it does students any real good.

Main Idea : Across the country, many states have abolished the policy of “social promotion”

2. During World War I, a number of severe shortages alerted the world’s scientists to the need for

synthetic, or man-made materials. Thus by 1934, a research team headed by Wallace

H.Carothers had developed the first synthetic fiber, called nylon. As it turned out, the

development of nylon had a surprisingly profound effect on world affairs. True, it’s first use was in



fashion, and in 1939, the Dupont company began marketing sheer nylon hose for women. Nylons

were a spectacular hit and sold off the shelves almost immediately. But they disappeared with the

coming of World War II, as nylon became essential to the war effort. It was used in everything

from parachutes and ropes, to insulation and coat linings. Sadly Carothers never witnessed the

impact of his creation. He committed suicide two years before the first pair of nylons ever went on

sale.

Main Idea : In 1934, Wallace H. Carothers developed nylon, the first synthetic fiber

Exercise 3

Directions: Each paragraph is followed by a statement of the main idea that is not quite accurate

or precise enough. In other words, it almost—but not completely—sums up the main idea. Revise

each statement to make it more effectively express the main idea.

1. Over the last two centuries, America’s soldiers have been given several nicknames, among

them “yanks,” “grunts,” “doughboys,” and “Johnny Reb.” However, none of those nicknames has

had the staying power of the nickname “G.I.” Derived from the words “government issue,” the

term “G.I.” emerged in World War II and gave birth to its own masculine and feminine forms, “G.I.Joe” and “G.I. Jane.” It was even attached to one of the most famous educational bills in

American history, the G.I. Bill. At one point, the military tried to rid itself of the name G.I. claiming

that it dehumanized the people to whom it referred. Military manuals and pamphlets began

substituting the supposedly more favorable term “service members.” But the public would have

none of it. Newspapers, radio, television, and most importantly, World War II veterans themselves

clung to the nickname. Particularly for the veterans of World War II, being a G.I. was a badge of

honor, and they were not about to give up the name.

Imprecise Main Idea: Throughout the last two centuries, America’s soldiers have been given

many different nicknames.

Revised Main Idea :

2. While she lived, the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was known mainly as the wife of the famed

muralist Diego Rivera. Yet in the decades since her death, Kahlo has become hugely famous in

her own right and is probably now better known than her husband. In 1990, Kahlo became the

first Mexican artist to break the one million mark at an auction. The vivid, self-portraits that Kahlo

created in the thirties and forties continue to be widely sought after by collectors willing to pay

high prices for her paintings. Although Kahlo is often described as a painter intent on exploring

her own personal reality, many of her paintings include references to Mexico’s political and social

history. It’s not surprising, then, that in 1985, the Mexican government publicly proclaimed her

work a national treasure.

Imprecise Main Idea: Unfortunately, the painter Frida Kahlo spent her life in the shadow of her

famous husband, the muralist, Diego Rivera.

Revised Main Idea :

Exercise 4

Directions: In the blanks that follow each paragraph, write out what you think is the main idea.



1. In the 1870s, the Welsh explorer Henry Morton Stanley navigated the Congo river under the

sponsorship of King Leopold of Belgium. Wherever he stopped, he made treaties with the African

chiefs he encountered. As a result, when Stanley returned to Europe, King Leopold was able to

take possession of an area eighty times the size of Belgium. Leopold promptly called the area the

Belgium Congo and turned it into his own private goldmine, almost destroying the Congo in the

process. Under Leopold’s rule, the Congolese were faced with impossibly high taxes and forced

into slave labor. Agents of the Belgian government would give each Congolese family a basket tofill with rubber. If members of the family did not return the basket with the required number of

pounds of rubber, their home would be burned to the ground. Anyone who rebelled would be put

in prison. Meanwhile, Leopold grew enormously rich, squandering his blood money on yachts,

mansions, and mistresses. To keep the Belgian people quiet, he also expended enormous sums

on public works. Nevertheless, public opinion against Leopold and his vicious ways grew

stronger. Ultimately he was forced to give up his stranglehold on the Congo, but not before

millions of people had been imprisoned and thousands had died.

Main Idea :

2. Computerized axial tomography, also known as the CAT scan, was developed in 1971. In its

importance, the development of the CAT scan ranks with Roentgen’s discovery of X-Rays. Theword “tomography” comes from the Greek word “tomos” meaning section or slice. In effect, the

CAT scan allowed doctors to see into the body almost as if layers of it had been sliced away for

better viewing. For the first time, it was possible to view soft tissue inside the skull, chest and

abdomen without resorting to surgery. Thanks to the CAT scan, radiologists could now distinguish

normal from clotted blood. They could also examine the ventricles of the heart without inflicting

pain. Prior to the creation of the CAT scan, it had been necessary to pump air into the ventricles

of the heart, causing the person undergoing the procedure intense pain.

Main Idea :

http://dhp.com/~laflemm/reso/mainIdea.htm

To many parents, the infant's crying may be mainly an irritation, especially if it continues

for long periods. But crying serves important functions for the child as well as for the parents. For the child, crying helps improve lung capacity and the respiratory system.

Perhaps more important, the cry serves as a signal of distress. When babies cry, they

indicate that they are hungry or in pain, and this is important information for parents.

http://www.ccis.edu/departments/cae/studyskills/mainidea.html



locating main ideas[1]

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