阅读理解训练findingthemainidea45133.pdf

Finding the Main Idea:the authors message about the topic.Where are the main ideas found It is easy to identify a main idea that is directly expressed in the text.Main ideas are often found at the beginning of paragraphs.The first sentence often explains the subject being discussed in the passage.Main ideas are also found in the concluding sentences of a paragraph.The main idea can be expressed as a summation of the information in the paragraph as well as a link to the information in the next paragraph.The main idea is not always clearly stated.It is more difficult to identify a main idea when it is inferred or implied.It can be implied through other words in the paragraph.An implied main idea can be found in several ways.Several sentences in a paragraph can imply the main idea by introducing facts about the topic before actually stating the topic.Implied ideas can be drawn from facts,reasons,or examples that give hints or suggestions concerning the main idea.These hints will be clues leading you to discover the main idea in the selected text.Try the passage below to see if you can pick out the main idea.To many parents,the infants 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.Use the hints below to determine the correct main idea of this paragraph.After reading a paragraph ask,What point is the author making in this passage Ask the following questions:Who-Does this passage discuss a person or group of people When-Does the information contain a reference to time Where-Does the text name a place Why-Do you find a reason or explanation for something that happened How-Does this information indicate a method or a theory How can I determine if I have selected the correct main idea of a paragraph If you are able to summarize the information in the passage in your own words,you have absorbed the correct main idea.To accomplish this goal,try the steps listed below after reading a short section of your textbook.Write a short summary in your own words about what you have read.Does your summary agree with this general topic Does your summary contain the same ideas being expressed by the author Could you write a headline(or textbook subheading)that would express your summary in less than five words If you are able to rephrase your choice of a topic sentence into a question and then determine if the passage answers your question,you have been successful at selecting a main idea.Answers:1 The clouds were dark purple.2 Thunder becamelouder and louder.3 The raindrops fellone after another.The main idea sentence of a paragraph tells what the paragraph is about.The other sentences are details.Read the story and find the main idea.1.When you take a multiple-choice test,do you ever change your answers Some scientists think that it is a smart thing to do.They found out that most students who change their answers make the right decision and make better scores on their tests.The story mainly tells _ how to study for tests what scientists think about answers how to score better on a multiple-choice test which answers to change on a test 2.Because lambs are sometimes eaten by coyotes,ranchers may hunt or trap the coyotes.However,killing coyotes may upset natures balance.Scientists have found a way to protect sheep without killing coyotes.Coyotes are fed lamb meat treated with a drug.When they eat the meat,they get sick.Later,coyotes wont even go near lambs.Theyll hunt rabbits instead.This story mainly tells _ why coyotes prefer rabbits to lambs why killing coyotes upsets natures balance how scientists protect sheep and coyotes what kind of people dont like coyotes 3.Dolly Madison was the wife of President James Madison.She was quite a brave First Lady.When the White House burned down,Dolly rescued important government papers.She also saved the portrait of George Washington that hangs in the East Room today.This story mainly tells _ who Dolly Madisons husband was how the White House burned down about Dolley Madisons courageous acts where the portrait of George Washington hangs 4.Every year hungry deer do millions of dollars worth of damage to young pine trees.Scientists in Washington have found a way to protect the trees.They use a substance called selenium.Selenium produces a bad smell when dissolved.A bit of this element is put in the ground near trees.Rain dissolves the selenium,and the trees absorb it.The bad smell keeps the deer away until the trees are fully grown.This story mainly tells _ how much damage deer do to trees how trees can be protected from deer what selenium is why deer eat pine trees 5.In real life,rattlesnakes try to avoid people and seldom attack.Most people are bitten only after they step on these snakes.A rattlesnake may not even inject its poison when it bites.In fact,more Americans die from insect stings than from snakebites!This story mainly tells _ how rattlesnakes arent as dangerous as everyone believes why insects kill people when rattlesnakes use their poison how snakes bite 6.Imagine testing glass by throwing chickens at it Sometimes fast moving airplanes fly through flocks of birds.If the birds hit the windshield of a plane,the glass could shatter and cause a crash.Airplane manufacturers have made a chicken cannon that fires rubber chickens at glass windshields.If the windshield doesnt break when the rubber chicken hits it,the designers know that the glass can withstand the force of a real crash.This story mainly tells _ why birds can be dangerous to airplanes how a chick cannon tests glass how big a bird has to be to damage an airplane how the chicken cannon works 7.The diamond is a hard element that can cut through almost any metal.That is why it is often used for industrial purposes.Whole diamond stones are set into tools.Dust from crushed diamond stones is used for coating the edges of tools.Care must be taken when exposing diamonds to extreme heat because heat can turn them into graphite.Graphite is the soft material used in the manufacture of lead for pencils.This story mainly tells _ how to turn a diamond into a graphite how diamonds are used in industry how diamond dust coats tool edges when diamonds are used in pencils 8.Alfred Nobel invented dynamite to help builders,but it was used for war,which made him feel very guilty about the misuse of his invention.He was a rich man,so he set up a$9 million fund.Today the fund is used to reward people who have improved human life.Nobel Prizes are awarded in six fields,including peace,medicine,and chemistry.This story mainly tells _ what the Nobel Prizes are awarded for why Nobel founded the Nobel Prize fund how much money was set aside for rewards what invention Alfred Nobel created 9.The temperature of Antartica once fell to 128 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.In the summertime,temperatures average well below freezing.Most of the land is covered with ice that is up to 2 miles thick.Only a few strong mosses and sturdy spiders can live on this big block of ice.Since very little snow or rain falls there,Antartica is a desert.This story mainly tells _ about a desert with extremely cold temperatures which plants and insects live in Antartica how much snow and rain fall there how low the temperature once fell 10.The Marines had a problem in World War II.Orders were sent in code,but the enemy kept learning the code.Nothing could be kept secret.Then someone thought the Navajo soldiers could help the Marines.Since very few other people could speak Navajo,this language was used as a code.No one on the enemy side knew Navajo,so the messages stayed secret.This story mainly tells _ how Navajo people kept secrets when the secret code was used how the Marines used Navajo as a code why the original code had to be changed 11.Sharks have a keen sense of hearing and can smell blood from almost 2,000 yards away.Sharks also have a special system of channels in their skin that helps them feel the vibrations of a splashing swimmer.We know that in clear water,sharks can see dinner from about 50 feet away.If you ever spot a shark,always swim away smoothly!This story mainly tells _ how well sharks hear why sharks have poor vision how sharks sense food when to swim away smoothly 12.Trousers are a recent style in the history of fashion.Men wore tights under short,loose pants until the early 1800s when the first real pants for men appeared.Until the 1940s few women wore long pants.During World War II,women factory workers started wearing long pants.The fashion caught on.The story mainly tells _ that long pants are a somewhat new fashion when men stopped wearing pantaloons who wore tights why women dont wear trousers 13.A scientist believes that millions of animals have died every 26 million years.He thinks that comets are responsible for those deaths.Comets would explode on impact as they slammed into Earth.Dust from the explosions blocked light and heat from the Sun.Plants and animals on Earth could not withstand such conditions,so they died.This story mainly tells _ how often animals died why comets may come near Earth where the dust comes from about a possible cause of animal deaths in the past 14.The rare Chinese panda lives on tender,young bamboo shoots.Most bamboo plants die right after flowering.Without the bamboo the pandas starve.Because some people fear that the rare pandas may die out,in some places food is given to the hungry animals.Some pandas are airlifted to places where bamboo is still plentiful.This story mainly tells _ what the Chinese pandas usually eat how the bamboo plants flower how people are keeping pandas alive why pandas sometimes starve to death 15.Bob Geldof talked to the top musical talents of the world and asked them to sing at a concert to raise moeny.The stars agreed.Geldof found a stadium,arranged for TV coverage,and set up a trust fund.He said that none of the stars would get special treatment.Everyone would work together.In 1985,the Live Aid concert raised more than$100 million for starving children.This story mainly tells _ how Geldof found a stadium how many musical stars agreed to sing why people are hungry in Africa how a concert benefited starving children 16.Can fish climb trees It sounds like a fishy story,but mudskippers living in the swamps of Asia really can climb trees.After filling their gills with air and water,they climb onto land.Mudskippers use their front fins to move along the ground.Suckers on their fins help them climb trees.This story mainly tells _ where mudskippers live how they fill their gills how mudskippers can climb trees where mudskippers have suckers 17.Probably the best-known rodeo cowboy in the world is Larry Mahan.Mahan was the national champion six times before he was 30.He was good at every event and was so successful that he had his own plane.When he got too old to be in the rodeo,he didnt stop doing rodeo work.He started a rodeo school.The story mainly tells _ where to ride bulls and rope calves about the most famous rodeo cowboy in the world how to get rich in the rodeo where to go to rodeo school 18.The peanut is a humble plant with hundreds of functions.Most peanuts are roasted in their shells and lightly salted.About half the peanuts eaten in the United States are ground into a thick paste called peanut butter.The rich oil made from peanuts is good for frying foods and is used for oiling machines and making soaps and paint.Even peanut shells are used to make plastics and to fertilize soil.This story mainly tells _ why peanut oil is used for frying how much peanut butter is eaten in the United States about the many uses of the peanut why peanut shells make good fertilizer 19.Tap dancing started in America.It began as folk dancing that had much kicking and stamping.Over time two kinds of dancing developed.In one kind the dancers wore hard shoes and danced very fast.In the other they wore soft shoes and danced slowly and easily.There wasnt really any tap in tap dancing until 1925.Thats when someone put metal pieces on the toes and heels of tap shoes.The story mainly tells _ how there are two kinds of tap dancing how tap shoes are made where some folk dances came from how tap dancing developed 20.Native Americans dried strips of meat,pounded it into a paste,and then mixed it with fat.Sometimes they added berries and sugar.Then they pressed itinto small cakes.They called thse cakes pemmmican.Pemmican didnt spoil,and it provided lots of energy for people traveling or goint hunting.Today explorers still carry and eat this food.This story mainly tells _ who uses pemmican today what can be put into pemmican how pemmican was prepared by Native Americans why people eat pemmican today 21.Dogs have been called our best friends,but they are also good helpers.They can be used in many ways.Some dogs hunt while others guard animals and property.Boxers and German sheperds are trained to lead people who are blind.A dog named Laika was the first animal in space.This story mainly tells _ how many types of dogs there are what the name of the space dog was what kind of dogs can lead people who are blind how dogs are useful 22.Kitty ONeil wanted to become a stunt person.She performed incredible stunts,such as 100-foot falls.ONeill has been deaf since birth.She says she can concentrate better than most people who can hear.She is not bothered by the sounds around her.This story mainly tells _ when ONeill fell 100 feet how long ONeill has been deaf how ONeils disability has helped her career how to become a stunt person 23.For years food chemists have tasted hot peppers used for chili sauce,catsup,and pizza,but people had a hard time figuring out the spiciness of the peppers.After eating two or three,their taste buds were burning.Now a machine can test different kinds of hot peppers.It measures the chemicals that provide the spicy taste of the peppers.This story mainly tells _ how scientists measure chemicals how hot and spicy peppers are used why people have trouble tasting hot peppers how a machine helps the hot-pepper industry 24.Computers have changed quite a bit through the years.An early model could add 18 million numbers per hour.One person would have needed many years to do the same job.A modern computer can add 1 1/2 trillion numbers in less than three hours.This story mainly tells _ who uses computers how long one person takes to do a job how computers have gotten faster over time how fast modern computers can add 25.There are many ways to learn about people.You can learn a lot about people by simply watching or talking to them.Looking at the floor can also give you information about people.You can tell where people walk most frequently because of the worn carpet.The next