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Main idea questions
The main idea is rarely a sentence you can copy. It is what the whole paragraph adds up to. The test hides it among choices that are true but too small, or too big for the passage. The size rule sorts them in seconds.
The idea that covers the whole paragraph
In many cities, empty lots have been turned into community gardens. Neighbors who once passed each other without a word now share tools, swap seeds and trade advice about tomatoes. Some gardens give part of their harvest to food banks. A patch of soil, it seems, can grow more than vegetables.
Every sentence points the same way: the gardens bring people together and help the neighborhood. The last line says it outright. A good main idea: community gardens benefit neighborhoods in ways beyond food.
Say it yourself before you look
Cover the choices and say in one sentence what the paragraph is about. Then pick the choice closest to yours. If you read the choices first, a true detail will pull you in.
How to solve them
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1
The size rule: not too narrow, not too broad
Most wrong choices are the wrong size. A choice about one sentence is too narrow. A choice about more than the passage discusses is too broad. The answer fits the whole paragraph exactly.
Next step: Where it sitsToo narrowNeighbors swap seeds in community gardens.
One detail
Too broadThe history of farming in America.
Far bigger than the text
Just rightCommunity gardens help neighborhoods in many ways.
Covers every sentence
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2
Where the main idea usually sits
Look hard at the first and last sentences: one of them often states or sums up the idea. The middle sentences are usually support: examples, reasons, details.
Next step: True but smallShortcutFirst and last
Read the first sentence, then the last. If they agree, that is very likely your main idea. In the garden passage, the last line (“can grow more than vegetables”) sums it up.
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3
The trap: a choice that is true but too small
A detail from the passage is true, which makes it tempting. But a main idea question does not ask “what is true?” It asks “what is the whole thing about?”
Next step: Best titleTrue, but too smallSome gardens donate to food banks.
In the text, but one sentence
The question asks“mainly about”
the whole paragraph
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4
Best title questions are main idea questions
A good title names the topic and hints at the point. Apply the same size rule.
Next step: Topic vs pointWeak titleTomatoes
Too narrow
Good titleGardens That Grow Neighborhoods
Topic and point
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5
Topic versus point
The topic is what the paragraph talks about (community gardens). The main idea is what it says about that topic (they help neighborhoods). Choices that only name the topic are often too vague.
Next step: CheckTopic onlyCommunity gardens.
Says nothing about them
Main ideaCommunity gardens bring neighbors together.
Topic + point
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6
Check: does every sentence support it?
Run through the sentences: does each one support your choice? If one sentence has nothing to do with it, your choice is too narrow. If your choice talks about things no sentence mentions, it is too broad.
ShortcutThe umbrella test
Picture your answer as an umbrella. Every sentence of the paragraph should fit under it, and nothing outside the paragraph should be under it.
4 traps in the answer choices
The test writes its wrong answers on purpose: each one is what you get if you make one of these mistakes.
A true detail
The garden passage is mainly about:
Wronggardens give food to food banks
Rightgardens help neighborhoods in many ways
Too broad
The garden passage is mainly about:
Wronghow cities are planned
Rightwhat community gardens do for neighbors
Just the topic
The garden passage is mainly about:
Wronggardens
Rightgardens that bring neighbors together
Reading the choices first
You see a true sentence among the choices:
Wrongit feels right, you mark it
Rightsay the idea yourself first
5 questions at test level
Pick an answer, then read why. No timer, no account.
Passage: “Many people think sharks are mindless hunters. In fact, some species can learn to recognize shapes, and others travel the same routes across oceans year after year. Scientists are still discovering how much these animals can remember.” What is the passage mainly about?
Show the answer
B. The passage opens with a common belief and then gives examples that show sharks can learn and remember. “Travel across oceans” is one detail, and “the history of ocean science” is too broad. The answer is Sharks are more capable than many people believe.
Which title best fits the garden passage?
Show the answer
C. The title has to cover the whole idea: gardens and what they do for the people around them. Tomatoes is too narrow, Empty Lots is only the starting point, and the history of cities is too broad. The answer is Gardens That Grow Neighborhoods.
Passage: “Walking twenty minutes a day can lower blood pressure, improve sleep and lift mood. It needs no equipment and no gym. For many people, it is the easiest healthy habit to start.” The main idea is that…
Show the answer
A. Every sentence supports one point: walking is good for you and easy to begin. Sleep is a single benefit, and gyms and shoes are not the point. The answer is Walking is an easy habit with many health benefits.
In the walking passage, the sentence “It needs no equipment and no gym” mainly serves to…
Show the answer
B. That sentence supports the idea in the last line, that walking is “the easiest healthy habit to start.” It does not attack gyms. The answer is Show that walking is easy to start.
Passage: “The first public parks were often built for health as much as for beauty. City leaders believed fresh air and open space would protect crowded neighborhoods from disease. Today, parks are valued for exercise, events and simple rest.” Which choice is TOO NARROW to be the main idea?
Show the answer
B. The health purpose of early parks is true, but it covers only the first two sentences; the passage goes on to today. The answer is Early parks were partly meant to protect health.
8 flashcards
Tap a card to flip it. Keep the ones you miss until they stick.
All 8 cards known.
You finished main idea questions.
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