... Practice 1Try these questions on the following statements. Readthem carefully, and then write ... most interestingAcademy Award category.Answers1. Fact2. Opinion3. Opinion4. Fact5. Opinion Practice 2Now try the same exercise with a complete paragraph.Underline the facts and use a ... terrible boss. I really don’t like him. He justcan’t get along with people. And he has stupid ideasabout politics.Why is the first paragraph so much better?Because it’s not just opinion....
... howthe mainidea must be general enough to encom-pass all other sentences in the paragraph; it is thethought that controls the paragraph, and the othersentences work to support that main idea. ■Lesson ... Lessons 1–4: getting thefacts, finding the main idea, determining what words mean in context,and distinguishing between fact and opinion. In this lesson, you’ll getvital practice in using all four ... what you read. Yo upracticed looking for the basic information thatwas being conveyed in the paragraphs: the who,what, when, where, and how.■Lesson 2: Find the main idea. You learned abouttopic...
... meansa. permanent, impossible to remove.b. fleeting, brief.c. troubling, disturbing.12. The mainidea of this paragraph is best expressedin which sentence in the paragraph?13. Indicate whether ... general and factual enough to encompassthe whole paragraph.5. True. This sentence expresses the main idea. 6. True. This sentence is an opinion. It is debatable.Someone else might think that altering ... isa. reject.b. copy.c. ignore.d. disregard.4. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?a. Teenagers love to eat fast food more than any-thing else.b. School...
... everyone a bonus checkfor $100.It doesn’t sound quite as good, does it? Practice with TransitionalWords and Phrases Practice Passage 1Here’s a more extreme example of a paragraph with thetransitional ... last.Second, you can tell by the use of transitional words andphrases, which signal a shift from one idea to the next.Here is the same paragraph with the transitional wordsunderlined:This year’s ... arrangements for a clientto stay in town overnight. When I looked at mywatch, it was already 11:00. Practice Passage 2Here is a series of events listed in random order. Use thetransitional words...
... until at last, you reach the president.Likewise, in writing, ideas may be arranged in order of importance. In this pattern, which idea comes first?Not the one that happened first, but the one ... your reading comprehension by helping yousee what’s most important in a piece of writing.761 Practice Passage 3Read the following paragraph, which describes a local community event.– START ... damaged in a fire six months ago. An ener-getic committee of eight community members came up with the idea of theInternational Dinner to raise funds to repair the damages. The plan was to cel-ebrate...
... third, inaddition, and most importantly. Main Idea By the way, what is the mainidea of the two para-graphs above? Do you see a topic sentence? Write the main idea of the paragraphs in this space.You ... until at last, you reach the president.Likewise, in writing, ideas may be arranged in order of importance. In this pattern, which idea comes first?Not the one that happened first, but the one ... writer’s idea builds and builds, getsbigger and bigger, more and more important. By start-ing with the least important point, writers can alsocreate suspense—the reader is waiting for that final idea. ...
... analysis. This reason orpoint is the main idea, which is often stated in a topicsentence.– SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES: COMPARE AND CONTRAST–71 Finding the Main Idea Now that you’ve answered those ... What is the mainidea of this passage?Did you notice that the opening sentence, “Plantinga garden is a lot like having a family,” is the topic sen-tence that expresses the mainidea of this ... being a gardener. Parentsmust bathe, clothe, and feed their children. Parentsmust also create and maintain guidelines for accept-able behavior for children. Also, parents must see toit that their...
... point out by puttingthese two things side by side for analysis. This reason orpoint is the main idea, which is often stated in a topicsentence.– SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES: COMPARE AND ... paragraphsdon’t really seem to have a point—there’s no basis forcomparison between gardeners and parents. Practice Suppose you were going to write a paragraph that com-pares and contrasts readers and detectives. ... being a gardener. Parentsmust bathe, clothe, and feed their children. Parentsmust also create and maintain guidelines for accept-able behavior for children. Also, parents must see toit that their...
... importance (least important idea to most important idea) or in order of decreasing importance (most important idea to least important idea) .■Lesson 8: Compare and contrast. Ideas are arranged so ... information and ideas:■Lesson 6: Chronological order. Ideas are arranged in the order in which they occurred (or in the order inwhich they should occur).■Lesson 7: Order of importance. Ideas are ... effect. Inthat case, readers must judge the validity of the author’sanalysis. Are the author’s ideas logical? Does he or shesupport the conclusions he or she comes to? Consider,for example,...
... importance (least important idea to most important idea) or in order of decreasing importance (most important idea to least important idea) .■Lesson 8: Compare and contrast. Ideas are arranged so ... information and ideas:■Lesson 6: Chronological order. Ideas are arranged in the order in which they occurred (or in the order inwhich they should occur).■Lesson 7: Order of importance. Ideas are ... (least important tomost important).7. Underline the sentence in this passage thatexpresses the main idea. 8. The sentence you underlined is a(n)a. fact.b. opinion.Answers5. b, c. The author...
... stated main idea. If you recall from Lesson 2, a main idea is defined as an assertion about the subject that controls or holds together all the ideas in the passage. There-fore, the mainidea must ... time, an inference about the mainidea or point ofthe passage.LESSON Finding the Implied Main Idea LESSON SUMMARYThis lesson shows you how to determine the mainidea of a passagein which the ... expresses their main idea, many times, they simply omit that sentence and instead providea series of clues through structure and language to get their ideas across. Finding an implied mainidea is much...