Main Idea
Read the following paragraphs (1 through 5). Underline the sentence that best qualifies as the topic sentence for each paragraph.
1. Vocabulary:
reward: something given in exchange for good behavior
conduct: to organize and direct (a particular activity)
salivate: to produce saliva (the natural, watery liquid in the mouth)
Animals learn not only by trial and error, but also by conditioning, which involves a system of rewards or punishments. If you have a dog, you and your parents probably trained it in this way. A Russian scientist named Pavlov once conducted a famous experiment in conditioning. Pavlov rang a bell every time he offered food to a group of dogs. The dogs would begin to salivate when they were fed. After repeating this action many times, Pavlov continued to ring the bell, but without feeding the dogs. He discovered that the dogs still began to salivate every time he rang the bell.
2. Vocabulary
parallel: being the same distance apart along all their length
equator: an imaginary line that goes around the middle of the earth and that is an equal distance (is equidistant) from the North Pole and the South Pole.
coincidence: an occasion when two or more things happen at the same time
Look at the Atacama Desert of South America. It is found near the thirtieth parallel south of the equator. Similarly, the Sahara and the Rub’al-Khali deserts of northern Africa and nearby Saudi Arabia are 30° north of the equator, while the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa is about 30° south of it. The Gobi Desert of central Asia lies a little farther than 30° north, at about 45°, while the Great Sandy and Gibson deserts of Australia fall back into the pattern, lying 30° south of the equator. This pattern is no coincidence. All the hot deserts are found about the same distance north or south of the equator.
3. Vocabulary
stubborn: opposed to change or suggestion
frontier: (in the past in the US) a border between developed land where white people lived and land where Indians lived or land that was wild
tough (n. toughness): difficult to deal with, likely to be violent/containing violence
Andrew Jackson may have been a headstrong, stubborn general, and cruel to Native Americans. However, he was very popular with the American people. His great popularity helped get him elected president in 1828, and President Jackson brought his frontier ways to Washington, D.C. He had grown up in the Carolina backwoods and had lived much of his life as a soldier. Some people saw him as a “self-made man” who had succeeded because of his own toughness and efforts. He was not born rich or with any special advantages.
4. Vocabulary
progressive: in favor of new ideas, modern methods and change
abuse: the use of something in an unsuitable or wrong way
monopoly: complete control of the supply of particular goods or services
aversion: a feeling of strong dislike to do something
The Progressives of the early decades of the 20th century wanted to clean up and reform government and to use government to advance human welfare. They were opposed to the abuse of power by political machines and monopolies. They wanted to apply scientific management to government just as it was being applied to business and to use it to solve urban problems. Many Progressives had an aversion to party politics.
5. Vocabulary
reconstruction: the activity of building again something that has been damaged or destroyed
accommodation: a place to live, work or stay in
enforce (n. enforcement): to make sure that people obey a particular law or rule
measure: an official action that is done in order to achieve a particular aim
As one of its last acts during the reconstruction era, Congress passed a Civil Rights Act in 1876 to provide equal accommodation in public places like hotels. No enforcement provisions were included, however, and without federal enforcement provisions, the Act was a failure. This failure discouraged Congress from making further attempts to secure civil rights by legislation. When the Civil Rights Movement got Congress to act in the 1960s, enforcement measures were included in the Civil Rights Act.
6. Vocabulary
sensationalism: a way of getting people’s interest by using shocking words or by presenting facts and events as worse or more shocking than they really are
exposure: the fact of being discussed or mentioned on television, in newspapers, etc.
outdo: to do more or better than somebody else
legend: a story from ancient times about people and events, that may or may not be true
practitioner: a person who regularly does a particular activity, especially one that requires skill
Joseph Pulitzer, who began with a St. Louis newspaper and moved to New York, introduced the idea of the “yellow press,” which was named for the “yellow kid” in his colored comic page in the New York World. Yellow journalism is based on sensationalism and exposures in order to sell papers. Papers battling for more readers and more advertising struggled to outdo each other in reporting scandals.
The public bought the papers suggesting an aspect of the American character different from the clean cowboy image of frontier legend. William Randolph Hearst in the San Francisco Examiner was another noted practitioner of yellow journalism. Both he and Joseph Pulitzer built large publishing empires.
Editors’ competition for readers led to emotional reporting on the international situation in Cuba in the 1890s. The press had a major role in bringing the United States into the Spanish-American War.
Which of the following best summarizes the author’s main idea?
A. The first newspaper ever founded was a St. Louis newspaper.
B. Yellow journalism is developed to sell more papers.
C. The press had a very important role in the United States.
D. The press relied on scandals to compete for readers.
7. Vocabulary:
rugged: strong or powerful; not delicate
laissez-faire: the policy of allowing private businesses to develop without government control
extol: to praise highly
The American economic system had worked for Hoover, and he was committed to preserving that system as he knew it. He had explained his views on the American system and “rugged individualism” during the 1928 campaign, saying the system demanded “economic justice as well as political and social justice” and was “no system of laissez-faire.” He also extolled liberalism as “a force truly of the spirit, a force proceeding from the deep realization that economic freedom cannot be sacrificed if political freedom is to be preserved.”
By thus tying economic freedom to political freedom, when faced with the recession, Hoover firmly believed he could not act to control or infringe the freedom enjoyed by business and business interests. Yet he believed in economic and political justice and that the government was “an umpire instead of a player in the economic game.” He believed that the government could have a role in economic activity, but only as an insurer of fair play.
Which of the following is the main point the author makes about Hoover?
A. Hoover supported economic freedom at the cost of economic justice.
B. Hoover held contradictory beliefs as to the role of the government.
C. Hoover recommended extensive government involvement in the economic system.
D. Hoover consistently extolled the economic system of laissez-faire.
8. Vocabulary
recognition: the acceptance of something as true
nourish: to provide (people or animals) with food in order to make them grow and keep them healthy
polemics: the practice or skill of arguing strongly for or against something
let the chips fall where they may: let what happens happen regardless of the outcome
restraint: determined control over behavior in order prevent the strong expression of emotion or any violent action
The full recognition of the place of the artist is most important to the future of our country and our civilization. In a free society, art is not a weapon and it does not belong to the sphere of polemics and ideology. Artists are not engineers of the soul.
It may be different elsewhere. But in the democratic society, the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist is to remain true to himself and to let the chips fall where they may. Fortunately, if art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.
By doing so, we may look forward to a great future for America – a future in which the country will match its economic strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose.
What aspect of the artists does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The roles of artists as social engineers
B. The high aesthetic standards of artists in the democratic society
C. Polemics among the writer, the composer and the artist
D. The importance of the artist’s fidelity
9. Vocabulary
potential: possible but not yet achieved
immense: extremely large; great in size or degree
yield: a profit or an amount produced
fertilizer: a natural or chemical substance that is spread on land in order to make plants grow well
sulfur, nitrogen: chemical elements
The accumulating evidence indicates that acid rain is one of the most serious worldwide pollution problems confronting us today. The potential consequences of its effects on biological systems are immense: lowered crop yields, decreased timber production, the need for greater amounts of increasingly expensive fertilizer to compensate for nutrient leaking, the loss of important freshwater fishing areas, and, possibly, of the eastern forests as well. The monetary and social costs of allowing the conditions that create acid rain to continue (or even to increase) are potentially very great, as are the costs of available processes to remove the sulfur and nitrogen oxides at the source, before they enter the air.
Scientists from many fields are presently engaged in research to gain a greater understanding of the causes and effects of acid rain and the likely consequences of proposed solutions. Although scientists can provide information on which decisions can be based, the choices that lie ahead are essentially social and economic, to be made through political processes.
What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Acid rain does less damage than originally thought by the environmentalists.
B. Scientists have the ultimate authority to decide which issue should be addressed.
C. Solutions to the problem of acid rain are not entirely based on scientific data but also on value judgment.
D. Cost-benefit analysis is highly recommended before scientists embark on the costly research on acid rain.
10. Vocabulary
conversely: from a different and opposite way of looking at something
vibration: a continuous shaking movement
comprise: to consist of or to be made up of
conform: to operate according to a rule
octave: the difference between the first and last notes in a series of eight notes on musical scale
Westerners, having been introduced to the music of their own cultural tradition as part of the childhood enculturation process, usually find Western music most appealing. Conversely, they may find Asian music unappealing, because it separates tones from one another differently from Western music. In the fixed set of tones (or scale) on which Western music is based, each tone is separated from its nearest neighbor according to how many more or fewer vibrations it comprises. Divided from one another in this way, the tones on which Western music is based make up an octave, a set of eight primary tones. To the Western ear, music based on the octave sounds “correct” and pleasing.
But in Japan, where the set of tones on which traditional music is based does not conform to the octave, Western music may sound unmusical. The two very different kinds of music are, however, equally pleasing to listeners in the context of their own cultures.
Which of the following is the main point the author makes about music?
A. An octave is a universal feature of different kinds of music.
B. Music is an important part of social life, often accompanying social events.
C. Different kinds of music are equally appealing in the context of listeners’ cultural backgrounds.
D. Music sounds “correct” when the set of tones conforms to a set of eight primary tones.
11. Vocabulary
harbor: to protect by giving them a place to hide
benthic organism, pelagic organism: types of organisms living in the ocean
sessile: attached to one place
plankton: the very small forms of plant and animal life that live in seas, rivers, lakes, etc.
algae: very simple plants that grow in or near water and do not have ordinary leaves or roots
It has already been noted that, because physical and chemical conditions change from place to place, different parts of the ocean harbor very distinct communities. For convenience, marine biologists categorize communities according to where and how the organisms live. Perhaps the simplest classification relates to the lifestyle of the organism: whether it lives on the bottom or up in the water column. Benthic organisms, or the benthos, are those that live on or buried in the bottom. Some benthic organisms are sessile, or attached to one place; others move around. Pelagic organisms, on the other hand, live up in the water column, away from the bottom.
Pelagic organisms are further subdivided according to how well they can swim. Some marine organisms swim only weakly or not at all. These organisms, called plankton, are at the mercy of the currents and are carried from place to place. The term “plankton” comes from the Greek word for “drifters.” Planktonic algae and other autotrophs are collectively called the phytoplankton and are the most important primary producers in many marine ecosystems. The animal plankton is called the zooplankton.
What aspect of the marine environment does the passage mainly discuss?
A. Characteristics of different parts of the ocean
B. The simplest classification of organisms
C. Subdivision of the organisms according to how well they can swim
D. Classification of marine organisms according to their lifestyles
12. Vocabulary
conserve: to keep and protect from waste, loss, or damage; preserve
fallow: not used for growing crops, especially so that the quality of the land will improve
fertile: able to produce a large number of high-quality crops
irrigate: to supply with water so that crops and plants will grow or grow better
thresh: to remove the seeds of crop plants by hitting, using either a machine or a hand tool
Farmers conserve or add to the fertility of the soil by keeping some land fallow each session. Fallow land is plowed but is not seeded during a growing season. Farmers also help keep the soil fertile by growing a fallow crop. A fallow crop is one that nourishes the soil, such as soybeans.
Extensive irrigation systems and complex farm machinery also help increase the region’s agricultural production. Nearly all farmers in the United States and Canada use tractors rather than animals for plowing. However, owners of smaller farms often find it too costly to buy equipment such as combines. Combines are harvest machines used for reaping and threshing grain. These machines are very costly and are best suited for very large farms. As more-complex and more-expensive machinery is developed, it is harder for owners of small farms to compete with the owners of large farms. Therefore, the number of large farms in the United States and Canada is steadily increasing, while the number of small farms is decreasing.
What aspect of farming does the passage mainly discuss?
A. Ways to increase agricultural production and side effects
B. Competition between owners of large farms and those of small farms
C. Hardship of installing costly equipment on small farms
D. A competitive advantage in the agriculture of the United States and Canada
13. Vocabulary
tropical: of or characteristic of the tropics
topics: the hottest area of the earth, the area on either side of the equator reaching to 23.5 degrees to the north and south
current a movement of water or air
zone: an area, especially one that has different characteristics from the ones around it or is used for different purposes
temperate: not extreme; within a middle range
moderate: not extreme
Large, slow-moving bodies of heated or cooled air are called air masses. Air masses form over North America and affect our weather. There are seven major air masses in North America: three in the north, and four in the south. Northern air masses are usually cooler high pressure systems, while southern air masses are warm, low pressure systems. Air pressure is the weight of the air pressing down on the earth, and air pressure systems are the ways different parts of the air press down on the earth.
Air masses can also be wet or dry, depending on whether they form over very dry land, such as the desert, or wet areas, such as the oceans. The wet Tropical Atlantic air mass forms over the warm currents of the Gulf Stream, and travels up the eastern coast of the United States.
The three northern and four southern air masses tend to meet over an area covering the parts of North America that the most number of people live in. This is known as the zone of mixing or the temperate zone. Most of the United States is in the temperate zone. Because the number of hot and cold air masses is almost the same, they tend to balance each other out, and the temperate zone has warm summers, cold winters, and moderate spring and fall temperatures.
Which of the following would be the best title?
A. The Causes of Different Types of Climate
B. How Air Masses Affect Weather and Climate
C. How Clouds are Formed in the Temperate Zone
D. Where in North America Air Masses Tend to Meet Each Other
Answers:
Select the Topic Sentence.
1. Animals learn not only by trial and error, but also by conditioning, which involves a system of rewards or punishments.
2. All the hot deserts are found about the same distance north or south of the equator.
3. His great popularity helped get him elected president in 1828, and President Jackson brought his frontier ways to Washington, D.C.
4. The Progressives of the early decades of the 20th century wanted to clean up and reform government and to use government to advance human welfare.
5. No enforcement provisions were included, however, and without federal enforcement provisions, the Act was a failure.
Select the Correct Answer:
6. B
7. B
8. D
9. C
10. C
11. D
12. A
13. B
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