Monday, July 29, 2013
Strategy for Main Idea Question
Main idea questions are also defined as Global question. To
get the main idea of a passage, look for the authors point, what the author is
trying to say. Also mind to the check for the KEY WORDS.
STRATEGY FOR MAIN IDEA QUESTION:
READ THE FIRST SENTENCE CAREFULLY
First sentence of a passage usually crucial which gives you
much information which is author going to describe.
LOOK FOR THE KEY WORDS
Key words are generally conveys the main idea of the authors
point. Hunt for them, key words: however, eventually, so, although etc.
RELATION BETWEEN SENTENCE:SUPPORTING/CONTRASTING
Look for whether the second sentence is supporting or
contrasting 1st sentence. Then determine rest of the sentence
direction; supporting or contrasting. Generally contrasting means new idea
which is author is going support or reject.
PARAPHRASE THE MAIN IDEA IN YOUR HEAD AFTER READING
Paraphrase the main idea before looking the answer choices
and match your prediction with answer choice.
ELIMINATE THE WRONG ANSWER
There are four wrong answers, eliminate them. Wrong answers could
be out of scope, contradiction, narrow scope, broad scope, distortion etc.
I will post another single post how to determine wrong
answer choices and how to eliminate them.
APPLICATION OF STRATEGY:
It's hard to remember a time when not everyone had electricity, and when those that did used it sparingly. That's because from about 1900 to 1965 or so, the electric power industry pushed the price of electricity down and down and down. By the end of their incredible technological surge, electricity cost very little and Americans used a lot of it. And because it was cheap and the government had intervened in rural areas through outfits like the Tennessee Valley Authority, electricity became very evenly distributed across the land (though, even now, the price per kilowatt hour varies substantially). In 1921, however, that was not true. The use of electricity did not basically track population. Instead, there were wide regional variations in access to and consumption electricity. The entire south used relatively less electricity than the rest of the country.
1. Which of the following conveys the main idea of the passage?
a. Electricity is becoming cost effective day by day.
b. The entire south used relatively less electricity than the rest of the country.
c. Electricity was unevenly distributed in the country in early twentieth century
d. Electricity was widely used in 1900s and was cheaper then now.
e. Electricity was cheaper in china than any other country.
Answer:
FIRST sentence introduces the topic of the passage: electricity.
SECOND sentence just continues to explain the electricity price declivity.
THIRD and FOURTH sentence goes the same direction, now new idea is introduced,
just has explained why electricity is widespread.
FIFTH sentence introduces the main point of the author; “”HOWEVER””
indicates that. AND the last two sentences just support for the main idea (of
FIFTH sentence)
SO main idea is: electricity was not distributed evenly.
Let’s match our prediction-
a.
TRUE but DON’T matches our prediction
b.
NARROW SCOPE
c.
MATCHES our Prediction and it is the CORRECT
answer.
d.
DISTORTION
e.
OUT OF SCOPE
