PARCC - Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Reading Main Idea 9 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student reads a paragraph about dolphins. The first sentence says, 'Dolphins are highly intelligent marine mammals.' The rest of the paragraph gives examples of dolphins solving puzzles, using tools, and communicating. What role does the first sentence play?
- It is an unimportant introductory comment
- It states the main idea of the paragraph (Correct answer)
- It provides a supporting detail about dolphins
- It introduces a contrasting idea
Correct answer: It states the main idea of the paragraph
The first sentence makes the central claim (dolphins are highly intelligent), and all the examples that follow support that claim, making it the main idea sentence.
Question 2: Which of the following is the BEST way to check that you have correctly identified the main idea of a passage?
- Count how many times a word appears in the passage
- Make sure the main idea is always found in the last paragraph
- Verify that the supporting details in the passage connect to and support your main idea (Correct answer)
- Choose the most interesting sentence in the passage as the main idea
Correct answer: Verify that the supporting details in the passage connect to and support your main idea
A correctly identified main idea will be supported by the details throughout the passage. If the details do not connect to your chosen main idea, you have likely selected a supporting detail instead.
Question 3: A passage has five paragraphs. Four paragraphs describe ways that recycling helps the environment, and one paragraph explains how recycling programs work. What is most likely the main idea of the entire passage?
- Recycling programs are difficult to manage
- Recycling is beneficial for the environment (Correct answer)
- Plastic is the easiest material to recycle
- Communities disagree about recycling policies
Correct answer: Recycling is beneficial for the environment
The majority of the passage focuses on environmental benefits of recycling, so that is the central point the author is making across the whole text.
Question 4: What is the difference between a topic and a main idea?
- They are exactly the same thing
- A topic is a full sentence that states the author's point; a main idea is just a word or phrase
- A topic is the general subject of a passage; a main idea is the specific point the author makes about that topic (Correct answer)
- A main idea only appears in fiction; a topic only appears in nonfiction
Correct answer: A topic is the general subject of a passage; a main idea is the specific point the author makes about that topic
The topic names the general subject (e.g., 'volcanoes'), while the main idea expresses what the author wants you to understand about that subject (e.g., 'Volcanoes can dramatically reshape landscapes').
Question 5: A student reads a passage and picks the main idea. Her teacher says she picked a detail that is too specific. What mistake did the student most likely make?
- She chose a sentence that covers the whole passage instead of just one example
- She chose a sentence that is too broad and includes unrelated ideas
- She chose one example or fact from the passage instead of the overall point (Correct answer)
- She summarized every paragraph rather than choosing one
Correct answer: She chose one example or fact from the passage instead of the overall point
When a student selects a detail that is too specific, it means she chose a single example or fact rather than the broader point that ties all the details together.
Question 6: Two passages are both about sharks. Passage 1 focuses on how sharks hunt prey, while Passage 2 focuses on why sharks are important to ocean ecosystems. Which statement is true?
- Both passages have exactly the same main idea because they are about sharks
- The main idea of each passage is different because each author is making a different point about sharks (Correct answer)
- Passage 1 has no main idea because it only describes behavior
- Main ideas can only be compared when passages are written by the same author
Correct answer: The main idea of each passage is different because each author is making a different point about sharks
Even though both passages share the same topic (sharks), each passage has its own distinct main idea based on the specific point the author is making, so the main ideas will differ.
PARCC - Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Reading Main Idea 9
A student reads a paragraph about dolphins.
The first sentence says, 'Dolphins are highly intelligent marine mammals.' The rest of the paragraph gives examples of dolphins solving puzzles, using tools, and communicating.
What role does the first sentence play?