West B Test Reading: Main Idea and Details 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A paragraph states: 'Coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean floor yet support 25% of all marine species. They provide food and shelter for thousands of fish, invertebrates, and other organisms. Without reefs, countless species would face extinction.' What is the main idea?
- Coral reefs occupy very little space in the ocean
- Coral reefs are critically important ecosystems despite their small size (Correct answer)
- Many marine species would become extinct without coral reefs
- Coral reefs shelter fish and invertebrates
Correct answer: Coral reefs are critically important ecosystems despite their small size
The paragraph's central point is that coral reefs punch above their weight ecologically, making option B the main idea.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes a 'supporting detail' in a passage?
- A sentence that introduces a new topic
- A statement that contradicts the main idea
- Specific information that develops, explains, or proves the main idea (Correct answer)
- The concluding sentence of a paragraph
Correct answer: Specific information that develops, explains, or proves the main idea
Supporting details provide evidence, examples, or elaboration that back up the main idea.
Question 3: A passage opens: 'Handwriting instruction has largely disappeared from American classrooms. Many educators argue this is a mistake, citing research linking cursive writing to improved memory and fine motor development.' The main idea is best captured by which statement?
- Cursive writing improves memory
- Schools should teach more fine motor skills
- The decline of handwriting instruction may have negative educational consequences (Correct answer)
- American classrooms have changed dramatically over the decades
Correct answer: The decline of handwriting instruction may have negative educational consequences
The passage argues that removing handwriting instruction is problematic, making option C the controlling idea.
Question 4: A student reads a passage about urban heat islands and writes: 'Cities are hotter than rural areas because of concrete and human activity.' This sentence most likely represents the passage's:
- Concluding detail
- Supporting example
- Main idea (Correct answer)
- Transitional sentence
Correct answer: Main idea
The student's sentence captures the central claim of the passage, so it functions as the main idea.
Question 5: In a passage about sleep deprivation, the author writes: 'Adults who sleep fewer than six hours per night are more likely to suffer from obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.' This sentence is best classified as:
- The thesis statement of the entire essay
- A supporting detail providing evidence of sleep deprivation's health effects (Correct answer)
- An irrelevant tangent
- The topic sentence of a concluding paragraph
Correct answer: A supporting detail providing evidence of sleep deprivation's health effects
This specific statistic supports a broader main idea about sleep deprivation's dangers, making it a supporting detail.
Question 6: A paragraph discusses three ways social media affects teenagers: reduced face-to-face interaction, increased anxiety, and shorter attention spans. The implied main idea is:
- Teenagers spend too much time on phones
- Social media has multiple negative effects on teenagers (Correct answer)
- Anxiety is the most serious problem among teens today
- Attention spans are decreasing across all age groups
Correct answer: Social media has multiple negative effects on teenagers
All three details point to the same umbrella conclusion: social media negatively affects teens in multiple ways.
Question 7: A reader is asked to identify the main idea of a multi-paragraph article. The most reliable strategy is to:
- Read only the first sentence of each paragraph
- Identify the idea that is supported by the majority of details across the whole article (Correct answer)
- Choose the most interesting fact mentioned
- Focus on the longest paragraph
Correct answer: Identify the idea that is supported by the majority of details across the whole article
The main idea of a multi-paragraph text is the central claim that most details in the article support.
West B Test Reading: Main Idea and Details 2
A paragraph states: 'Coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean floor yet support 25% of all marine species.
They provide food and shelter for thousands of fish, invertebrates, and other organisms.
Without reefs, countless species would face extinction.' What is the main idea?