BSEP Reading for Main Idea 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A passage covers the history of jazz, its African American origins, and its influence on modern music. The best title for this passage would be:
- Famous Jazz Musicians
- The Origins and Impact of Jazz Music (Correct answer)
- How to Play Jazz Instruments
- African American Culture in the 20th Century
Correct answer: The Origins and Impact of Jazz Music
A good title reflects the main idea; the passage covers jazz's history, origins, and influence, so that title fits best.
Question 2: When reading a long article, how can headings and subheadings help a reader identify the main idea?
- They provide the author's personal opinion
- They list all the supporting details in the article
- They signal the main topics and help organize the key points (Correct answer)
- They show which paragraphs can be skipped
Correct answer: They signal the main topics and help organize the key points
Headings and subheadings are organizational tools that highlight the main topics covered in each section.
Question 3: A paragraph reads: 'Maria practiced piano every day for a year. She took lessons twice a week. She performed in three recitals.' What is the implied main idea?
- Piano is a difficult instrument to learn
- Maria was very dedicated to learning piano (Correct answer)
- Recitals are an important part of musical training
- Taking lessons is the best way to learn music
Correct answer: Maria was very dedicated to learning piano
All three details point to Maria's consistent effort and dedication to learning piano.
Question 4: A passage begins: 'Volunteering benefits communities in many ways.' The rest of the paragraph gives examples of those benefits. This opening sentence is called the:
- Concluding sentence
- Supporting detail
- Topic sentence (Correct answer)
- Transition sentence
Correct answer: Topic sentence
A topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph, and all other sentences support it with details.
Question 5: A student reads a passage and thinks the main idea is 'Dogs make good pets.' However, the passage also discusses cats, birds, and fish. What should the student do?
- Keep the main idea since dogs are mentioned
- Broaden the main idea to cover all pets discussed (Correct answer)
- Ignore the other animals and focus only on dogs
- Assume the passage has no clear main idea
Correct answer: Broaden the main idea to cover all pets discussed
The main idea must encompass all major content; if the passage covers many pets, the main idea should reflect that broader scope.
Question 6: Which strategy BEST helps a reader identify the main idea of an unfamiliar passage?
- Read only the first word of each sentence
- Look up every unknown vocabulary word before reading
- Read the entire passage, then ask 'What is this mostly about?' (Correct answer)
- Count how many times each word appears
Correct answer: Read the entire passage, then ask 'What is this mostly about?'
Reading the full passage and then asking what it is mostly about is the most effective strategy for identifying the main idea.
Question 7: A paragraph describes three scientists who independently discovered the same mathematical theorem. The main idea is most likely:
- Mathematics is a very old subject
- Scientists sometimes make the same discovery at different times (Correct answer)
- The theorem is extremely difficult to understand
- Scientists prefer to work alone rather than in teams
Correct answer: Scientists sometimes make the same discovery at different times
The unifying point across all three examples is that independent simultaneous discovery is something that happens in science.
BSEP Reading for Main Idea 3
A passage covers the history of jazz, its African American origins, and its influence on modern music.
The best title for this passage would be: