Main ideas

The main idea is the most important point or idea in a reading passage. It is a general statement.

A main idea usually occurs at the beginning of a passage, either as a title or a topic sentence. Sometimes it is repeated at the end as a summary.

Answers to questions about main ideas may require a statement of the idea or a title that summarizes the main idea.

Some students prefer to answer the questions about main ideas first while they still have a general idea of the passage. Answering questions about details first can cause the reader to forget the main idea.

In reading for the main idea, use your skimming skills, that is, read the text superficially.

EXAMPLE:

Although dinosaurs have long captured man's imagination, no human ever saw one. For over one hundred million years dinosaurs roamed the earth, but for some unknown reason, they perished seventy million years ago, years before man appeared.
There are several theories as to why the giants disappeared. Some scientists believe that the earth became too cold; others believe that it became too dry; still others argue that smaller mammals ate the dinosaur eggs before they had an opportunity to hatch.
Whatever the reason, their great bodies sank into the mud where slowly the bones, teeth, and even the skin became fossilized. Today huge stone footprints and enormous skeletal structures are the only record we have of their mysterious existence.

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