Finding main ideas

Finding main ideas

by อตินุช เวียงคำ

​What is Main Idea?

​ Main Idea คือ ใจความสำคัญหรือใจความหลักของเรื่อง ซึ่งเป็นส่วนสำคัญที่สุดของเรื่องซึ่งเป็นส่วนที่ครอบคลุมและควบคุมเรื่องนั้นๆ ...คือ ในแต่ละย่อหน้าต้องมี main idea เพียงอันเดียวและถ้าเมื่อขาด main idea ไปแล้วย่อมจะทำให้ไม่เกิดเนื้อเรื่องต่างๆ ขึ้น หรือทำให้ไม่ทราบจุดประสงค์เรื่องนั้นๆ แล้วทำให้เกิดความเข้าใจคลาดเคลื่อนได้โดยปกติแล้ว main idea จะเป็นประโยคเท่านั้น

Multiple Choice

After the hurricane, there was no water and not much food on the island. It is still very bad. Many people no longer have homes and living in schools. Others are in hospitals. We need help from other countries.

                                     

    

     

•  The writer wants to help for his family. 

• The writer wants to help for his country.

• The writer wants some food for his country.

Multiple Choice

Erika liked the blue dress and wanted to buy it. “How much is it?” She asked. “Twenty   ninety-five,” said the clerk. “Oh, I don’t have that much money,” said Erika. “You can charge it,” answered the clerk.

        

                                   

        

• The dress was twenty ninety-five.

• Erika liked the dress and wanted to buy it.      

• Erika didn’t have the money.

Multiple Choice

Louise called Mark on Saturday morning. “What are you doing tonight?” she asked. Mark said, “Tom asked me to go to a baseball game with him. Do you want to come with us, too? He can bring his friend, Jack” “OK,” said Louise. “I like Jack.”

• The four friends are going to a baseball game.

• The four friends are going to a baseball game.

• Tom and Mark are going to a baseball game.

Multiple Choice

“The prices are very high in this restaurant,” said Evelyn to her friend. “Don’t think about the price,” said Edwin. “I want you to enjoy your meal. Order anything you want from the menu. My salary is higher now, and I have a lot of money for our dinner.”

        

• Evelyn and Edwin are eating in a restaurant with high prices.

• Evelyn can order anything she wants from the menu.

• Edwin has a higher salary now.

Multiple Choice

Jenny worked late four days, and her boss wanted to thank her. He paid her more money and took her to dinner at a nice restaurant. “You’re a good secretary, Jenny,” he said. “Thank you for your help.”

• The boss wanted to thank Jenny for her help.

• The boss paid Jenny extra money.

• The boss took Jenny to dinner.

​Trick หา Main Idea

1) หา topic /main pointหรือเนื้อเรื่องที่อ่าน ว่าด้วยเรื่องอะไร (What is the topic?)    

2) ส่วนที่ควบคุมประเด็นสาระที่เสนออยู่นั้นคืออะไร นั่นคือถูกควบคุมให้พูดถึงสิ่งใด แล้วนำเอา topic + สิ่งที่ควบคุม controlling idea) ก็จะได้เป็น main idea

****Main idea ต้องเป็นประโยค แต่ Topic/main point จะเป็นประเด็นหรือกลุ่มคำนาม(Noun phrase)****

Multiple Choice

In response to customers' bitter complaints about long lines, banks are trying new ways to shorten the wait or at least to make it more pleasant. 2 One bank provides coffee and cookies so customers can munch while they wait. 3 Other banks show action movies on a large video screen. 4 One daring bank in California will pay a customer five dollars if he or she must wait more than five minutes for service. 5 Still other banks offer the most obvious solution of all...they simply hire more bank tellers.

• Sentence 1

• Sentence 2

• Sentence 3

• Sentence 4

Multiple Choice

Before clocks were made, people kept track of time by other means. In ancient Egypt, people used a water clock. Water dripped slowly from one clay pot into another. People measured time according to how long it took one pot to empty and the other one to fill. Candle clocks were common during the Middle Ages. As such, when a candle burned, marks on its side showed about how much time had passed. A final ancient way to measure time was the sundial, which used the movement of the sun across the sky. The shadows moving across the face of the sundial showed the current time.What is the main idea?

• As such, when a candle burned, marks on its side showed about how much time had passed.

• Before clocks were made, people kept track by other means.

• In ancient Egypt, people used a water clock.

• All the above.

Multiple Choice

1 One common example of instinct is the spider's spinning of its intricate web. 2 No one teaches a spider how to spin: its inborn instinct allows it to accomplish the task. 3 Another example of instinctive behavior is the salmon's struggle to swim upstream to lay eggs. 4 It would be much easier for the salmon to follow the current downstream, but instinct overrides all other considerations. 5 Instinct is clearly a strong influence on animal behavior.What is the main idea?

• Sentence 1

• Sentence 3

• Sentence 4

• Sentence 5

Multiple Choice

Though fun to watch, chimpanzees should not be kept as pets. 2. They are dangerously stronger that any NFL lineman. 3. Adult chimps weigh only 100 to 160 pounds, but have been measured pulling six to nine times their own weight-----with one hand. 4. Thus, to match the strength of an average chimp, a human being would have to be able to register a two-handed pull of about a ton it takes a very strong man to pull a quarter of that. 5. Combined with this strength is the fact that a chimp is capable of losing its temper -----for reasons known only to the chimp. 6. Chimps signal their feelings with subtle cues of behavior that aren't apparent to most humans. 7. It is quite possible for a chimp to be on the verge of violence while its owner sits unaware or even unknowingly continuous to provoke. 8. Furthermore, it's not wise to keep a cute young chimp and release it into the wild when it becomes dangerous. 9. Wild-raised chimps will routinely gang up on and kill those raised in captivity. The main idea of this passage is that

• chimpanzees are not as reliable as dogs.

• chimpanzees should not be kept as pets for a variety of reasons.

• keeping chimpanzees as pets and then releasing them into the wild is a danger to the pet chimpanzee.

• no man is as strong as a chimpanzee.

Multiple Choice

Human beings have always polluted their environment, but in the past it was easier for them to move on and live somewhere else. 2.They knew that given time, the environment would take care of pollution they left behind and they relied on the "out of sight, out of mind" philosophy. 3. Today, an increasing human population, which uses an increasing amount of energy sources, no longer has the luxury to ignore pollution. 4. The human population is approximately 7 billion. 5. Our overall energy consumption has gone up by a hundredfold from 2,000 per/person/day to 230,000 per/person/day in modern industrial nations like the United States. 6. This high energy consumption allows us to mass produce many useful and economically affordable organic products that pollute the atmosphere and groundwater damage forests and lakes causing global warming, and even deplete the ozone layer. (Borrowed from a biology textbook) The main idea of this passage is that

• pollution is difficult on the environment regardless of your location.

• due to growth in the human population, humans can no longer ignore pollution

• pollution is destroying our environment.

• modern nations like the United States should find ways to reduce the rapid growth of their populations.

Multiple Choice

French physicist Charles Fabry found ozone gas in the atmosphere in 1913. At room temperature, ozone is a colorless gas; it condenses to a dark blue liquid at -170° F. At temperatures above the boiling point of water, 212° F, it decomposes. Ozone is all around us. After a thunderstorm, or around electrical equipment, ozone is often detected as a sharp odor. Ozone is used as a strong oxidizing agent, a bleaching agent, and to sterilize drinking water. This gas is also highly reactive. For example, rubber insulation around a carís spark plug wires will need to be replaced eventually, due to the small amounts of ozone produced when electricity flows from the engine to the plug.

• Ozone is the result of pollution. 10

• High ozone levels in the atmosphere will cause large numbers of people to buy new car batteries.

• C. Ozone has no practical uses.

• Ozone is a natural part of the Earthís atmosphere.

Multiple Choice

Many people who have come close to death from drowning, cardiac arrest, or other causes have described near-death experiencesóprofound, subjective events that sometimes result in dramatic changes in values, beliefs, behavior, and attitudes toward life and death. These experiences often include a new clarity of thinking, a feeling of well being, a sense of being out of the body, and visions of bright light or mystical encounters. Such experiences have been reported by an estimated 30 to 40 percent of hospital patients who were revived after coming close to death and about 5 percent of adult Americans in a nationwide poll. Near-death experiences have been explained as a response to a perceived threat of death (a psychological theory); as a result of biological states that accompany the process of dying (a physiological theory); and as a foretaste of an actual state of bliss after death (a transcendental theory). The primary purpose of this passage is to:

• entertain

• persuade

• inform

• express disbelief in the afterlife

Multiple Choice

Experienced truck drivers often travel in a convoyóa group of trucks that are traveling to the same part of the country. Convoys can help truckers to stay alert. The author implies that professional long-distance truck drivers may avoid traveling alone because:

• they might drive too fast. B. they want to arrive before anyone else.

• they want to arrive before anyone else.

• they want to arrive before anyone else.

• long-distance travel can cause drowsiness.

Multiple Choice

Huge beasts such as the dinosaur have never really become extinct. Mothra, a giant caterpillar who later becomes a moth, destroys Tokyo, and stars in the 1962 Japanese film named for him. Mothra is born, dies, and reborn regularly on classic movie channels. In Japan Mothra is one of the most popular films ever made. Mothra has survived the creation of more current scary creatures such as giant apes, extraterrestrial beings and swamp creatures. More than 30 years after his creation, Mothra still lives. The main subject of the passage is:

• the reasons that fads do not endure. .

•  the lasting appeal of Mothra

•  the difficulty of marketing good horror movies.

•  old models for creatures are still used because making new monsters is expensive.

Multiple Choice

Did you know that a half-gallon milk container holds about $50.00 in pennies? While all investment counselors realize that we must accumulate money in order to save, most recommend different kinds of investments for people who are in different stages of life. Older investors, those with limited funds to invest, or people with greater financial and family commitments, should take fewer risks. Younger, wealthier, and unmarried investors can afford to venture into the unknown. Which of the following best describes the main idea of this passage?

• A penny saved is a penny earned.. D. Young people should concentrate on collecting pennies.

• Our ages and stage of life are part of what determines the investments that are best for us

• Old people have the most money.

• Young people should concentrate on collecting pennies.