Identify Main Idea

Scrabble is a game that provides hours of challenging fun for you and your friends. In this game you use your letters to build new words from words already on the game board. Scrabble is a fun way to learn new words and meanings.
What is the main idea of the passage?

• Scrabble is challenging and fun.
• Scrabble is a good game for Scrabble is a good game for building vocabulary.
• It takes skill to play a good game.
• Scrabble can take hours to play.

Yesterday was my birthday. When I woke up, I noticed my brother Josh hung up a big sign that said,"Happy Birthday, Charles!" Mom made spaghetti for dinner.
It's my favorite food in the whole world. My friend Dave came over and handed me a wrapped gift. I wondered what it was. It was a new basketball! I had a great day.
What is the main idea of this paragraph?

• Josh got lots of gifts.
• Charles got a lot of gifts.
• Charles had a great birthday.
• Josh had a great birthday.

Someday we will all have robots that will be our personal servants. They will look and behave much like real humans. We will be able to talk to these mechanical helpers and they will be able to respond in kind! Amazingly, the robots of the future will be able to learn from experience. They will be smart, strong, and untiring workers whose only goal will be to make our lives easier.

What is this selection mainly about?

• Amazingly, the robots of the future will be able to learn from experience.

• We will be able to talk to robots and they will be able to respond.

• You should give up if you are the Robots will look and behave much like real humans.

• Someday we will have robots that will be our personal servants.

Carson's older sister, Madison, is a very good student. She isn't satisfied to just get by in school. She is involved in extra activities at school, including the school's music program and the math club. She also always tries to answer the teacher's questions in class.

What is the main idea of the paragraph?

• Madison was born before Carson.

• Madison likes music and math.

• Madison is a very good student.

• Madison likes to show off.

Benjamin Franklin invented many things that made life easier in the late 1700's. He invented the lightning rod that saved many homes from fires. He also invented the Franklin stove. The stove could heat a room better than a fireplace and saved people a lot of fuel. He also invented a special kind of glasses called bifocals. This new kind of glasses helped people to read better.
What is the main idea of this paragraph?

• Benjamin Franklin thought reading was important.
• Benjamin Franklin was not afraid of fire.
• A Franklin stove can heat a whole room.
• Benjamin Franklin was a great inventor.

Americans like toast, eggs, and cereal. In China people eat congee, a thick rice. People in Japan often have a soup called miso. Pancakes made from lentil beans are favored in India. Bread and coffee with milk are the most popular breakfast foods in France. Breakfast around the world is a matter of different tastes.

The main idea of the paragraph is:

• People in China and Japan like different foods

• Cereal is a popular breakfast food in the United States

• People eat different foods for breakfast around the world

Americans like toast, eggs, and cereal. In China people eat congee, a thick rice. People in Japan often have a soup called miso. Pancakes made from lentil beans are favored in India. Bread and coffee with milk are the most popular breakfast foods in France. Breakfast around the world is a matter of different tastes.

A detail that tells about the main idea is:

• Breakfast is an important meal

• People in India eat lentil pancakes

• Everyone eats eggs at breakfast

Americans like toast, eggs, and cereal. In China people eat congee, a thick rice. People in Japan often have a soup called miso. Pancakes made from lentil beans are favored in India. Bread and coffee with milk are the most popular breakfast foods in France. Breakfast around the world is a matter of different tastes.

The best title for this paragraph would be:

• Breakfast Around the World

• Soup in the Morning

• Something to eat

Horses are often helpers for humans. In some communities the police ride horses to control large crowds. Cowboys use horses to help round up herds of cattle. In some countries farmers still use horses to pull plows or wagons. People also use horses to carry them from place to place.

The main idea of the paragraph is:

• The different jobs that horses can do.

• How the police use horses in crowds.

• The ways that animals help people.

Horses are often helpers for humans. In some communities the police ride horses to control large crowds. Cowboys use horses to help round up herds of cattle. In some countries farmers still use horses to pull plows or wagons. People also use horses to carry them from place to place.

A detail that tells more about the main idea is:

• How cowboys use horses in their work.

• The kinds of horses used in police work.

• The names of countries using farm horses.