Central Idea Practice

What is the definition of central idea in a text?

• the middle of the text

• the sequence of the text

• what the text is about

• the meaning behind why the author wrote the text

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

Which answer BEST conveys the central idea of the passage?

On that second day, however, I learned that it was all a question of money. Someone told me about this, and then I watched closely and saw that it was true. Throughout the day, while some of the guards confronted the crowds, a few others lounged over to the side. People approached them quietly. Money changed hands, and the guards then let those people quietly through a small door to the side.

• Money changed hands.

• People approached the lounging guards quietly.

• People were able to cross the border by bribing the guards.

• The terrain around the border was extremely dangerous to cross.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

Which of the following sentences provides the strongest evidence in the passage to support the central idea?

• "Somebody told me about this..."

• "...while some of the guards confronted the crowds, a few others lounged over to the side."

• "People approached them quietly."

• "Money changed hands, and the guards then let those people quietly through a small door to the side."

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.2

Which answer best conveys the central idea of the passage?

That Ghulam Ali was certainly a good man, so patient with us and so compassionate. He had never seen us before, and yet when he met us, he said, "I will help you." That's the thing about life. You never know when and where you will encounter a spot of human decency. I have felt alone in this world at times; I have known long periods of being no one. But then, without warning, a person like Ghulam Ali just turns up and says, "I see you. I am on your side." Strangers have been kind to me when it mattered most. That sustains a person's hope and faith.

• Ghulam Ali is a good person.

• Ghulam Ali was a stranger to the narrator.

• The narrator feels lonely.

• The kindness of others can save a person in dark times.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

Which of the following quotes provides the strongest evidence in the passage to support the central idea?

• "That Ghulam Ali was certainly a good man..."

• "He had never seen us before..."

• "I have felt alone in this world at times; I have known long periods of being no one."

• "Strangers have been kind to me when it mattered most. That sustains a person's hope and faith."

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

Which of these sentences from the text BEST conveys the central idea of the passage?

Together these miners brought back an astounding four thousand pounds of gold. It is worth nearly one million dollars, which, by today's standards, would be many times that amount. Three days earlier, miners on another ship, the S.S. Excelsior, had arrived in San Francisco with large quantities of gold as well. Both groups of miners had found their gold in the same place: the Klondike region of northern Canada. Soon these discoveries would make headlines around the world.

In a matter of hours, many Seattle residents began planning their own trips to the goldfields. At a time when many Americans were either out of work or earning low wages, the prospect of striking it rich proved irresistible. Firemen, doctors, lawyers, ministers -- even the mayor of Seattle -- quit their jobs and joined the rush.

• Many people responded to the discovery of gold by joining the gold rush to the Klondike.

• Seattle residents were generally unhappy with their jobs.

• Today's money is worth far less than it was worth in the late 1800s.

• Miners brought back several thousand pounds of gold to San Francisco and Seattle.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

Which of these sentences from the text BEST conveys the central idea of the passage?

When prospectors found a promising spot, they staked a claim by placing posts at each corner, with their name and date on it. The prospector then had three days to go to town and file a legal claim. Because the claims were usually measured by crude means, disagreements over exact boundaries were common.

The first claim in a new location was called the "discovery claim." Subsequent claims were legally referred to by their relationship to this claim, along with the name of the creek -- 5 above Eldorado, or 6 Below Bonanza, for example.

• The process of claiming land in the Klondike was imprecise and messy.

• Prospectors staked their claims using metal posts.

• People disagreed over claims of land in the Klondike.

• Claims were named after the nearest discovery claim as well as the nearest creek.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

Which of these sentences from the text BEST conveys the central idea of the passage?

"Game of Claim Selling" (written by gold rush participant Stanley H. Pearce)

We have received vague rumors about the expected rush here in the spring and we all wonder whether there will be such an enormous crowd as reported. What under the sun they will do is more than any of us can tell. Everything in the country is staked and there certainly won't be employment for all hands, as there is not enough for those here already.

Men are busily engaged in schemes to fleece the unsuspecting Cheecakos out of their tenderfoot money, and I am afraid many of them will work.

Perhaps the name Cheecako is not understood by some in Denver, but it is the Saguache name for greenhorn, or newcomer. We "old-timers" are called "sour doughs," as it is supposed to be part of our education to know how to make sour dough bread.

• There is much uncertainty about what will happen when the newcomers arrive in the Klondike during the coming spring.

• Rumors are spreading about the newcomers to the Klondike region.

• Men are preparing to trick the newcomers out of their money.

• Most of the veteran gold miners know how to make sourdough bread.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2