Reading Section - Main Idea

Romantic Music of the nineteenth century differed greatly from the classical music of the eighteenth century. Classical music was primarily concerned with strict form and style. Romantic composers, however, wanted to express their feelings and thoughts through music. Their music was less structured than the music of classicists; its goal was to fill the listener with emotion, with thoughts of beauty, wonder, and nature, and with poetry.

What is the main idea of the passage?

• The characteristics of romantic music.

• Romantic music is different from classical music.

• Various types of music.

• Popular music in the eighteenth century.

In American colonies, Benjamin Franklin worked as a printer; from his work, he clearly understood how difficult and costly it was to make books. However, he and his friends really enjoyed reading and wanted to get hold of as many books as they could. One of Franklin’s good ideas and he had many good ideas, was to set up a club where people could share their books. The 50 members who joined the club when it was started in 1732 donated books and also pooled their money to buy additional books. Anyone who wanted to could stop in and read the books, club members were also allowed to take the books home with them, provided they returned them on time. This ‘club’ became American’s first circulating library.

What is the main idea of the passage?

• America’s first circulating library.

• the American colonies

• Franklin’s many good ideas

• Benjamin Franklin’s work as a printer

The Hopi are part of the Pueblo Indian culture. Today they live mostly in northeastern Arizona, at the edge of the Painted Desert. Something that sets the Hopi culture off from other cultures is that it is in some senses a maternal rather than a paternal culture.

What is the main idea of the passage?

• the Hopi have a maternal culture

• today the Hopi live in northeastern Arizona​

• the Hopi are one type of Pueblo Indian

• most Indian cultures are paternal cultures

Most of the ice on the Earth, close to 90 percent of it, is covering the surface of the continent Antarctica. It does not snow very much in Antarctica, but whatever snow does fall remains and grows deeper and deeper. In some areas of Antarctica, the ice has perhaps been around for as much as a million years and now is more than two miles deep.

What is the main idea of the passage?

• most of the Earth’s ice is found in Antarctica

• it snows more in Antarctica than in any other place on Earth

• the Earth is a cold planet

• Antarctica is only two miles wide but is 90 percent ice

The largest diamond ever found is the Cullinan Diamond. this diamond weighed 3,106 carats in its uncut state when it was discovered in South Africa on January 25, 1905. The Cullinan Diamond was cut into 9 major stones and 96 smaller ones. The largest of the cut stones, and still the largest cut diamond in the world, is the pear-shaped Cullinan I at 530 carats. this diamond, which is also known as the Greater Star of Africa, is more than two inches (5.4 cm) long and 1.75 inches ( 4.4 cm) wide. it becomes part of the British crown jewel in 1907.

What is the best title for this passage?

• Diamond Cutting

• The World's Biggest Diamond

• Measuring Diamond in Carats

• The British Crown Jewels

Some kinds of animals that are still around today were in existence millions of years ago during the time of the dinosaur. One of these survivors is the crocodile, which has been around for about 100 million years. Today's crocodiles can grow to a length of 20 feet and weigh about a ton. Their prehistoric ancestors were about two-and-a-half times the size of today's animals. Another survivor from the past is the Galapagos tortoise, whose history goes back around 200 million years. The tortoise of today has not evolved much over the last 200 million years; it looks about the same now as it did way back then. The oldest survivor from prehistoric times is, can you believe it, the cockroach. Cockroaches have been able to stick around for more than 250 million years. The main reason for their incredible endurance is their ability to live in all kinds of conditions and survive on all kinds of food.

This passage is mainly about...

• the dinosaur

• types of animals that have existed for a long time

• how the crocodile has survived

• animals that live to be very old

The three phases of human memory are sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. This division of memory into phases is based on the length of time of the memory. Sensory memory is instantaneous memory. It is an image or memory that enters your mind only for a short period of time; it comes and goes in under a second. The memory will not last longer than that unless the information enters the short-term memory.

Information can be held in the short-term memory for about twenty seconds or as long as you are actively using it. If you repeat a fact to yourself, that fact will stay in your short-term memory as long as you keep repeating it. Once you stop repeating it, either it is forgotten or it moves to long-term memory.

Long-term memory is a huge memory tank that can hold ideas and images for years and years. Information can be added to your long-term memory when you actively try to put it there through memorization or when an idea or image enters your mind on its own.

The best title for this passage would be...

• How Long It Takes to Memorize

• Human Phases

• The Difference Between Sensory and Short-Term Memory

• The Stage of Human Memory