Main Idea and Supporting Detail

Weather reporters have to give out a lot of information. That's why they use pictures. The pictures help them tell us about the weather without using so many words. Weather reporters need to know where the cold air is. They need to know where the warm air is. They have to know where it is raining and what types of clouds are in the area. Their reports need to be correct, but they also need to be short. The pictures help weather reporters get the information out in a fast way.
Which sentence best describes the main idea of the paragraph?

• Weather reporters need to know where the cold air is

• Pictures help weather reporters get information out in a fast way

• Their reports need to be correct, but they also need to be short

• They have to know where it is raining and what types of clouds are in the area

Most teenagers and young adults do not know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. It is a big decision. There are a number of things you can do to narrow the choices. For example you can take an interest test, do some research on your own about a career, try volunteer work in the field in which you are interested, or "job-shadow," in which you spend a day with a person who is working in a field that interests you. These are just a few helpful ideas as you begin to choose a career.
What is the main idea of this paragraph?

• Occupational knowledge is paramount when choosing a career. 

• Teenagers who don’t know what they want to do professionally will be jobless.

• Teenagers should work part time so they know what they want to do later as adults.

• Adolescents can do many things when thinking about their future line of employment.

What is the purpose of a topic sentence?

• To tell the reader the general theme.

• To tell the reader the topic and the main idea.

• To confuse the reader about the topic of the sentence.

• To conclude an argument.

The topic sentence is:

• the details that make complicated ideas easier to understand

• the purpose of the essay

• the main idea of the paragraph

• none of the answer choices

Which sentence is most likely the topic sentence of the paragraph?

• I didn't think it would be very interesting, but I was wrong.

• We drove there in two days.

• The best trip my family ever took was to New Orleans, Louisiana.

• I liked the food best, especially the New Orleans doughnuts called beignets.

Which supporting detail best supports this topic sentence?

• The pros live the good life.

• People like professional football players make a lot of money.

• Professional athletes spend countless hours practicing their sports.

• All of us can be professional athletes.

Danger often appears in the most unexpected places. People usually think of the bathtub as a safe, quiet place. But more accidents occur there than anywhere else in the home. Slips or falls that occur while entering and leaving the tub injure thousands of people every year. Most people think of a baker as having a safe and pleasant job; however, rolling, kneading, and pounding dough causes clouds of flour dust, which can enter the lungs and disable the baker. Which of the following is NOT a supporting detail?

• Some activities are more dangerous than they look

• Thousands of people are hurt in tub accidents every year

• People think bakers have a safe job

• Bakers can be disable by flour in their lungs

Identify the supporting detail which is irrelevant to the topic sentence. 
Topic Sentence: One benefit of internet for learning is its easy access of information.

• It can help students to save time to search for certain information related to their studies using the internet  compared to searching it in books in the library.

• Internet brings a lot of benefits not only to the students but also the teachers in the teaching and learning process.

• Apart from searching for specific information about their studies from either yahoo or google, students can also watch a video presentation on the topic from Youtube.

• The specific information that students wish to find could be obtained in a mere seconds compared to long minutes of browsing through book shelves then going into the pages after pages of the books.

Identify the supporting detail which is irrelevant to the topic sentence. 
Topic Sentence: One challenge of studying overseas is to adapt to the food eaten in  the foreign land.

• The students could face difficulties in getting used to the type of food  eaten by the locals and also the food sold there.

• If the students are not used to eating hot and spicy food, studying in Asian countries could pose a challenge to their digestive system.

• On the other hand, Asian students who study in western countries could face difficulty in adapting to the local menus which to their palate the food is bland.

• Different people from different parts of the world prepare or cook their foods differently and according to their preferences.

Identify the supporting detail which is irrelevant to the topic sentence. 
Topic Sentence: The importance of English for my future career is to secure my dream job which is a neurosurgeon 

• I need to be able to speak English fluently so that i could pass the job interview excellently.

• Being a neurosurgeon I need a strong command of the English language in order to hold a successful professional discussions with other fellow surgeons both locally or abroad.

• English is an important international language whereby, it is spoken by millions of people in the world.

• Besides, having a strong command of the English language would make people have more confidence in my ability as a neurosurgeon because that would eliminate misinterpretation of medical information I read in medical journals written in English.