NYS Test Key Terms

What is the Central Idea (Main Idea) in a text?

• The central idea is the title of the text.

• The central idea is a minor detail in the text.

• The most important point the author wants you to understand. It is what the passage is mostly about. Look for key details that support the central idea.

• The central idea is the author's name.

What is the Theme of a story?

• The main character of the story

• The setting of the story

• The message or lesson the author wants to share. It is often a universal idea like friendship, honesty, or perseverance

• The plot of the story

How do you Summarize a story or article?

• By writing a detailed analysis

• By listing all the characters

• By providing a brief overview in your own words

• By rewriting the entire story

What does it mean to Infer (Inference) from a text?

• To summarize the text

• To make a guess based on evidence

• To rewrite the text in your own words

• To find the main idea of the text

What is Evidence (Text Evidence) in a text?

• Information from the text that supports your answer

• A random sentence in the text

• An unrelated fact

• A question asked in the text

What is the Author’s Purpose in writing a text?

• The reason the author wrote the text. Common purposes include to inform, to entertain, or to persuade.

• An inference

• The reason the author thought about writing the text but did not.

• Vocabulary

What is meant by Point of View in a story?

• The perspective from which the story is told

• The main theme of the story

• The setting of the story

• The conflict in the story

Compare and contrast two things.

• Identify similarities and differences

• List only differences

• List only similarities

• Describe one thing in detail

Context clues in a text are:

• Hints that help understand the meaning of a word

• The main idea of the text

• The title of the text

• The author's purpose

What is Figurative Language? Give examples.

• A type of language that uses words or expressions with a meaning different from the literal interpretation, such as metaphors and similes.

• A type of language that is always literal and straightforward, without any use of metaphors or similes.

• A type of language used only in scientific and technical writing, without any creative expressions.

• A type of language that is used exclusively in legal documents and contracts.