WorksheetsStated Main Idea
Total questions: 10
Worksheet time: 20mins
Name
Class
Date
1.
The following selections have main ideas that may appear at any place within the paragraph. Identify the main idea of each paragraph by filling in the correct sentence number in the space provided.
1Until the 1940s, most Americans were born and died at home. 2Births and deaths happened when they happened, often without medical intervention. 3If a baby was too premature or defective, or if a seriously ill person was dying, there was little the family doctor could do about it other than to offer comfort. 4Today, most Americans are born and die in hospitals under the supervision of medical personnel who sometimes decide to keep them alive long beyond the point at which they would normally have died. 5Patients can be hooked up for days, months, or years to machines that sustain their lives. 6This step may be taken even if they are in constant pain or permanently comatose. 7Obviously, technology has greatly changed how we are born and die.
1Until the 1940s, most Americans were born and died at home. 2Births and deaths happened when they happened, often without medical intervention. 3If a baby was too premature or defective, or if a seriously ill person was dying, there was little the family doctor could do about it other than to offer comfort. 4Today, most Americans are born and die in hospitals under the supervision of medical personnel who sometimes decide to keep them alive long beyond the point at which they would normally have died. 5Patients can be hooked up for days, months, or years to machines that sustain their lives. 6This step may be taken even if they are in constant pain or permanently comatose. 7Obviously, technology has greatly changed how we are born and die.
a)
sentence 1
b)
sentence 4
c)
sentence 5
d)
sentence 7
2.
1Scientists have learned that the way we view exercise strongly influences our performance. 2Research on Russian weight lifters, for example, demonstrated that if they were told the weights were heavy, they perceived an exercise to be more difficult. 3If they were told the weights were light, then they considered the exercise easier. 4Another example is the weight lifter who kept failing to break a record. 5He finally succeeded after his trainer told him the weights he was lifting were not as heavy as they in fact were.
a)
sentence 4
b)
sentence 1
c)
sentence 3
d)
sentence 5
3.
1Though natural-fiber purists may turn up their noses at it, polyester-and-cotton- blend clothing has advantages over all-cotton garments. 2For one thing, polyester, which is manufactured, costs less than cotton, which grows naturally but is expensive to process. 3Therefore, cotton/polyester clothing is more economical than pure cotton garments. 4Also, the polyester content of cotton-blend clothing helps the garments retain their shape after repeated washings. 5That’s because this synthetic does not share cotton’s tendency to shrink or stretch after immersion. 6But perhaps polyester’s most endearing quality is its “no-wrinkle policy.” 7Unlike pure cotton, polyester blends require little or no ironing!
a)
sentence 1
b)
sentence 2
c)
sentence 4
d)
sentence 7
4.
1Baseball enthusiasts hold softball in low esteem. 2It’s a picnic game, they argue, with a big, soft ball, shorter base paths, and a pitcher who throws underhand. 3Yet fast-pitch softball can be as intense and dramatic as any baseball game—perhaps more so. 4True, the base paths are shorter, but ask any third baseman how quickly a well-hit groundball reaches him on softball’s smaller diamond. 5True, the pitcher throws underhand, but he stands fifteen feet closer to the plate, and he might hit speeds exceeding eighty miles per hour. 6True, the ball is softer than a baseball, but catch a hard one in the ribs just once, and such knowledge is small comfort.
a)
sentence 1
b)
sentence 3
c)
sentence 5
d)
sentence 6
5.
1Plastic trash bags were once considered a major menace to the environment. 2The makers of plastic trash bags responded to the environmental concerns and made several positive changes in their product. 3First, they made use of a new additive— actually, potato peels—to make the bags biodegradable (that is, capable of breaking down and being absorbed by the environment). 4Next, they removed any ingredients in their plastic formula which would contaminate soil in a landfill. 5Finally, they made it possible for the bags to be burned safely, without adding dangerous pollutants to the air.
a)
sentence 1
b)
sentence 2
c)
sentence 3
d)
sentence 4
6.
1A young girl looks at a fashion magazine and sees clothes modeled by women carrying 115 pounds on their five-foot-ten-inch frames. 2She receives a “teen doll” as a present and studies its proportions: legs nearly two-thirds the length of its body, tiny waist, non-existent hips and thighs. 3She goes to the movies and observes screen heroines who in their leanness resemble adolescent boys more than mature women. 4Her favorite television shows are filled with commercials for weight-loss programs that equate slenderness with desirability. 5By the time the girl reaches her teens, she has been thoroughly bombarded with society’s message that to be thin is the only acceptable option.
a)
sentence 1
b)
sentence 5
c)
sentence 4
d)
sentence 3
7.
1Symbols can have a tremendously powerful emotional impact upon us, instantly conveying many feelings and ideas. 2Symbols like the cross, the Star of David, or the star-and-crescent immediately make us think of the Christian, Jewish, or Muslim religions. 3This may be why burning an American flag often arouses more anger than does an attack on the values for which the flag actually stands. 4Another symbol with terrible power is the swastika. 5Until this century, the swastika was an innocent traditional symbol found in many cultures. 6Then it became the symbol of Nazi terror. 7Today, the very sight of a swastika can send chills down our spines.
a)
sentence 7
b)
sentence 2
c)
sentence 5
d)
sentence 1
8.
1For many years, there has been a section in Reader’s Digest magazine called “Laughter, the Best Medicine.” 2The name is not an exaggeration—medical studies show that laughter is good for one’s physical and emotional health. 3A hearty laugh exercises the internal organs, including the heart and lungs. 4The deep breathing that accompanies laughter supplies your body with extra oxygen. 5Many diseases deplete the body’s supply of oxygen, so getting extra oxygen is important. 6Laughter may also stimulate the body’s production of endorphins, which act as painkillers and antidepressants.
a)
sentence 1
b)
sentence 2
c)
sentence 5
d)
sentence 6
9.
1Scientists predict that textbooks of the future will be computerized and will thus offer many of the special benefits unique to computers. 2First of all, they say that the books will take the form of small plastic cards that can be inserted into screens the size of paperback novels. 3Viewers will be able to select the size and style of print and automatic page turning, or they may choose to listen to an audio version and just watch the pictures. 4They will be able to zoom in for close-ups of illustrations, which will then fill the screen and rotate for a three-dimensional view, so that medical students, for example, can see all sides of a muscle and how it moves. 5Finally, viewers will be able to interact with materials by typing in critical comments, updating information, and even changing the outcome of a story.
a)
sentence 3
b)
sentence 4
c)
sentence 1
d)
sentence 5
10.
1Imagine a successful fisherman who needs a new sail for his boat. 2In a barter economy—that is, one in which goods are exchanged directly for one another—he would have to find someone who not only needs fish but is willing to exchange a sail for it. 3If no sailmaker wants fish, the fisherman must find someone else—say, a shoemaker—who wants fish and will trade for it. 4The fisherman must hope that the sailmaker will trade for the shoes. 5In a money economy, the fisherman would sell his catch, receive money, and exchange the money for such goods as a new sail. 6Clearly, barter is quite inefficient in comparison to money.
a)
sentence 1
b)
sentence 3
c)
sentence 5
d)
sentence 6
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