main idea answers


Main Idea Practice Answers

Main Idea

Exercise 1

1.b; 2.b

Exercise 2

1. Across the country, many states have abolished the policy of “social promotion,” even though there is no hard evidence that making children repeat a grade has a positive effect.

2. In 1932, Wallace H. Carothers developed nylon, the first synthetic fiber, which had a dramatic effect on world events.

Exercise 3

1. No nicknames for soldiers of previous generations have earned the popularity of the term GI.

2. Since her death, Frida Kahlo’s reputation has overtaken her husband’s.

Exercise 4

1. King Leopold of Belgium exploited the Congo for personal gain and all but ruined the country.

2. The invention of the CAT scan was as important a discovery as the development of X-Rays.

Inference Exercises

Exercise 1

1. Abraham Lincoln
Clue: He steered the country through civil war.
Explanation: Lots of people have big Adam’s apples, but America has had only one civil war.
2. Tina Turner
Clue: She ruled the stage but Ike ruled the roost.
Explanation: There were many popular women singers in the sixties but only one was linked to a domineering husband named Ike.

Exercise 2

Answers may vary.

1. Inference: The puppy may well have been abused by its former owners.

2. Inference: The students are going to take advantage of the substitute teacher.

Exercise 3

1. b; 2. a

Exercise 4

1. a; 2. b

Exercise 5

Answers will vary.

1. Richard the Lionhearted was not so pure of heart as some movies suggest.

2. Her romantic attachment to Clyde Barrow led Bonnie Parker into a life of crime.