Finding main idea 1 docx

In addition, you can tell that c is the right answer because the rest of the passage provides other clues.. The correct answer is c, “negatively, unfavorably.” The passage provides clues

The correct answer, of course, is c, “increase,

spread at a rapid rate.” It can’t be a or d because these

are things associated with reduction, not growth And

everyone knows that weeds in an untended garden will

grow fast and aggressively And b is not an appropriate

answer because if you replace proliferate with

underes-timate or play down, it doesn’t really make sense In

addition, you can tell that c is the right answer because

the rest of the passage provides other clues It tells you

that reality TV shows are replacing other network

pro-grams, it tells you that they are popular, and it tells you

that they are earning millions of dollars in advertising

revenue All these clues would indicate that reality TV

shows are spreading and growing in number, not

shrinking or declining Hence, the meaning of

prolif-erate must be c, “increase, spread at a rapid rate.”

In the previous example, you would still be able to

understand the main message of the passage even if you

didn’t know—or couldn’t figure out—the meaning of

obscure and proliferate In some cases, however, your

understanding of a passage depends on your

under-standing of a particular word or phrase Can you

understand the following sentence, for example,

with-out knowing what adversely means?

Reality TV shows will adversely affect traditional

dramas and comedies

What does adversely mean in this sentence? Is it

something good or bad? As good a detective as you may

be, there simply aren’t enough clues in this sentence to

tell you what this word means But a passage with more

information will give you what you need to determine

meaning from context

Reality TV shows will adversely affect traditional

dramas and comedies As reality TV increases in pop-ularity, network executives will begin canceling more traditional dramas and comedies and replacing them with the latest in reality TV

5 In the passage, adversely most nearly means

a mildly, slightly.

b kindly, gently.

c negatively, unfavorably.

d immediately, swiftly.

The correct answer is c, “negatively, unfavorably.”

The passage provides clues that allow you to

deter-mine the meaning of adversely It tells you that as

real-ity TV becomes more popular, network executives will cancel more traditional dramas and comedies and replace them with reality TV programming So the

meaning of adversely is neither a, “mild or slight,” nor

b, “kindly or gently.” And based on the passage, you

can’t really tell if these changes will be immediate or

swift (d) because the sentence doesn’t say anything

about the exact time frame in which these changes will occur Remember, good detectives don’t make assumptions they can’t support with facts; and there are

no facts in this sentence to support the assumption

that changes will occur immediately Thus, c is the best

answer

You may also have noticed that adversely is very similar to adversary And if you know that an adversary

is a hostile opponent or enemy, then you know that

adversely cannot be something positive Or, if you know

the word adversity—hardship or misfortune—then

you know that adversely must mean something

nega-tive or difficult All these words share the same root—

advers Only the endings change.

– D E F I N I N G V O C A B U L A R Y I N C O N T E X T –

Read the following passages and determine the

mean-ing of the words from their context The answers appear

immediately after the questions

Although social work is not a particularly lucrative

career, I wouldn’t do anything else Knowing I’m

helping others is far more important to me than

money

6 Lucrative means.

a highly profitable.

b highly rewarding.

c highly exciting.

When you are in an interview, try not to show any

overt signs that you are nervous Don’t shift in your

chair, shake, or stutter

7 Overt means.

a embarrassing, awkward.

b subtle, suggestive.

c obvious, not hidden.

By the time our staff meeting ended at 8:00, I was

ravenous I had skipped lunch and hadn’t eaten since

breakfast

8 Ravenous means

a like a raven, bird-like.

b extremely hungry, greedy for food.

c exhausted, ready for bed.

Answers

6 a The writer says money is not important to

him If money is not an issue, it is okay that

social work is not highly profitable, that it

doesn’t earn a lot of money

7 c Shifting, shaking, and stuttering are all

obvious, not hidden signs of nervousness.

They are not b, subtle or suggestive; and though they may make the interviewee feel a,

embarrassed or awkward, the signs them-selves are not embarrassing or awkward

8 b Because the writer hadn’t eaten since

break-fast, she is extremely hungry, greedy for food.

She may also be c, exhausted, but the context

tells us that this word has something to do with eating

 S u m m a r y

The ability to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words from their context is an essential skill for read-ing comprehension Sometimes, there will be unfa-miliar words whose meaning you can’t determine without a dictionary But more often than not, a care-ful look at the context will give you enough clues to meaning

– D E F I N I N G V O C A B U L A R Y I N C O N T E X T –

3 7

■ Circle any unfamiliar words you come across today and the rest of the week Instead of looking them

up in a dictionary, try to figure out the meanings of these words from their context Then, look them up

in a dictionary to make sure you are correct

■ Begin a vocabulary list of the words you look up as you work your way through this book Many peo-ple feel insecure about their reading and writing skills because they have a limited vocabulary The more words you know, the easier it will be to understand what others are saying and to express what you have

to say By writing down these new words, you’ll help seal them in your memory

Skill Building until Next Time

What’s the difference between fact and opinion, and what does it matter, anyway? It matters a great

deal, especially when it comes to reading comprehension

During your life, you’ll be exposed to a wide variety of literature, ranging from analyti-cal articles based on cold hard facts to fictional novels that arise wholly from the author’s imagination However, much of what you read will be a mixture of facts and the author’s opinions Part of becoming a critical reader means realizing that opinions are not evidence; for opinions to be valid, they must be supported by cold, hard facts

Facts are:

■ Things known for certain to have happened

■ Things known for certain to be true

■ Things known for certain to exist

Opinions, on the other hand, are:

■ Things believed to have happened

■ Things believed to be true

■ Things believed to exist

L E S S O N

The Difference between Fact and Opinion

L E S S O N S U M M A R Y

To make sense of what you read, you must be able to tell whether you’re reading fact or opinion This lesson tells you how to distinguish what someone knows for certain from what someone believes

4

3 9

As you can see, the key difference between fact

and opinion lies in the difference between believing

and knowing Opinions may be based on facts, but they

are still what we think, not what we know Opinions are

debatable; facts are not

Reasonable opinions are those based on fact; and indeed,

that is what much of writing is: the writer’s opinion (an

assertion about his or her subject) supported by facts

or other evidence

Think about the topic sentences you formed after

you finished Lesson 2 Perhaps you made an assertion

like this:

James is a terrific boss

This sentence is a good topic sentence; it’s an

assertion about the subject, James And it is also an

opinion It is, after all, debatable; someone could just

as easily take the opposite position and say:

James is a terrible boss

This is another good topic sentence, and it’s

another opinion Now, a good writer will show his or

her readers that this opinion is valid by supporting it

with facts For example:

James is a terrific boss He always asks us how we’re

doing He lets us leave early or come in late when we

have to take care of our children He always gives

holiday bonuses And he offers tuition

reimburse-ment for any course, even if it has nothing to do with

our position

Notice how the topic sentence states an opinion,

whereas the rest of the sentences support that opinion

with facts about how James treats his employees Now that paragraph is much more effective than something like this:

James is a terrible boss I really don’t like him He just can’t get along with people And he has stupid ideas about politics

Why is the first paragraph so much better? Because it’s not just opinion It’s opinion supported by evidence The second paragraph is all opinion Every sentence is debatable; every sentence tells us what the

author believes is true, but not what is known to be

true The author of the second paragraph doesn’t pro-vide any epro-vidence to support why he or she thinks that James is such a lousy boss As a result, we’re not likely

to take his or her opinion very seriously

In the first paragraph, on the other hand, the writer offers concrete evidence for why he or she

believes James is a great boss After the initial opinion,

the writer provides facts—specific things James does (which can be verified by other observers) that make him a good boss You may still not agree that James is

a great boss, but at least you can see exactly why this writer thinks so

 D i s t i n g u i s h i n g F a c t f r o m

O p i n i o n

When you read academic materials, very often you will have to distinguish between fact and opinion— between what the writer thinks and how the writer supports what he or she thinks, between what is proven

to be true and what needs to be proved

A good test for whether something is a fact or opinion might be to ask yourself, “Can this statement

be debated? Is this known for certain to be true?” If you

answer yes to the first question, you have an opinion; if you answer yes to the second, you have a fact.

– T H E D I F F E R E N C E B E T W E E N FA C T A N D O P I N I O N –

Practice 1

Try these questions on the following statements Read

them carefully, and then write F in the blank if the

statement is a fact and O if it is an opinion The answers

appear right after the questions

1 The Academy Awards honor the film

industry

2 The Academy Awards are always fun to

watch

3 More independent films should win

Academy Awards

4 The Academy Awards are an annual

event

5 Best director is the most interesting

Academy Award category

Answers

1 Fact

2 Opinion

3 Opinion

4 Fact

5 Opinion

Practice 2

Now try the same exercise with a complete paragraph Underline the facts and use a highlighter or colored pen

to highlight the opinions Be careful—you may find fact and opinion together in the same sentence When you’ve finished, you can check your answers against the marked passage that follows

– T H E D I F F E R E N C E B E T W E E N FA C T A N D O P I N I O N –

4 1

There are many different ways to invest your money to provide for a financially secure future Many people invest in stocks and bonds, but I think good old-fashioned savings accounts and CDs (certificates of deposit) are the best way to invest your hard-earned money Stocks and bonds are often risky, and it doesn’t make sense to risk losing the money you’ve worked so hard for True, regular sav-ings accounts and CDs can’t make you a millionaire overnight or provide the high returns some stock investments do But by the same token, savings accounts and CDs are fully insured and provide steady, secure interest on your money That makes a whole lot of cents