RÈN LUYỆN KỸ NĂNG TÌM ĐẠI Ý (MAIN IDEA) CỦA ĐOẠN VĂN TRONG BÀI THI ĐỌC HIỂU IELTS

Kỹ năng tìm đại ý của đoạn văn là một trong những kỹ năng quan trọng trong thi IELTS phần đọc hiểu bởi vì nó giúp làm bài đọc hiểu phần ghép TIÊU ĐỀ với ĐOẠN VĂN (headings) nhanh hơn và hiệu quả hơn. Khi làm dạng bài này người đọc đọc kỹ và nhanh chóng tìm đại ý đoạn văn sau đó lựa chọn các tiêu đề cho trước để chọn làm tiêu đề cho đoạn văn. Sự khác nhau giữa đại ý và tiêu đề là đại ý luôn là một câu nhưng tiêu đề có thể chỉ là cụm từ mà thôi. ĐẠI Ý (MAIN IDEA) LÀ GÌ? Đại ý của đoạn văn chính là mục đích của đoạn văn viết về, là ý nghĩ hay thông điệp chính mà tác giả muốn gửi đến người đọc. Nói cách khác, đại ý có thể làm tiêu đề cho cả đoạn văn. Chỉ cần đọc tiêu đề là người đọc biết đoạn văn về cái gì. ĐẶC ĐIỂM CỦA ĐẠI Ý ĐOẠN VĂN Tất cả thông tin trong bài đọc (như ví dụ minh họa, lý do, số liệu minh chứng, nghiên cứu và thực tế) đều phải gắn liền và phục vụ cho việc chứng minh và làm rõ thêm đại ý của bài đọc mặc dù một số thông tin có thể không quan trọng. XÁC ĐỊNH ĐẠI Ý CỦA ĐOẠN VĂN Đọc kỹ toàn bộ đoạn văn. Gạch chân phần thông tin (như ví dụ minh họa, các lý do, số liệu minh chứng, nghiên cứu và thực tế) nhằm mục đích chứng minh và làm rõ thêm ý nghĩa của đại ý. Phần còn lại là các key ideas (ý kiến quan trọng) cần đọc kỹ và tổng hợp và khái quát thành đại ý. Để tìm đại ý, sau khi đọc key ideas nên tự hỏi “Mục đích tác giả viết đoạn văn này để làm gì?” Chú ý vào câu đầu và cuối của đoạn văn, thường chứa key idea.

READING COMPREHENSION TECHNIQUES

MAIN IDEA EXERCISES

By E Morton (Re-edited by TRAN MANH TRUNG)

RÈN LUYỆN KỸ NĂNG TÌM ĐẠI Ý (MAIN IDEA) CỦA ĐOẠN VĂN TRONG BÀI THI ĐỌC HIỂU IELTS

Written by E Morten Re-edited by TRAN MANH TRUNG

Kỹ năng tìm đại ý của đoạn văn là một trong những kỹ năng quan trọng trong thi IELTS phần đọc hiểu bởi vì nó giúp làm bài đọc hiểu phần ghép TIÊU

ĐỀ với ĐOẠN VĂN (headings) nhanh hơn và hiệu quả hơn Khi làm dạng bài này người đọc đọc kỹ và nhanh chóng tìm đại ý đoạn văn sau đó lựa chọn các tiêu đề cho trước để chọn làm tiêu đề cho đoạn văn Sự khác nhau giữa đại ý và tiêu đề là đại ý luôn là một câu nhưng tiêu đề có thể chỉ là cụm từ mà thôi

ĐẠI Ý (MAIN IDEA) LÀ GÌ?

Đại ý của đoạn văn chính là mục đích của đoạn văn viết về, là ý nghĩ hay thông điệp chính mà tác giả muốn gửi đến người đọc Nói cách khác, đại ý

có thể làm tiêu đề cho cả đoạn văn Chỉ cần đọc tiêu đề là người đọc biết đoạn văn về cái gì

ĐẶC ĐIỂM CỦA ĐẠI Ý ĐOẠN VĂN

Tất cả thông tin trong bài đọc (như ví dụ minh họa, lý do, số liệu minh chứng, nghiên cứu và thực tế) đều phải gắn liền và phục vụ cho việc chứng minh và làm rõ thêm đại ý của bài đọc mặc dù một số thông tin có thể không quan trọng

XÁC ĐỊNH ĐẠI Ý CỦA ĐOẠN VĂN

- Đọc kỹ toàn bộ đoạn văn

- Gạch chân phần thông tin (như ví dụ minh họa, các lý do, số liệu minh chứng, nghiên cứu và thực tế) nhằm mục đích chứng minh và làm rõ thêm ý nghĩa của đại ý

- Phần còn lại là các key ideas (ý kiến quan trọng) - cần đọc kỹ và tổng hợp và khái quát thành đại ý

- Để tìm đại ý, sau khi đọc key ideas nên tự hỏi “Mục đích tác giả viết đoạn văn này để làm gì?”

- Chú ý vào câu đầu và cuối của đoạn văn, thường chứa key idea

Ví dụ:

“Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men to walk on the surface of the moon, but they were not the last That was Gene Cernan, the last man to step off the lunar surface In total there have been twelve men who have

walked on the moon, all of whom had done so between 1969 and 1972, which

is the most recent non-Michael Jackson moon walking.”

BÀI TẬP THỰC HÀNH: (nguồn: internet)

Exercise 1

Directions: Read each passage Then circle the letter of the statement that

effectively sums up the main idea

1 A number of recent books with titles like Raising Cain, Real Boys, and Lost

Boys all focus on the same issue: Today’s teenaged boys are feeling more

anxiety than ever before about their physical appearance Bombarded by advertising featuring well-muscled, semi-clad young men, teenage boys are experiencing what teenage girls have been coping with for years They are afraid that they cannot possibly live up to the media’s idealized image of their gender Young boys below the average in height, weight, or both suffer the most Often, they are brutally teased by their brawnier peers Some react to the ridicule by heading for the gym and lifting weights Yet even those who successfully “bulk up” don’t like feeling that they are considered worthless if they lose their hard-won muscle tone Others, convinced that no amount of body building can help, often withdraw from social contact with their peers This is their way of avoiding taunts about their size or shape Still, they are understandably angry at being badly treated because of their body type Although school psychologists generally recognize that boys today are having severe body image problems, they are at a loss about what to do to solve those problems

Main Idea

a More than in previous generations, teenaged boys are getting into body building

b Teenaged boys today are showing more anxiety about their physical

appearance than did boys of previous generations

2 In 1997, the U.S Consumer Products Safety Commission reported that

skateboarding injuries were up by 33 percent Mountain climbing injuries were

also up by 20 percent Similarly, snowboarding injuries showed an increase of thirty-one percent By all accounts, many Americans are having a love affair with risky sports; as a result, they are injuring themselves in ever greater numbers One reason for the growing participation in risky, or extreme, sports has been put forth by Dan Cady, a professor of popular culture at California State University According to Cady, previous generations didn’t need to seek out risk It was all around them in the form of disease epidemics, economic instability, and global wars At one time, just managing to stay alive was risky, but that feeling has all but disappeared, at least for members of the privileged classes To a degree Cady’s theory is confirmed in the words of adventure racer Joy Marr Marr says that risk has been “minimized” in everyday life, forcing people to seek out challenges in order to prove themselves (Source:

Karl Taro Greenfield “Life on the Edge.” Time September 6, 1999, p.29)

Main Idea

a According to Professor Dan Cady if California State, many Americans yearn for the days when just staying alive was a difficult task

b More and more Americans are taking up high-risk sports; as a result,

injuries from these sports are increasing

Exercise 2

Directions: Read each passage Then complete the main idea statement

begun on the blanks that follow the paragraph

1 In several states across the nation, there has been successful drive to end

“social promotion.” In other words, children who do not achieve the required score on a standardized test will no longer be promoted to the next grade Instead, they will have to repeat the grade they have finished Yet despite the calls for ending social promotion many of them from politicians looking for a crowd-pleasing issue there is little evidence that making children repeat a grade has a positive effect If anything, research suggests that forcing children

to repeat a grade hurts rather than helps their academic performance In

1989, University of Georgia Professor Thomas Holms surveyed sixty-three studies that compared the performance of kids who had repeated a grade with those who had received a social promotion Holms found that most of the children who had repeated a grade had a poorer record of academic

performance than the children who had been promoted despite poor test scores A similar study of New York City children in the 1980s revealed that the children who repeated a grade were more likely to drop out upon reaching high school The call to end social promotion may have a nice ring to it in political speeches Yet there is little indication that it does students any real good

Main Idea: Across the country, many states have abolished the policy of

“social promotion”

2 During World War I, a number of severe shortages alerted the world’s

scientists to the need for synthetic, or man-made materials Thus by 1934, a

research team headed by Wallace H.Carothers had developed the first

synthetic fiber, called nylon As it turned out, the development of nylon had a surprisingly profound effect on world affairs True, it’s first use was in fashion, and in 1939, the Dupont company began marketing sheer nylon hose for women Nylons were a spectacular hit and sold off the shelves almost

immediately But they disappeared with the coming of World War II, as nylon became essential to the war effort It was used in everything from parachutes and ropes, to insulation and coat linings Sadly Carothers never witnessed the impact of his creation He committed suicide two years before the first pair of nylons ever went on sale

Main Idea: In 1934, Wallace H Carothers developed nylon, the first synthetic

fiber

Exercise 3

Directions: Each paragraph is followed by a statement of the main idea that

is not quite accurate or precise enough In other words, it almost—but not completely—sums up the main idea Revise each statement to make it more effectively express the main idea

1 Over the last two centuries, America’s soldiers have been given several

nicknames, among them “yanks,” “grunts,” “doughboys,” and “Johnny Reb.” However, none of those nicknames has had the staying power of the

nickname “G.I.” Derived from the words “government issue,” the term “G.I.” emerged in World War II and gave birth to its own masculine and feminine forms, “G.I Joe” and “G.I Jane.” It was even attached to one of the most famous educational bills in American history, the G.I Bill At one point, the military tried to rid itself of the name G.I claiming that it dehumanized the people to whom it referred Military manuals and pamphlets began

substituting the supposedly more favorable term “service members.” But the public would have none of it Newspapers, radio, television, and most

importantly, World War II veterans themselves clung to the nickname

Particularly for the veterans of World War II, being a G.I was a badge of honor, and they were not about to give up the name

Imprecise Main Idea: Throughout the last two centuries, America’s soldiers

have been given many different nicknames

Revised Main Idea:

2 While she lived, the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was known mainly as the

wife of the famed muralist Diego Rivera Yet in the decades since her death, Kahlo has become hugely famous in her own right and is probably now better known than her husband In 1990, Kahlo became the first Mexican artist to break the one million mark at an auction The vivid, self-portraits that Kahlo created in the thirties and forties continue to be widely sought after by

collectors willing to pay high prices for her paintings Although Kahlo is often

described as a painter intent on exploring her own personal reality, many of her paintings include references to Mexico’s political and social history It’s not surprising, then, that in 1985, the Mexican government publicly proclaimed her work a national treasure

Imprecise Main Idea: Unfortunately, the painter Frida Kahlo spent her life in

the shadow of her famous husband, the muralist, Diego Rivera

Revised Main Idea:

Exercise 4

Directions: In the blanks that follow each paragraph, write out what you think

is the main idea

1 In the 1870s, the Welsh explorer Henry Morton Stanley navigated the

Congo river under the sponsorship of King Leopold of Belgium Wherever he stopped, he made treaties with the African chiefs he encountered As a result, when Stanley returned to Europe, King Leopold was able to take possession

of an area eighty times the size of Belgium Leopold promptly called the area the Belgium Congo and turned it into his own private goldmine, almost

destroying the Congo in the process Under Leopold’s rule, the Congolese were faced with impossibly high taxes and forced into slave labor Agents of the Belgian government would give each Congolese family a basket to fill with rubber If members of the family did not return the basket with the required number of pounds of rubber, their home would be burned to the ground Anyone who rebelled would be put in prison Meanwhile, Leopold grew

enormously rich, squandering his blood money on yachts, mansions, and mistresses To keep the Belgian people quiet, he also expended enormous sums on public works Nevertheless, public opinion against Leopold and his vicious ways grew stronger Ultimately he was forced to give up his

stranglehold on the Congo, but not before millions of people had been

imprisoned and thousands had died

Main Idea:

2 Computerized axial tomography, also known as the CAT scan, was

developed in 1971 In its importance, the development of the CAT scan ranks with Roentgen’s discovery of X-Rays The word “tomography” comes from the Greek word “tomos” meaning section or slice In effect, the CAT scan allowed doctors to see into the body almost as if layers of it had been sliced away for better viewing For the first time, it was possible to view soft tissue inside the skull, chest and abdomen without resorting to surgery Thanks to the CAT scan, radiologists could now distinguish normal from clotted blood They could also examine the ventricles of the heart without inflicting pain Prior to the creation of the CAT scan, it had been necessary to pump air into the

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

Name: Main Idea 1

Directions: Read each passage and ask yourself, “What is the author doing in this paragraph?”

Write your answer in the summary box and then think of an appropriate title for the passage based on the main idea of the passage

1 A penny for your thoughts? If it’s a 1943 copper penny, it could be worth as much as fifty thousand dollars In 1943, most pennies were made out of steel since copper was needed for World War II, so the 1943 copper penny is ultra-rare Another rarity is the 1955 double die penny These pennies were mistakenly double stamped, so they have overlapping dates and letters If it’s uncirculated, it’d easily fetch $25,000 at an auction Now that’s a pretty penny

Summarize this paragraph in one sentence Be specific and clearly explain the main idea

An appropriate title: _

2 Before you put on that Angry Birds costume and exhaust yourself roving from door to door

pandering for candy, take a minute to reflect on the tradition in which you are taking part Halloween is believed to have come from an ancient Celtic festival dating back some 2,000 years November 1st was the Celtic New Year and marked the end of summer to the Celts, so they celebrated on its eve by wearing costumes made of animal skins and dancing around bon fires Over the next two millennia, this primitive celebration grew to be candy fueled costume ball that we know today

Summarize this paragraph in one sentence Be specific and clearly explain the main idea

An appropriate title: _

3 When one hears the term “reality” applied to a television show, one might expect that the events portrayed occurred naturally or, at the least, were not scripted, but this is not always the case Many reality shows occur in unreal environments, like rented mansions occupied by film crews Such living environments do not reflect what most people understand to be “reality.” Worse, there have been accusations that events not captured on film were later restaged by producers Worse still, some involved in the production of “reality” television claim that the participants were urged to act out story lines premeditated by producers With such accusations floating around, it’s no wonder many people take reality TV to be about as real as the sitcom

Summarize this paragraph in one sentence Be specific and clearly explain the main idea

An appropriate title: _

4 It is estimated that over twenty million pounds of candy corn are sold in the US each year Brach’s, the top manufacturer, sells enough candy corn to circle the earth 4.25 times if each piece were laid end to end That’s a lot of candy corn, but that’s nothing compared to Tootsie Roll production Over 64 million Tootsie Rolls are produced every day! But even Tootsie Rolls have got nothing on the candy industry’s staple product, chocolate Confectioners manufacture over twenty billion pounds of chocolate in the United States each year Now that’s a mouthful!

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An appropriate title: _

5 Screech! When a driver pushes on the brake pedal, it initiates a process that causes the vehicle to stop

in motion You literally trust automotive braking systems with your life every time you get into a vehicle

or cross at a busy intersection, but how does this process work? It begins when the pedal is pushed At this moment brake fluid is released into the area where the braking mechanisms are As the fluid collects, this creates a leverage, which causes a friction to be applied If the braking system is functioning

properly, this friction will create a force that will cause the wheels to stop and allow you to reach your destination safely

Summarize this paragraph in one sentence Be specific and clearly explain the main idea

An appropriate title: _

6 There are many types of lethal venom in the animal kingdom, but perhaps no stranger carrier than the platypus The platypus is one of few venomous mammals Males carry a venom cocktail in their ankle spurs that incapacitates victims with excruciating pain Stranger still, the platypus is the only mammal that uses electroreception What this means is that the platypus uses its bill to sense the electricity

produced by the muscular movements of its prey The platypus neither sees, hears, nor smells its prey while hunting but, rather, pursues it through electroreception Perhaps most odd, the platypus is the only mammal that lays eggs rather than giving birth to live young The platypus is an odd creature indeed

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7 Yellowstone National Park is mainly located in Wyoming, although three percent is located in the state

of Montana The Continental Divide of North America runs diagonally through the southwestern part of the park The park sits on the Yellowstone Plateau, which is an average elevation of 8,000 feet above sea level This plateau is bounded on nearly all sides by mountain ranges There are 290 waterfalls that are at least fifteen feet in the park, the highest being the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, which falls 308 feet

Summarize this paragraph in one sentence Be specific and clearly explain the main idea

An appropriate title: _

Name: Main Idea 2

Directions: Read each passage and ask yourself, “What is the author doing in this paragraph?” Write your answer in the summary box and then think of an appropriate title for the passage based on the main idea of the passage

1 Being a clown isn’t all fun and games Rodeo clowns expose themselves to great danger every time they perform When cowboys dismount or are bucked off of bulls at riding

competitions, rodeo clowns jump in front of the bulls and motion wildly to get their attention In this way rodeo clowns provide an alternate target, and in doing so protect the rider So you see, sometimes clowning around can be serious business

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An appropriate title: _

2 The wolverine, a medium sized mammal weighing no more than 50 lbs., has earned its

reputation for ferocity with its documented ability to kill prey many times its size The reason why wolverines have so many conflicts with other animals (including wolves, cougars, and even bears) is probably because of the wolverine’s preferred hunting style Rather than chasing down

or tricking its prey like most hunters, the wolverine prefers to take its meals directly from other hunters So while a polar bear or a lone wolf might be enjoying a hard earned carcass, a hungry wolverine may try to take his lunch This keeps the wolverine in plenty of fights

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3 Sometime in December of 1891, Dr James Naismith, a gym teacher at the YMCA College in Springfield, Massachusetts was trying to keep his gym class active on a rainy day He wanted a vigorous game that would keep his students moving After rejecting a few other ideas because they were too rough or not suited for the walled-in gym, Naismith wrote out the rules for a game with peach baskets fixed to ten-foot elevated tracks Naismith’s students played against one another, passing the ball around and shooting it into the peach baskets Dribbling wasn’t a part

of the original game, and it took a while to realize that the game would run more smoothly if the bottoms of the baskets were removed, but this game grew to be one of the most popular sports in America today Can you guess which one?

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4 What’s that humming sound? Could it be hummingbird, the only bird capable of backward flight? Hummingbirds have many unique flight habits that distinguish them from other birds Most birds flap their wings up and down to fly, but the hummingbird moves its wings forward and backward very rapidly in a figure eight pattern This allows the hummingbird to hover in position, fly upside down, and move about very rapidly And while other birds have to push off with their feet to begin flying, and work their ways up to their top speeds, the hummingbird can both start flying at maximum speed and stop flying instantaneously After you’ve seen a

hummingbird in flight, it’s unlikely that you’ll mistake them for another bird

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5 Remember, if something is worth doing, it is worth doing correctly That said, the key to making perfect cookies is merely a matter of preparation and precision To begin with, read your cookie recipe thoroughly before baking Make sure that you have all of the necessary ingredients before you continue Next, use good tools and utensils Sometimes, the craftsperson is only as good as his or her tools By using good tools you can minimize mistakes and improve the

quality of your product Lastly, you should use top quality ingredients Unlike in the fairytales, you can’t turn lead into gold If you use poor quality materials, you’ll create an inferior product

So, to make perfect cookies you should use the highest quality materials available Bon apatite!

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6 The term “machine gun” is commonly applied to any gun that is designed to fire repeatedly and in rapid succession for as long as the trigger is held down During the course of warfare, the trigger of some machine guns may be held down almost continuously for hours to create

suppressant fire (rounds fired not necessarily to kill an enemy, but to prevent them from

attacking) All of this firing can generate a lot of heat, which may cause the weapon to overheat and malfunction But this situation has been addressed in a number of ways For one, practically all machine guns fire from an open bolt, which allows air to cool the breach between bursts of fire Additionally, some machine guns have removable barrels, which allow hot barrels to be replaced And some advanced machine guns even have sophisticated barrel cooling systems, which maintain a functional heat level within the weapon As you might have concluded, a lot of brain power has gone into keeping those guns firing

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