LESSON 33.1 OVERVIEW ITEMS (PETERSON’S TOEFL SUCCESS)

(PETERSON’S TOEFL SUCCESS)

LESSON 33.1

OVERVIEW ITEMS

MAIN IDEA, MAIN TOPIC, AND MAIN PURPOSE QUESTIONS After almost every passage, the first question is an overview question about the main idea, main topic, or main purpose of a passage. Main idea questions ask you to identify the most important thought in the passage. Sample Questions √ What is the main idea of the passage? The primary idea of the passage is . . . Which of the following best summarizes the author’s main idea? √ √ When there is not a single, readily identified main idea, main topic questions may be asked. These ask you what the passage is generally “about.” Sample Questions √ The main topic of the passage is . . . What does the passage mainly discuss? The passage is primarily concerned with . . . √ √ Main purpose questions ask why an author wrote a passage. The answer choices for these questions usually begin with infinitives. Sample Questions √ The author’s purpose in writing is to . . . What is the author’s main purpose in the passage? The main point of this passage is to . . . Why did the author write the passage? √ √ √ Sample Answer Choices √ To define . . . To relate . . . To discuss . . . To propose . . . To illustrate . . . To support the idea that . . . To distinguish between . . . and . . . To compare . . . and . . . √ √ √ √ √ √ √ Don’t answer the initial overview question about a passage until you have answered the other questions. The process of answering the detail questions may give you a clearer idea of the main idea, topic, or purpose of the passage. The correct answers for main idea, main topic, and main purpose questions correctly summarize the main points of the passage; they must be more general than any of the supporting ideas or details, but not so general that they include ideas outside the scope of the passages. Distractors for this type of question have one of these characteristics: 1 They are too specific. They are too general. They are incorrect according to the passage. They are irrelevant (unrelated) to the main idea of the passage. 2 3 4 If you’re not sure of the answer for one of these questions, go back and quickly scan the passage. You can usually infer the main idea, main topic, or main purpose of the entire passage from an understanding of the main ideas of the paragraphs that make up the passage and the relationship between them. OTHER OVERVIEW ITEMS Several other items test your overall understanding of the passage. These are often the last question in a set of questions. Tone items ask you to determine the author’s feelings about the topic by the language that he or she uses in writing the passage. Look for vocabulary that indicates if the author’s feelings are positive, negative, or neutral. Sample Questions √ What tone does the author take in writing this passage? The tone of this passage could best be described as . . . √ Sample Answer Choices • Positive • Favorable • Optimistic • Amused • Pleased • Respectful • Humorous • Negative • Critical • Unfavorable • Angry • Defiant • Worried • Outraged • Neutral • Objective • Impersonal If you read the following sentences in passages, would the tone of those passages most likely be positive or negative? 1 That was just the beginning of a remarkable series of performances by this brilliant actress. 2 Despite some minor problems, this device has a number of admirable features. 3 This practice is a waste of time and money. 4 At the time his poems were first published, they were very popular, but today most critics find them simplistic and rather uninteresting. The italicized words in sentences 1 and 2 show a positive tone; in 3 and 4, the italicized words indicate a negative attitude. Notice that sentence 2 contains negative words (minor problems) but the overall meaning of the sentence is positive. Sentence 4 contains positive language (very popular) but overall, the tone is negative. (Words such as despite, but, although, however, and similar words can “reverse” the tone of the passage.) Most TOEFL reading passages have a neutral tone, but sometimes an author may take a position for or against some point. However, answer choices that indicate strong emotion—angry, outraged, sad, and so forth—will seldom be correct. Attitude questions are similar to tone questions. Again, you must understand the author’s opinion. The language that the author uses will tell you what his or her position is. What is the author’s attitude toward smoking on airplanes as expressed in the sentence below? Although some passengers may experience a slight discomfort from not smoking on long flights, their smoking endangers the health of all the passengers and crew. The author opposes smoking during flights. He admits that there is some argument in favor of smoking— some passengers may feel discomfort—but this is not as important as the fact that smoking can be dangerous to everyone on the flight. The use of the word although shows this. Sample Questions √ What is the author’s attitude toward . . . ? The author’s opinion of ________ is best described as . . . The author’s attitude toward ________ could best be described as one of . . . How would the author probably feel about . . . ? √ √ √ Another type of attitude question presents four statements and asks how the author would feel about them. √ Which of the following recommendations would the author most likely support? The author would be LEAST likely to agree with which of the following statements? The author of the passage would most likely be in favor of which of the following policies? √ √ Organization items ask about the overall structure of a passage or about the organization of a particular paragraph. Sample Question √ Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage? Sample Answer Choices √ A general concept is defined and examples are given. Several generalizations are presented, from which a conclusion is drawn. The author presents the advantages and disadvantages of ________. The author presents a system of classification for ________. Persuasive language is used to argue against ________. The author describes ________. The author presents a brief account of ________. The author compares ________ and ________. √ √ √ √ √ √ √ Items about previous or following paragraphs ask you to assume that the passage is part of a longer work: What would be the topic of the hypothetical paragraph that precedes or follows the passage? To find the topic of the previous paragraph, look for clues in the first line or two of the passage; for the topic of the following passage, look in the last few lines. Sometimes incorrect answer choices mention topics that have already been discussed in the passage. Sample Questions √ What topic would the following/preceding paragraph most likely deal with? The paragraph before/after the passage most probably discusses . . . It can be inferred from the passage that the previous/next paragraph concerns . . . What most likely precedes/follows the passage? √ √ √ EXERCISE 33.1 Focus: Identifying correct answers and recognizing distractors in main idea/main topic/main purpose questions Directions: Read the passages. Then, mark each answer choice according to the following system: S Too specific G Too general X Incorrect I Irrelevant C Correct The first question is finished for you as an example. Passage 1 There are two main types of cell division. Most cells are produced by a process called mitosis. In mitosis, a cell divides and forms two identical daughter cells, each with an identical number of chromosomes. Most one-celled creatures reproduce by this method, as do most of the cells in multicelled plants and animals. Sex cells, however, are formed in a special type of cell division called meiosis. This process reduces the number of chromosomes in a sex cell to half the number found in other kinds of cells. Then, when sex cells unite, they produce a single cell with the original number of chromosomes. 1 What is the main topic of this passage? __S___ (A) The method by which one-celled organisms reproduce _C____ (B) A comparison between mitosis and meiosis _X____ (C) Meiosis, the process by which identical cells are produced Passage 2 The last gold rush belongs as much to Canadian history as it does to American. The discovery of gold along the Klondike River, which flows from Canada’s Yukon Territory into Alaska, drew some 30,000 fortune hunters to the north. The Yukon became a territory, and its capital at the time, Dawson, would not have existed without the gold rush. The gold strike furnished material for a dozen of Jack London’s novels; it inspired Robert Service to write “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and other poems; and it provided the background for the wonderful Charlie Chaplin movie, The Gold Rush. It also marked the beginnings of modern Alaska. 2 This author’s main purpose in writing is to _______ (A) discuss the significance of mining in Canada and the United States. _______ (B) show the influence of the Klondike gold strike on the creative arts. _______ (C) point out the significance of the Klondike gold strike. Passage 3 Until the nineteenth century, when steamships and transcontinental trains made long-distance travel possible for large numbers of people, only a few adventurers, mainly sailors and traders, ever traveled out of their own countries. “Abroad” was a truly foreign place about which the vast majority of people knew very little indeed. Early mapmakers, therefore, had little fear of being accused of mistakes, even though they were often wildly inaccurate. When they compiled maps, imagination was as important as geographic reality. Nowhere is this more evident than in old maps illustrated with mythical creatures and strange humans. 3 Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage? _______ (A) Despite their unusual illustrations, maps made before the nineteenth century were remarkably accurate. _______ (B) Old maps often included pictures of imaginary animals. _______ (C) Mapmakers could draw imaginative maps before the nineteenth century because so few people had traveled. Passage 4 Circumstantial evidence is evidence not drawn from the direct observation of a fact. If, for example, there is evidence that a piece of rock embedded in a wrapped chocolate bar is the same type of rock found in the vicinity of the candy factory, and that rock of this type is found in few other places, then there is circumstantial evidence that the stone found its way into the candy during manufacture and suggests that the candy maker was negligent. Despite a popular notion to look down on the quality of circumstantial evidence, it is of great usefulness if there is enough of it and if it is properly interpreted. Each circumstance, taken singly, may mean little, but a whole chain of circumstances can be as conclusive as direct evidence. 4 What is the main idea of the passage? _______ (A) A manufacturer’s negligence can be shown by direct evidence only. _______ (B) Enough circumstantial evidence is as persuasive as direct evidence. _______ (C) Circumstantial evidence can be very useful in science. Passage 5 The Northwest Ordinance was passed by Congress in 1787. It set up the government structure of the region north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania, then called the Northwest Territory. It set the conditions under which parts of the Territory could become states having equality with the older states. But the ordinance was more than just a plan for government. The law also guaranteed freedom of religion and trial by jury in the Territory. It organized the Territory into townships of 36 square miles and ordered a school to be built for each township. It also abolished slavery in the Territory. The terms were so attractive that thousands of pioneers poured into the Territory. Eventually, the Territory became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. 5 What is the main topic of this passage? _______ (A) The structure of government _______ (B) The provisions of an important law _______ (C) The establishment of schools in the Northwest Territory Passage 6 The story of the motel business from 1920 to the start of World War II in 1941 is one of uninterrupted growth. Motels (the term comes from a combination of the words motor and hotels) spread from the West and the Midwest all the way to Maine and Florida. They clustered along transcontinental highways, such as U.S. Routes 40 and 66, and along the north-south routes running up and down both the East and West Coasts. There were 16,000 motels by 1930 and 24,000 by 1940. The motel industry was one of the few industries that was not hurt by the Depression of the 1930s. Their cheap rates attracted travelers who had very little money. 6 What does the passage mainly discuss? _______ (A) How the Depression hurt U.S. motels _______ (B) The origin of the word motels _______ (C) Two decades of growth for the motel industry Passage 7 An old but still useful proverb states, “Beware of oak, it draws the stroke.” This saying is handy during thunderstorm season. In general, trees with deep roots that tap into groundwater attract more lightning than do trees with shallow, drier roots. Oaks are around 50 times more likely to be struck than beeches. Spruces are nearly as safe as beeches. Pines are not as safe as these two but are still much safer than oaks. 7 What is the author’s main point? _______ (A) Old proverbs often contain important truths. _______ (B) Trees with shallow roots are more likely to avoid lightning than those with deep roots. _______ (C) The deeper a tree’s roots, the safer it is during a thunderstorm Passage 8 Alternative history is in general classified as a type of science fiction, but it also bears some relation to historical fiction. This type of writing describes an imaginary world that is identical to ours up to a certain point in history, but at that point, the two worlds diverge; some important historical event takes place in one world but not in the other, and they go in different directions. Alternative histories might describe worlds in which the Roman Empire had never fallen, in which the Spanish Armada had been victorious, or in which the South had won the Civil War. Or, they may suppose that some technology had been introduced earlier in the world’s history than actually happened. For example: What if computers had been invented in Victorian times? Many readers find these stories interesting because of the way they stimulate the imagination and get them thinking about the phenomenon of cause and effect in history. 8 What is the main idea of this passage? _______ (A) Alternative histories describe worlds in which history has taken another course. _______ (B) Alternative histories are a type of historical novel. _______ (C) Science fiction writers have accurately predicted certain actual scientific developments.

ANSWER KEY