Determining the Main Idea

Realidades
Nombre
Fecha
Lectura, pp. 418–419
Determining the Main Idea
To determine the main idea of a reading passage, you must be able to describe what a
reading passage is mostly about and to summarize it in one sentence. A common problem
for students when working with this skill is confusing an important detail in the reading
passage for the main idea. Just because something is mentioned in the reading passage
does not mean it is the main idea of the passage. In fact, many times the main idea is not
even stated in the reading passage. This is often called an implied main idea. No matter if
the main idea is stated or implied, the basic question remains the same: “What is this
reading passage mostly about?”
Sometimes readers are asked to identify the main idea, not of the entire reading passage,
but of one small section of the passage. “Chunking” is one strategy that helps you better
understand the main ideas of the different sections in a long reading passage. After
dividing the reading passage into “chunks,” or sections, you pause at the end of each
chunk and try to summarize its main idea. After a chunk is summarized, you proceed to
the next chunk and repeats the process until the entire passage has been read.
1. Review the Lectura, Ecuador: país de maravillas on pages 418 and 419 in your
textbook. Then summarize each of the paragraph-long chunks listed in the chart below.
Main Idea
“Quito, la capital de Ecuador,…”
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
“Declarada parte del patrimonio…”
“A 30 minutos al norte de Quito…”
“Dentro del monumento hay un museo…”
“Ecuador le ofrece al visitante…”
“Las islas Galápagos representan…”
“La mejor manera de llegar a las islas…”
Sample question:
2. The main idea of the fourth paragraph in the Lectura, Ecuador: país de maravillas
could best be summarized as
A a description of the museum located at the monument La Mitad del Mundo.
B a description of some of the indigenous groups of Ecuador.
C an explanation of why tourists should visit Ecuador’s museums.
D a story about the salasacas people.
30 Capítulo 8A
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Paragraph beginning with ...