CHAPTER 2 MAIN IDEAS Practice 1 Each group of words below has one general idea and three specific

ideas. The general idea includes all the entire specific ideas. Identify each general idea with a G and the specific ideas with an S. Looks first at the example. Example _S_ dishonesty _S_ greed _G_ bad qualities _S_ selfishness (Bad qualities is the general ideas which includes three specific types of bad qualities: dishonesty, greed, selfishness) 1.____handsome 2.____appearance 3.____well-dressed 4____shappy 2.____seafood 2.____oysters 3.____clams 4.____lobsters

6.____paper cuts 2.____minor problems 3.____broken nails 4.____wrong numbers 7.____try to be kinder 2.____eat healthier foods 3.____go to bed earlier 4.____resolutions 8.____Take stairs instead of elevator 2.____ride bike instead of driving 3.____exercisse opportunities 4.____walk instead of riding bus 9.____skip breakfast 2.____grab a donut mid-morning 3.____poor eating habit 4.____order supersize portions 10.____different goals 2.____no common interest 3.____dilike each others friends 4.____reasons for breaking up

3.____heavy traffic 2.____bus not on time 3.____alarm didnt go off 4.____excuses for being late

4.____poor pay 2.____mean boss 3.____very full work 4.____undersirable job 5.____gigling 2.____chilidsh behavior 3.____tantrums 4.____playing peek- a- boo

Practice 2 Write out the answers to each question in the spaces provided. For each question, the answers are specific details that illustrate the general idea, which is underlined. 1. There are many material things in everyday life (appliance, electronic equipment, and the like) that we come to depend upon. What are three things that you would hate to be without? _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 2. If you were suddenly wealthy, you could hire other people to do tasks that you dislike. What are three specific chores that youd hand over to somebody else? _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3. Most of us enjoy a good movie, but we have different ideas of what makes a film good. What are three specific qualities that a movie needs in order for you to really like it? _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 4. We all know people whom we find difficult. Think of a person that you find hard to get along with. Name three specific reasons you find this person difficult. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

Practice 4 In each of the following groups, one statement is the general point, and the other statements are specific support for the point Identify each point with a P and each statement of support with an S. 1.____ A. Among teenage girls, gossip contribute to bonding 2.____ B. Political gossip often is leaked to the media as a way of learning how the public is likely to react to a particular policy 3.____ C. Gossip takes many forms and serves various purposes 4____ D. In the business world, gossip can provide insights unavailable through official facts and figures 2.____ A. When answering the phone, some peoples first words are. Whos this? 2.____ B. Some people have terrible telephone manners 3.____ C. Some people never bother to identify themselves when calling someone 4.____ D. Some people hang up without even saying goodbye 3.____ A. Federal law should prohibit banks from giving credit cards to college students 2.____ B. Credit-card debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy for young Americans 3.____ C. Taking advantage of the fact that many parents will pay their childrens credit-card debt, banks extend excessive credit to students. .____ D. When they receive their monthly credit-card bills,, many students can pay only the minimum required and so have hefty interest charges on large unpaid amounts. 4.____A. Bats are so rarely rabid that a person has a better chance of catching rabies from a cow than from a bat. 2.____B. Bats, in spite of their bad reputation are not a danger to human being. Bats are afraid of humans and do their best to stay away from them 3.____C. Bats are afraid of humans and do their best to stay away from them. 4.____D. Unlike movie vampires, bats do not bite people unless frightened or under attack.

Practice 3 In the following groups, one statement is the general point, and the other statements are specific support for the point with a P and each statement of support with an S 1.____The vegetables were soggy and tasteless 2.____The chicken was hard to chew 3.____The meal was very unpleasant. 4____The rolls were rock-hard 2.____The teams best player is averaging over 30 points a game 2.____The basketball team is in first place in its division 3.____The team has won eight of its first ten games 4.____The basketball team is off to a great start 3.____The man does not use his turn signals 2.____The man drives too fast down narrow residential streets 3.____The man is an unsafe driver 4.____The man doesnt come to a complete stop at stop signs 4.____ Students stay in touch with friends through Facebook and e-mail 2.____Students writes papers and share class notes online 3.____ Students do much of their research on the Internet 4.____Students have practical uses for computers

Practice 5 In each of the following groupsall bases on textbooks selections-one statement is the general point, and their other statements are specific support for the point. Identify each point with a P and each statement of support with an S. 1.____ A. Companies that lose lawsuits usually pass the cost along to consumers 2.____ B. To protect themselves from malpractice suits, doctors now give more patients unneeded tests, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars a year. 3.____ C. The cost of fighting a lawsuit forces force small businesses to close, even when they have successfully defended themselves 4____ D. The ever-growing number of lawsuits has had a number of negative consequences 2.____ A. Our social roles-whether were students, employees, visitors, etc. Limit what emotions are acceptable for use to express 2.____ B. Given he widespread habit of suppressing our emotions, many of us limit what emotions are acceptance for us to express 3.____ C. Most of us rarely express our deepest emotions because of a number of factors 4.____ D. We often hide our emotions rather than display them so as not to seem weak or needy to others. 3.____ A. Disagreeable parties can accept the status quo, agreeing to just live with the situation as it stands 2.____ B. When faced with a disagreement, the parties involved have several ways to proceed 3.____ C. One party may use physical, social, or economic force to impose a solution on the others. .____ D. Negotiations, or reaching a mutually acceptable solution, is one means of dealing with conflict 4.____A. With bribes, Prohibition-era bootleggers, persuaded politicians, police, and other public officials to ignore the illegal sale of alcoholic beverages 2.____B.Prohibition glamorized drinking and make it fashionable for people to drink in illegal bars and break the law ____C. Prohibition encouraged the formation of organized-crime empires that illegally manufactured, transported, and solid liquor 4.____D. Prohibition, which banned alcoholic beverages in the United States from 1920 to 1933, resulted in much illegal activity.

Practice 6 Below, are groups of four items, in each case, one item is the topic, one is in the main idea, and two are details that support and develop the main idea. Label each item with one of the following: T- for the topic of the paragraph MI- for the main idea SD- for the supporting details Note that an explanation is proved for the first group; reading it will help you do this practice. Group 1 1.____One bite from a piranhas triangular-shaped teeth can sever a persons finger or toe 2.____The piranha 3.____The piranhaonly eight to twelve inches long is an extremely dangerous fish. 4____ A school of piranha can strip a four hundred- pound hog down to a skeleton in just a few minutes. Group 2 2.____Joint custody of a divorced couples children has become more common 2.____The number of men with sole custody of children has also grown 3.____Alternatices to giving the mother sold child custody has increased in recent years .____Alternative child-custody arrangements Group 3 4.____ In later adulthood, we begin to come to terms with our own mortality 2.____Stages of human development 3.____ Adolescence is typically a time of identity crisis 4.____According, psychologists , we pass through various stages of human development thought out our lives Group 4 1.____Kinds of power 2.____Force, which the Italian statesman Machiavelli called, the method of beasts is the use of physical coercion. 3.____Influence, the ability to control or affect the behavior of others, is also a form of power 4____Power, the ability to control or change the behavior of others, takes different forms

Practice 7 Following are four paragraphs. Read each paragraph and do the following: 1 Ask yourself, What seems to be the topic of the paragraph? (If often helps to look for and even circle a word or idea that is repeated in the paragraph) 2 Next, ask yourself, What point is the writer making about this topic? (This will be the main idea. It is stated in one of the sentences in the paragraph?) 3 Then test what you think is the main idea by asking, Is this statement supported by most of the other material in the paragraph? Hint: When looking for the topic, make sure you do not pick one that is neither too broad(covering a great deal more than is the selection) or too narrow (covering only part of the selection). The topic and the main idea of a selection must include everything in that selectionno more and no less For instance, in the example given in practice 1, page 58, the topic is bad qualities Character traits would be too broad because these would include good qualities as well as bad qualities. Greed would be too narrow, since this is only one type of bad quality mentioned. Paragraph 1 Shocking as it seems, cannibalism is common in the animal world, In species such as the red back spider, the black widow spider, the praying mantis, and the scorpion, the female commonly eats the male after mating. Another widespread form of cannibalism is sized-structured cannibalism, in which large individuals ,consume smaller ones. Octopus,, bats, toads, fish, monitor lizards, salamanders, crocodiles, spiders crustaceans, birds, mammals, and a vast number of insects have all been observed to engage in sized-structured cannibalism. Yet another common form of cannibalism is infanticide. Classic example include the chimpanzees, where groups of adult males have been observed to attack their infants,; and lions, where adult males commonly kill infants, when they take over a new harem after replacing the previous dominant males. Also, gerbils and hamsters eat their young if they are still born, or if the mothers are especially stressed. 1) What is the topic of the paragraph? In other words, what (in one or more words) is the paragraph about? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____2) what point is the writer making about the topic? In other words, which sentence states the main idea of the paragraph? In the space provided write the number of the sentence containing the main idea. Paragraph 2 The Great Wall of Chine is a truly remarkable creation. At 4,500 miles long, taller than five men, and wide enough to allow at least six horses to gallop side by side atop it, the Great Wall is so huge it can be seen from space. The Wall is constructed of four-inch blocks made of compressed earth, stone, willow twigs, and the remains of laborers who died among the millions who worked on its construction. The Great Wall, follows mountain slopes and has inclines as great as seventy degrees. The paths on the Wall are even more difficult to travel because the steps are of uneven depth, width, and height. Through much of its 2,500-year history, armies marched and camped on the wall, keeping lookout for invaders and repelling trespassers who dared to pitch ladders to try to

mount it. Today, the great wall is a tourist attraction that brings many visitors to China. Tourists are eager to make the strenuous hike over precarious paths to take in the greatness of its size and history. 1) What is the topic of the paragraph? In other words, what (in one or more words) is the paragraph about? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____2) what point is the writer making about the topic? In other words, which sentence states the main idea of the paragraph? In the space provided write the number of the sentence containing the main idea. Paragraph 3 At the beginning of the twentieth century, families often hired older women knows as chaperones to keep watch over their daughters. These women played an important role in courtship. When a young man asked a girl on a date, boyfriend in the parlor, the chaperone as well. If a young lady entertained her boyfriend in parlor, the chaperone did not budge from the room . Because of her responsibilities, the chaperone had the power to make courtship pleasurable or miserable. Some chaperones had soft hears and gave young lovers some privacy. Others were such sticklers for appearances that they prevented the young couple even from exchanging personal remakes. In addition to being guardians, chaperones sometimes functioned as private eyes. They investigated the back grounds of gentlemen who called on their chargers to see which one would make the best match. 1) What is the topic of the paragraph? In other words, what (in one or more words) is the paragraph about? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____2) what point is the writer making about the topic? In other words, which sentence states the main idea of the paragraph? In the space provided write the number of the sentence containing the main idea. Paragraph 4 Cardiovascular diseases disease of the heart or blood vesselsis the leading cause of death in the United States, killing about 1 million people a year. Cardiovascular disease is actually a group of disorders. This group includes high blood pressure, or hypertension, which significantly increases the risk of the diseases in the group. Atherosclerosis , or coronary artery disease , is another member of the group. In this cardiovascular disorder, a fatty deposit, plaque , builds up on the walls of the arteries, restricting the flow of blood and causing strain to the heart, which must work harder to pump blood through the narrowed arteries. Sometimes, an aneurysm occurs: the artery ruptures. Heart attacktechnically, myocardial infarction-is also in this group. It happens when plaque builds up so much that blood flow rot he hear is cut off and some heart muscle dies. Congestive heart failure, a chronic disease, is part of the group as well. In this disorder the heard has been weakened and can no longer pump enough blood. Stoke, too, is cardiovascular disease: it occurs when blood flow to the brain is restricted or cut off. 1) What is the topic of the paragraph? In other words, what (in one or more words) is the paragraph about? _____________________________________________________________________________

_____2) what point is the writer making about the topic? In other words, which sentence states the main idea of the paragraph? In the space provided write the number of the sentence containing the main idea. Practice 8
The main ideas for the following paragraphs appear at different locationsin the beginning, somewhere in the middle or at the end. Identify, each main idea by filling in its sentence number in the space provided.

___1. Many people think of thieves as clever. In reality, thieves can be remarkably foolish. One evening, a Los Angeles women was walking her miniature poodle when a man came up behind her, pushed her to the ground, grabbed the plastic bag she was holding, and drove away, Afterward, when asked about mugging, the woman cheerfully commented, I only wish there had been morning the bag The women had used the bag when she cleaned up her dogs messes. In Baltimore, an n even number burglar broke in to a house while the woman who lived there was home, ransacked and having found only $11.50 in cash, demanded that the victim write him a check for $30. When, the woman asked to whom she should make the check payable, the thief gave his own name , in full. He was arrested a few hours later. But an Oklahoma thief maybe been dumbest to for all. Charged with a purse snatching, he decide to act as his own attorney. At his trial, he cross examined the victim: Did you get a good look at my face when I took you purse? Not surprisingly he was convicted ___2. For 250 million year, reptileswhich appeared on Earth long before the first mammals have been fighting over territory. Today, human beings do battle over property as well. But the reptiles way of fighting is generally more civilized and humane than the humans. Lizards will take a few rushes at one another to test which one is stronger. After a few passes, the loser rolls over on his back to signal defeat. The winner allows him to leave unharmed. Rattlesnakes, similarly. Will duel over territory, But they do it with their necks twined together so that they cannot injure each other with their fangs. Humans, of course, generally fit with the intent of injuring one another. The victor often seems to feel he hasnt really won until hes wounded and humiliated his opponent, if not killed him. ___3. If asked to describe ourselves, most of us e would not answer that we are mostly water, but thats exactly what we are. A 150 pound person is actually 100 pounds of water and only 50 pounds of everything else. Our blood plasma is 92% water, and our brains are 75% water. We use the expression dry as a bone, but in fact our ones are not dry at allthey are about 20% water. Our inner sea is constantly in motion, flowing through us every moment bringing food and oxygen to our cells, carrying away wastes, lubricating our joints, cushioning, and our brains and regulating our temperatures. If the percentage of water in our bodies drops even 1 or 2 percent, we feel thirsty of water. Surprisingly we replace less than half this lost water though drinking. The rest we replenish with food which , just like us., is mostly water. A tomato, for example, is over 87% water, which is released into the body when we eat it.
___4. Today, as many as one and a half million children are believed to be homeschooled; twenty years ago, only 12,500 students were educated at home . This dramatic increase in the number of homeschooled children can be exampled in part by the growth of membership in fundamentalist. Christianity, whose members ten houses to educated their children of home. While religious motivation sit the reason that most families choose homeschooling. Some parents prefer to educate their children in the security of their own homes away form the dangers of guns and violence In many urban schools today. Other parents believer at homeschooling in much urban school today. Other parental t believe e that homeschooling provides their children a major intimate nurturing learning environment .l Economics can also play a role. One parent can stay home and be a home teacher, saving the high cost of childcare. Finally, motivation scan even be negative: sometimes racism, anti-Semitism, or other hatefully reins can cause parents to reject public schooling for homeschooling.

Practice 9 Pre writing strategies you can use to generate ideas before starting the first draft of a peper.. Prewiting techinigwues have various advatages . They encourage imaginative exploration and therefore alsose help you discover what interest you most about subjsute., Havigng such a focuse early in the morning