ELA Test Prep
Lesson #3
1
Summarizing Main Ideas
A good summary contains the main idea
of a passage.
A good summary is brief, yet it covers the
main points.
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Summarizing Main Ideas
Dennis Chavez served in the United States
Senate for more than twenty years. He was
the first Hispanic to hold the post of senator.
He was born in an adobe house in New
Mexico. As a boy, he learned to speak English
and taught it to his family. In 1920, he
graduated from law school. Fifteen years
later, he was elected senator from New
Mexico. In 1991, a postage stamp with his
picture was issued. The stamp honors his
service to the country.
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Summarizing Main Ideas
1. What is the best summary of this
passage?
a) Dennis Chavez was elected senator in 1935.
b) Dennis Chavez was the first Hispanic United
States senator.
c) Dennis Chavez taught his family to speak
English.
d) Dennis Chavez worked at the post office.
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Summarizing Main Ideas
Many people take aspirin for aches and
pains. Aspirin was first sold around 1900 by
the Bayer company of Germany. It was sold
under the trademark “Aspirin.” The World
War I swept across the world, and
Germany lost the war. Under its terms of
surrender, Germany agreed to release the
trademark. The name Aspirin could no
longer be used to sell only Bayer’s product.
It became the common name of a drug that
can get rid of pain.
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Summarizing Main Ideas
2. Write a brief summary of this passage.
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Summarizing Main Ideas
Most slaves did not become famous, but
Aesop was unusual. He was a clever,
witty Greek slave who earned his
freedom through his cleverness. He used
his animal fables for the purpose of
teaching people to respect the rights of
others. Two thousand years later, people
continue to use his stories to teach
lessons or gain helpful advice.
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Summarizing Main Ideas
3. Which of the following is the best
summary of this passage?
a) Some Greeks were slaves.
b) Aesop’s fables are still used to teach
important lessons.
c) People have finally learned to respect
others.
d) Many slaves became famous after they were
freed.
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Summarizing Main Ideas
The akita is a Japanese hunting dog with
short, bristly hair. It is considered a
symbol of good health. In fact, the dog is
so prized that it has been made an
official national treasure of Japan. The
first akita was brought into this country
in 1937. Its owner was Helen Keller, the
blind and deaf author.
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Summarizing Main Ideas
4. What is this passage mostly about?
a) Japan’s national treasures
b) Akitas were brought to the United States in
1937.
c) The fame of the akitas
d) Akitas are very popular in the United States.
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Summarizing Main Ideas
Acrophobia means “fear of heights.”
People who have this fear are known as
acrophobics. They aren’t any less afraid
even when there are fences or railings
to protect them. Their fear is not just
one of falling. Acrophobics may fear the
desire to jump from any height.
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Summarizing Main Ideas
5. Write a brief summary of this passage.
12
Main Idea
Now read this passage. Think about the main idea
as you read. Then answer the questions that follow.
The Trail of Tears
1 The United States signed the Declaration of
Independence in 1776. Soon after, the nation began
to grow by leaps and bounds. Both population and
territories increased. As European settlers explored
new lands and pushed further into the frontier, they
forced many Native Americans out of their
homelands. By 1830, settlers had flooded into
Georgia and increased the population of the state
several times over. The Cherokee Indians were also
living in Georgia at the time and had lived there for
many years.
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Main Idea
2 For a while, the settlers and the Cherokee shared the
land and resided together peacefully. The Cherokee adapted
to the European way of life that the settlers brought with
them to America. The discovery of gold on Cherokee lands,
however, prompted the settlers to urge the United States
government to remove the Cherokee from their homeland.
The removal of Native American people from their home
territories created more space for settlers and allowed
them to take control of the valuable resources found on
the land. Such “removal” was quite common during this
time as many other Native Americans had been forced to
move west of the Mississippi River. While the removal was
good for the settlers, it was devastating for the Native
Americans.
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Main Idea
3 In 1835, a small group of Cherokee leaders signed the Treaty
of Enchota. Even though most of the Cherokee disagreed with the
treaty, it allowed President Andrew Jackson to order the removal
of the Cherokee from their lands in Georgia to areas west of the
Mississippi. In 1838, General Winfield Scott and seven thousand
men began removing the Cherokee from their homeland. The
troops gathered Cherokee men, women, and children in shabby
camps with little shelter and food. Then, they forced the
Cherokee to march one thousand miles from Georgia to
Oklahoma during the fall and winter of 1838. Many of the
Cherokee fell ill or died along the way. Troops did not allow time
to stop and grieve for lost loved ones, causing the Cherokee to
label their march “Nunna dual Tsuny,” or “The Trail of Tears.” By the
time the Cherokee reached Oklahoma, they had lost more than
four thousand of their friends, relatives, and loved ones. It was one
of the saddest events in the United States’ brief history.
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Main Idea
6. Write a phrase telling what this passage
is mostly about.
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Main Idea
7. Now, write a sentence expressing the
main idea of this passage.
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Main Idea
8. Identify three supporting details in the
passage.
18
Literature
Read this passage and answer the questions that
follow.
The Bunkhouse
1 Alejandro and Jerry planned to build the best
bunkhouse anyone had ever seen. They had built
a bunkhouse several years ago, but that one had
been shoddy and unsophisticated – “very
childish,” was how Jerry described it. They’d used
old, knotted wood that they had excavated from
a junk pile, and hammered it together clumsily.
Now that they were older and more
knowledgeable, they knew they could do better.
19
Literature
2 The friends decided to build the
bunkhouse in a vacant yard behind their
apartment building and had obtained
permission from Mr. Fernando, the
owner of their apartment building and
the land.
3 “If we start now, we can finish in a day
or so,” Jerry concluded enthusiastically.
20
Literature
4 “No way,” Alejandro protested.
“Remember how we rushed to build the
last bunkhouse and how badly it turned
out?” Alejandro suggested dedicating
more time to this latest endeavor to
make it truly impressive. Jerry considered
this idea and then agreed. “Now that
that’s resolved,” said Alejandro, “let’s split
up and gather the materials we’ll need.”
21
Literature
5 When they returned, they noticed a
major disparity between the types of
materials they had brought. Alejandro
had brought library books on how to
install running water, lights – even air
conditioning. Jerry, on the other hand,
had brought a pile of old knotted wood
from a junk pile. Alejandro accused Jerry
of being sloppy, and Jerry accused
Alejandro of being unrealistic.
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Literature
6 “Don’t you want to make the best
bunkhouse we can?” Alejandro
demanded.
7 “Don’t you want to make something
instead of reading all day?” Jerry
countered.
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Literature
8 When they tired of arguing, they devised
a plan that satisfied them both. They would
so some reading, but they would also put
the wood to use. They worked together to
construct two benches from the wood, and
built a simple canopy to keep the hot sun
out. Then they relaxed on the benches and
read the library books. There they sat for
many pleasant hours, planning the ideal
bunkhouse they would build another day.
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Literature
9. Why is Alejandro upset with Jerry?
a) Jerry wants to build the best bunkhouse
ever.
b) Jerry is making decisions too quickly.
c) Jerry wants to sit on a bench and read.
d) Jerry thinks the old bunkhouse was childish.
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Literature
10. Why is paragraph 1 important to the
story?
a) It tells how Alejandro feels about building the
bunkhouse.
b) It explains why the boys want this bunkhouse
to be extra special.
c) It describes how the boys plan to build their
own bunkhouse.
d) It shows how the boys differ in how they
want to build the bunkhouse.
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Literature
11. The boys’ main conflict in the story is
that they ___
a) Like to compete to see who is the best
b) Do not know how to build a bunkhouse
c) Need more time to plan how to build a
bunkhouse
d) Have different ways of doing things
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
Often when we read, we need to see
cause-and-effect relationships.
Knowing what happened and what made
it happen will help us to understand
what we read better.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
You may have seen movies in which the
Roman emperor shows that a gladiator
should die by turning down his thumb.
Actually, the gory Roman custom was to
turn a thumb up toward the heart to
indicate death. A thumb down meant that
the soldier should be allowed to live.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
12. You can tell from the passage that death
probably occurred ___
a) Once out of every five times.
b) When the emperor gave a thumbs up.
c) When the emperor gave a thumbs down.
d) Only in the movies and not in real-life Rome.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
In New York’s Federal Reserve Bank,
workers handle money and other
valuable metals. One of the heaviest
things workers must carry is a gold brick.
For this reason, some of them wear
special shoes made of magnesium. These
shoes protect workers’ toes if a brick
falls on them.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
13. Workers wear special shoes because
___
a) They handle money.
b) They work in a bank.
c) They carry a gold brick.
d) They have special toes.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
The anableps is a freshwater fish found in
Mexico and parts of South America. It is
unusual because of its eyes. A band of
skin divides each eye in half, giving it four
eyes. It stays near the top of the water. It
can look above and below the water at
the same time.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
14. What is the best reason for why the
anableps might have four eyes?
a) So it can live in Mexico.
b) So it can see better than other fish.
c) So it can live near the top of the water.
d) There is no reason.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
Today’s typewriter keyboard was first
designed to slow down the speed of
typing. The first typists typed too fast.
This made the typewriters jam. The keys
were arranged as they are today in order
to force typists to slow down.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
15. According to the passage, what made the
typists slow down?
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
Often the reader can predict or tell in
advance, what is probably going to happen
next.
The reader must think about what would
make sense if the story were to continue.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
Kay threw her bike down wherever she
stopped. More than once, she had left
her bicycle in the driveway. Several times
her dad had pointed out what could
happen when she did this. One morning,
as her dad was leaving for work, Kay
heard a crashing sound outside.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
16. What will Kay probably do next?
a) Walk to school
b) Buy a new bicycle
c) Run outside
d) Put her bicycle away
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
Charlotte admired her mother’s pearl
ring. One morning, she decided she
would wear it without her mother’s
permission. She dropped it in her purse
and decided she would put it on at
school. Later, she remembered the ring.
When she reached into her purse, it was
not there.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
17. What is Charlotte likely to do next?
a) Go through the contents of her purse more
carefully
b) Dump her purse out in the hall
c) Call her mother
d) Go to her next class
41
Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
Mary worked as a cook in a café. One
day she got the great idea to cook the
world’s largest pancake. For days she
worked to build a giant frying pan. Then,
she mixed pancake batter all night long.
Next, she poured the batter into the pan
and heard the familiar sizzle.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
18. What might happen next?
a) Mary will go to work in the café.
b) Mary will become famous.
c) Mary will have to prove that her pancake is
the world’s largest.
d) The pancake will burn.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
Polio was once one of the most dreaded
diseases in the United States. Bu tin
1955, Jonas E. Salk helped change that.
His polio vaccine was given to thousands
of schoolchildren in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. Not one of the children
came down with a case of polio.
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Perceiving Relationships and
Recognizing Outcomes
19. What do you think happened next?
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Thank You!
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