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Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the topic of the passage.   (1)In 1801, a candidate for Congress challenged to a duel an Army officer who called him “a bowl of skimmed milk.” (2)At that duel, the two men killed each other. (3)Newspaper editors were challenged so often that many put on their pistols when they dressed in the morning. (4)In Vicksburg, Mississippi, three newspaper editors died in duels in the 1840s. (5)These examples indicate that as recently as the 1800s, dueling with weapons was a common way to defend one’s honor.   The topic is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the number of the sentence that contains the main idea.   (1)A character in a novel or a short story may be older or younger than you. (2)The character may live on a farm, while you live in a city. (3)The character may be living long ago—during the American Revolution, or in ancient Rome, or in the Middle Ages. (4)The character may be male while you are female, white while you are black, rich while you are poor—or vice versa. (5)Rarely do you meet a fictional character who is just like yourself, so when you read fiction, you must step outside the narrow boundaries of your own life.   The sentence that expresses the main idea is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the number of the sentence that contains the main idea.   (1)You can help save the Earth by forming some environmentally sound habits. (2)Store foods in covered bowls instead of wrapping them in foil. (3)Write on both sides of a piece of paper, and use scrap paper for messages. (4)Turn off the water—until you need it—while washing dishes, brushing your teeth, or shaving. (5)Eliminate a couple of car trips per week. (6)Choose cloth diapers instead of disposable ones. (7)Avoid lawn-care chemicals, which can find their way into water supplies. (8)Also, put aluminum cans, plastic containers, and papers in recycling containers when you are finished with them.   The sentence that expresses the main idea is

Directions: Click on the general point in each group. In the group below, one statement is the general point, and the other statements are specific support for that point. Select the general point in the group.

Directions: Which general idea best covers the specific ideas?Specific ideas: horror, shame, disgust, fearThe general idea is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the sentence that best expresses the implied main idea of the passage.   (1)We’re often told “He who hesitates is lost,” but we’re also warned to “look before you leap.” (2)Most of us have heard the saying, “Out of sight, out of mind,” but then we hear “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” (3)Everyone talks about “love at first sight.” (4)But then someone reminds us, “Marry in haste, repent at leisure.” (5)It’s all very confusing.   The sentence that best expresses the implied main idea is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the number of the sentence that contains the main idea.   (1)Few things are more boring than standing in line. (2)Luckily, some ways have been found to make waiting in line more bearable. (3)Airline personnel now use hand-held devices to look up customers’ information, scan or print boarding passes, and direct passengers to the appropriate area. (4)One New York bank pays five dollars to any customer who has waited more than five minutes. (5)Fast-food restaurants have found that timing the work of fast-food workers motivates crews to work more quickly, resulting in lines that move faster. (6)Dividing tasks so that one person takes an order while another begins to prepare it also gets food to customers more quickly. (7)In amusement parks, customers complain less when signs explain how long people can expect to wait. (8)Also, live entertainment such as a magician or juggler cheers people waiting in long lines.   The sentence that expresses the main idea is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the number of the sentence that contains the main idea.   (1)Blocking out your feelings may seem like a good way to protect yourself at emotionally difficult times. (2)But psychologists report that people who keep feelings locked inside are likely to run into trouble. (3)First, unexpressed emotions only deepen and become even more troubling. (4)Also, people with buried emotions often have a difficult time relating to others and are afraid of being hurt if they open up. (5)In addition, those hidden feelings may eventually find a harmful way to get out. (6)For example, people whose feelings are blocked off are more likely to have alcohol problems, attempt suicide, or try to hurt others.   The sentence that expresses the main idea is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the sentence that best expresses the implied main idea of the passage.   (1)In his book Anatomy of an Illness, writer Norman Cousins described his battle with a severe joint ailment. (2)Told that his doctors could do no more for him, he checked out of the hospital and into a pleasant hotel room. (3)He spent weeks watching Marx Brothers movies and other comedies. (4)He read the funniest authors he could find. (5)He joked and wisecracked with his visitors. (6)Cousins’ health improved so much that his doctors were amazed.   The sentence that best expresses the implied main idea is

Read the following excerpt of published criticism of Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”.  For each excerpt, note whether it repeats something that has already been said in the critical conversation or adds something new to the critical conversation. If the excerpt adds something new, which of the three approaches to joining the conversation (adding new evidence, adding new interpretations, or disagreeing with previous interpretations) do you see the critic using? I agree with Hirsch when she mentions Mama’s “ability to take pleasure in her daughter’s difference without conceding any of her own choices and values” and her ability to maintain a distance from Dee “without visibly rejecting her” (203). While critics often point to Dee’s aggressiveness, which intrudes into the pastoral calm of Mama’s home, by quoting Mama’s comment that the dress Dee wears is “so loud it hurts my eyes,” they fail to note that Mama says shortly after, “I like it” (28). Mama has held a place for “Dee,” and if “Dee” is no longer htere, she will try to accommodate “Wangero.”