ISEE Lower Level Reading Comprehension › Identifying and Analyzing Main Idea and Theme in Contemporary Life Passages
"The Dangers of Sugar" by Daniel Morrison (2014)
Sugar is a highly addictive substance that plays a dangerous role in the health and well-being of people around the world. It is particularly threatening to American health, as it is placed in everything from carbonated sodas to beef jerky and vegetable juice. The average American consumes seventy-five pounds of sugar every year—that is roughly the weight of a elementary school child. Many health experts believe that sugar is the number one contributing factor in the high rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes that can be found in the contemporary United States.
Why does the author believe that sugar is “particularly threatening to American health”?
Because it is found in so many different products in the United States
Because it is grown and harvested in the United States
Because it is especially addictive to American people
Because the government refuses to ban or regulate sugar consumption
Because it is consumed by such a large percentage of the population
Answering this question first requires understanding what “particularly threatening” means. Something that is “threatening” looks like it could cause harm. When the author says “particularly,” he means that Americans are more threatened by sugar than people in other countries. The reason the author gives for this is that, in America, sugar “is placed in everything from carbonated sodas to beef jerky and vegetable juice.” So, you can say that sugar is “particularly threatening to American health” because “it is found in so many different products in the United States.”
Adapted from Scientific American Supplement No. 1082 Vol. XLII (September 26th, 1896)
The rowboat Fox, of the port of New York, manned by George Harbo, thirty-one years of age, captain of a merchantman, and Frank Samuelson, twenty-six years of age, left New York for Havre on the sixth of June. Ten days later the boat was met by the German transatlantic steamer Fürst Bismarck proceeding from Cherbourg to New York. On the eighth, ninth and tenth of July, the Fox was cast by a tempest upon the reefs of Newfoundland. The two men jumped into the sea, and thanks to the watertight compartments provided with air chambers fore and aft, it was possible for them to right the boat; but the unfortunates lost their provisions and their supply of drinking water. On the fifteenth they met the Norwegian three-masted vessel Cito, which supplied them with food and water. The captains of the vessels met with signed the log book and testified that the boat had neither sail nor rudder. The Fox reached the Scilly Islands on the first of August, having at this date been on the ocean fifty-five days. It arrived at Havre on the seventh of August.
Cost what it might, the men were bent upon reaching this port in order to gain the reward promised by Mr. Fox, of the Police Gazette. Thanks to the wind and a favorable current, they made one hundred and twenty-five miles in twenty-four hours. One slept three hours while the other rowed. Their skins and faces were tumefied by the wind, salt water, and sun; the skin of their hands was renewed three times; their legs were weakened; and they were worn out.
George Harbo and Frank Samuelson were trying to __________.
row across the Atlantic without the help of a sail or a rudder
be the first men to sail across the Atlantic ocean unassisted by others
reach America from Europe without stopping for additional fuel
reach Europe from America without stopping for additional fuel
swim across the Atlantic ocean
It is clear that these two men were trying to cross the Atlantic ocean in some fashion that would be considered difficult. You have to read carefully to determine how exactly they were trying to do so. The author notes that when they met with a Norwegian ship, the captain "signed the log book and testified that the boat had neither sail nor rudder.” So, the two men were trying to row across the Atlantic without using a sail or a rudder to guide and power their ship.
"The Aging of Public Transportation Systems" by Matthew Minerd (2013)
As cities develop, their public transportation systems often show signs of aging that are mixed with aspects that are quite up-to-date. An example of such a situation can be found in the transportation system in Washington DC. This system is made up of a mixture of buses and trains that connect people to locations in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. While the system has been well maintained and updated over the years, it still shows evidence that certain sections are older than others.
This is particularly noticeable when one considers the multiple lines that connect in Washington DC itself. Within the city, there are five different sets of tracks that run in various directions and to sundry places. A number of the newer lines are in excellent condition and rarely break down; however, the case of the red line is somewhat different. This oldest line of the metro train system often has issues because of its age, experiencing a number of track and signal issues even at rush hour when the overall system is its most efficient. Admittedly, the transportation authority is working to update this line and make it less problematic. Still, until this work is completed, it is obvious to all who are familiar with the metro train system that the red line is the oldest and most out of date.
What is the main idea that this passage seeks to express?
Transportation systems in cities often are a mix of the old and the new, as is evident from the example of the Washington DC transportation system.
Transportation systems in cities are almost always out of date, as is evident from the example of the Washington DC transportation system.
The Washington DC metro train system is perhaps the most vexing of all such systems in the United States.
Transportation systems in cities are always up-to-date, though an exception can be found in the example of the Washington DC transportation system.
City transportation systems often connect multiple states together, as can be seen in the example of the Washington DC transportation system.
The main idea for this selection is directly state in the opening sentence: "As cities develop, their public transportation systems often show signs of aging that are mixed with aspects that are quite up-to-date." Although the second paragraph does focus on issues with the Washington DC red line, it likewise makes the point that this is in contrast to the newer lines that rarely break down; therefore, the best way to express the main idea of this selection is by stating, "Transportation systems in cities often are a mix of the old and the new, as is evident from the example of the Washington DC transportation system."
Adapted from Scientific American Supplement No. 1157 Vol. XLV (March 5th, 1898)
"Artists" of the variety stage and the circus are always trying to find something new, for the same old trapeze performances, trials of strength, performances of rope dancers, etc., have been presented so many times that anyone who invents an entirely new trick is sure of making a large amount of money out of it; the more wild and dangerous it is, the better. Anything that naturally stands on its feet but can be made to stand on its head will be well received in the latter attitude by the public. Some such thought as this must have been in the mind of the man who conceived the idea of riding a bicycle on the ceiling instead of on the floor. The "trick" originated with the Swiss acrobat Di Batta, who, being too old to undertake such a performance himself, trained two of his pupils to do it, and they appeared with their wheel in Busch Circus in Berlin. The wheel, of course, ran on a track from which it was suspended in such a way that it could not fall, and the man who operated it used the handle bar as he would the cross bar of the trapeze. One would think that the position of the rider was sufficiently dangerous to satisfy any public, but the inventor of the trick sought to make it appear more wonderful by having the rider carry between his teeth a little trapeze from the crosspiece of which another man hung. Different colored lights were thrown on the performers as they rode around the ceiling, and at the end of the performance first one and then the other dropped into the safety net which had been placed about sixty feet below them.
The main idea of this passage is __________.
to describe a new circus trick that has recently been invented
to explain why circus performers are so drawn to risk-taking
to explain why people are so drawn towards dangerous and wild things
to describe the lifestyle and livelihood of a circus performer
to highlight the loss of life that occasionally occurs during circus performances
The main idea and purpose of this passage is to describe the invention of a new circus trick—riding a bike on the ceiling. The passage contains many different themes: the fact that people crave things they have not seen before; how people are drawn to wild and dangerous things; and how circus performers manipulate the public. None of these is the main idea of the passage, though.
Adapted from The Principles of Breeding by S. L. Goodale (1861)
The Jersey cow, formerly known as the Alderney, is almost exclusively employed for dairy purposes, and may not be expected to give satisfaction for other uses. Their milk is richer than that of any other cows, and the butter made from it possesses a superior flavor and a deep rich color, and consequently commands an extraordinary price in all markets where good butter is appreciated.
Jersey cattle are of Norman origin, and are noted for their milking properties. The cows are generally very docile and gentle, but the males when past two or three years of age often become vicious and unmanageable. It is said that the cows fatten readily when dry.
There is no branch of cattle husbandry which promises better returns than the breeding and rearing of milch cows. In the vicinity of large towns and cities are many cows which having been culled from many miles around, on account of dairy properties, are considerably above the average, but taking the cows of the country together they do not compare favorably with the oxen. Farmers generally take more pride in their oxen, and strive to have as good or better than any of their neighbors, while if a cow will give milk enough to rear a large steer calf and a little besides, it is often deemed satisfactory.
The main purpose of this article is __________.
to encourage the breeding of dairy cows
to describe the properties of the Jersey cow
to reflect on the differences between various cows in England
to explain the basics of animal husbandry
to argue against the use of dairy cows for meat
In the first two paragraphs, the author primarily describes the properties of the Jersey cow, but his reason for doing so is to make an argument encouraging the greater selective breeding of dairy cows. This can be seen, for example, when the author says “There is no branch of cattle husbandry which promises better returns than the breeding and rearing of milch cows.” You can then see how the third paragraph is primarily a discussion of how farmers err by not focusing more of their attention in selectively breeding their dairy cows.
Adapted from "The Dartmoor Ponies, or the Wandering of the Horse Tribe" by Arabella B. Buckley in A Book of Natural History (1902, ed. David Starr Jordan)
It was a calm misty morning one day last week, giving promise of a bright and sunny day, when I started off for a long walk across the moor to visit the famous stone-circles, many of which are to be found not far off the track called Abbot’s Way, leading from Buckfast Abbey to the Abbey of Tavistock.
My mind was full of the olden times as I pictured to myself how, seven hundred years or more ago, some Benedictine monk from Tavistock Abbey paced this narrow path on his way to his Cistercian brothers at Buckfast, meeting some of them on his road as they wandered over the desolate moor in search of stray sheep. For the Cistercians were shepherds and wool-weavers, while the Benedictines devoted themselves to learning, and the track of about twenty-five miles from one abbey to the other, which still remains, was worn by the members of the two communities, the only variety in whose lives consisted probably in these occasional visits to each other.
Yet even these monks belonged to modern times compared to the ancient Britons who raised the stone-circles over the moor; and my mind drifted back to the days when, long before that pathway was worn, men clad in the skins of beasts hunted wild animals over the ground on which I was treading, and lived in caves and holes of the ground.
I wondered, as I thought of them, whether the monks and the ancient Britons delighted as much in the rugged scenery of the moor as I did that morning. For many miles in front of me the moor stretched out wild and treeless, while the early mist was rising off the hill-tops. It was a pleasure, there on the open moor, with the lark soaring overhead, and the butterflies and bees hovering among the sweet-smelling furze blossoms, to see horses free and joyous, with no thought of bit or bridle, harness or saddle, whose hooves had never been handled by the shoeing-smith, nor their coats touched with the singeing iron. Those little colts, with their thick heads, shaggy coats, and flowing tails, will have at least two years more liberty before they know what it is to be driven. Only once a year are they gathered together, claimed by their owners and branded with an initial, and then left again to wander where they will.
Which of these themes is most relative to this text?
The joy of the wilderness
The love of religion
Hatred of horses
The passage of time
The cost of travel
Throughout this passage, the author expresses a great deal of joy about her experience of walking through the wilderness. This can be seen in excerpts such as “I wondered, as I thought of them, whether the cultured monks and the ancient Britons delighted as much in the rugged scenery of the moor as I did that morning.” She also says, “It was a pleasure, there on the open moor, with the lark soaring overhead, and the butterflies and bees hovering among the sweet-smelling furze blossoms, to see horses free and joyous, with no thought of bit or bridle, harness or saddle." This suggests that the primary theme of this text is “the joy of the wilderness.” Although the author does discuss the passage of time, with relation to the various groups of people that have lived on the moor in centuries past, this is part of her general reflection on the joy of walking through the land.
Adapted from Scientific American Supplement No. 1157 Vol. XLV (March 5th, 1898)
Eleven submarine cables traverse the Atlantic between sixty and forty degrees north latitude. Nine of these connect the Canadian provinces and the United States with the territory of Great Britain; two (one American, the other Anglo-American) connect France. Of these, seven are largely owned, operated or controlled by American capital, while all the others are under English control and management. There is but one direct submarine cable connecting the territory of the United States with the continent of Europe, and that is the cable owned and operated by the Compagnie Francais Cables Telegraphiques, whose termini are Brest, France, and Cape Cod, on the coast of Massachusetts.
All these cables between sixty and forty degrees north latitude, which unite the United States with Europe, except the French cable, are under American or English control, and have their termini in the territory of Great Britain or the United States. In the event of war between these countries, unless restrained by conventional act, all these cables might be cut or subjected to exclusive censorship on the part of each of the belligerent states. Across the South Atlantic there are three cables, one American and two English, whose termini are Pernambuco, Brazil, and St. Louis, Africa, and near Lisbon, Portugal, with connecting English lines to England, one directly traversing the high seas between Lisbon and English territory and one touching at Vigo, Spain, at which point a German cable company has recently made a connection. The multiplication under English control of submarine cables has been the consistent policy of Great Britain, and today her cable communications connect the home government with all her colonies and with every strategic point, thus giving her exceptional advantages for commercial as well as for political purposes.
The primary purpose of this passage is __________.
to describe the various transatlantic cable lines that connect the Americas with Europe
to lament the lack of the United States' control over transatlantic cable communication
to provide a plausible outcome of the ownership and use of transatlantic cables in the event of war between England and the United States
to demand that the government of the United States prioritize the construction of additional transatlantic cables
to argue against the idea that it is an important part of contemporary policy in the United States to construct numerous transatlantic cables
The primary purpose of this passage is simply to describe the various transatlantic cable lines that connect the Americas with Europe. Although it is true that the author talks about the overwhelming number of transatlantic cables that are under the control of the English government, there is little evidence to suggest that this is the focus of the entire passage or that the author laments this state of affairs.
Adapted from "The Dartmoor Ponies, or the Wandering of the Horse Tribe" by Arabella B. Buckley in A Book of Natural History (1902, ed. David Starr Jordan)
It was a calm misty morning one day last week, giving promise of a bright and sunny day, when I started off for a long walk across the moor to visit the famous stone-circles, many of which are to be found not far off the track called Abbot’s Way, leading from Buckfast Abbey to the Abbey of Tavistock.
My mind was full of the olden times as I pictured to myself how, seven hundred years or more ago, some Benedictine monk from Tavistock Abbey paced this narrow path on his way to his Cistercian brothers at Buckfast, meeting some of them on his road as they wandered over the desolate moor in search of stray sheep. For the Cistercians were shepherds and wool-weavers, while the Benedictines devoted themselves to learning, and the track of about twenty-five miles from one abbey to the other, which still remains, was worn by the members of the two communities, the only variety in whose lives consisted probably in these occasional visits to each other.
Yet even these monks belonged to modern times compared to the ancient Britons who raised the stone-circles over the moor; and my mind drifted back to the days when, long before that pathway was worn, men clad in the skins of beasts hunted wild animals over the ground on which I was treading, and lived in caves and holes of the ground.
I wondered, as I thought of them, whether the monks and the ancient Britons delighted as much in the rugged scenery of the moor as I did that morning. For many miles in front of me the moor stretched out wild and treeless, while the early mist was rising off the hill-tops. It was a pleasure, there on the open moor, with the lark soaring overhead, and the butterflies and bees hovering among the sweet-smelling furze blossoms, to see horses free and joyous, with no thought of bit or bridle, harness or saddle, whose hooves had never been handled by the shoeing-smith, nor their coats touched with the singeing iron. Those little colts, with their thick heads, shaggy coats, and flowing tails, will have at least two years more liberty before they know what it is to be driven. Only once a year are they gathered together, claimed by their owners and branded with an initial, and then left again to wander where they will.
Which of these themes is most relative to this text?
The joy of the wilderness
The love of religion
Hatred of horses
The passage of time
The cost of travel
Throughout this passage, the author expresses a great deal of joy about her experience of walking through the wilderness. This can be seen in excerpts such as “I wondered, as I thought of them, whether the cultured monks and the ancient Britons delighted as much in the rugged scenery of the moor as I did that morning.” She also says, “It was a pleasure, there on the open moor, with the lark soaring overhead, and the butterflies and bees hovering among the sweet-smelling furze blossoms, to see horses free and joyous, with no thought of bit or bridle, harness or saddle." This suggests that the primary theme of this text is “the joy of the wilderness.” Although the author does discuss the passage of time, with relation to the various groups of people that have lived on the moor in centuries past, this is part of her general reflection on the joy of walking through the land.
"The Dangers of Sugar" by Daniel Morrison (2014)
Sugar is a highly addictive substance that plays a dangerous role in the health and well-being of people around the world. It is particularly threatening to American health, as it is placed in everything from carbonated sodas to beef jerky and vegetable juice. The average American consumes seventy-five pounds of sugar every year—that is roughly the weight of a elementary school child. Many health experts believe that sugar is the number one contributing factor in the high rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes that can be found in the contemporary United States.
What is the author’s main point in this passage?
That sugar consumption is dangerously high in the United States
That sugar is unhealthy
That the United States eats more sugar than any other country
That sugar is produced from the maple-tree
That sugar has only recently been understood as bad for you
It is true that in the second paragraph the author talks about how too much sugar “is unhealthy” and he does seem to suggest that “the United States eats more sugar than any other country.” Both of these factor as parts of the author’s main point, which is “that sugar consumption is dangerously high in the United States.” This is shown by excerpts such as “The average American consumes seventy-five pounds of sugar every year - that is roughly the weight of a elementary school child.” And, “Many health experts believe that sugar is the number one contributing factor in the high rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes that can be found in the contemporary United States.”
Adapted from Scientific American Supplement No. 1157 Vol. XLV (March 5th, 1898)
"Artists" of the variety stage and the circus are always trying to find something new, for the same old trapeze performances, trials of strength, performances of rope dancers, etc., have been presented so many times that anyone who invents an entirely new trick is sure of making a large amount of money out of it; the more wild and dangerous it is, the better. Anything that naturally stands on its feet but can be made to stand on its head will be well received in the latter attitude by the public. Some such thought as this must have been in the mind of the man who conceived the idea of riding a bicycle on the ceiling instead of on the floor. The "trick" originated with the Swiss acrobat Di Batta, who, being too old to undertake such a performance himself, trained two of his pupils to do it, and they appeared with their wheel in Busch Circus in Berlin. The wheel, of course, ran on a track from which it was suspended in such a way that it could not fall, and the man who operated it used the handle bar as he would the cross bar of the trapeze. One would think that the position of the rider was sufficiently dangerous to satisfy any public, but the inventor of the trick sought to make it appear more wonderful by having the rider carry between his teeth a little trapeze from the crosspiece of which another man hung. Different colored lights were thrown on the performers as they rode around the ceiling, and at the end of the performance first one and then the other dropped into the safety net which had been placed about sixty feet below them.
The primary theme of this passage is that __________.
people crave things they have not seen before
the inventor of riding a bicycle on the ceiling must have been a circus performer
people love to be distracted
the more dangerous something is the more interesting it becomes
the young are more likely to take foolish risks
Although this passage is about the invention of the trick that involves riding a bicycle on the ceiling, the primary theme is that people crave things they have not seen before. This is made most obvious in the following two excerpts: “'Artists' of the variety stage and the circus are always trying to find something new, for the same old trapeze performances, trials of strength, performances of rope dancers, etc., have been presented so many times" and “Anything that naturally stands on its feet but can be made to stand on its head will be well received in the latter attitude by the public.”