Central Ideas & Details
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A travel memoir describes arriving in a coastal village during a festival. The narrator tastes citrus pastries, watches children race handmade boats, and hears an elderly singer repeat the same ballad each evening. The memoir mentions that the hotel room is cramped and that the ferry schedule is unreliable. Yet the narrator dwells most on how the festival’s repeated rituals make a stranger feel briefly included, as if the village’s calendar has room for newcomers.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
Handmade boat races are the village’s most competitive and important tradition.
The festival’s rituals help the narrator feel welcomed into an unfamiliar community.
Citrus pastries are the most memorable food the narrator tries in the village.
The narrator’s trip was ruined by an unreliable ferry schedule and poor lodging.
Explanation
The memoir's main idea is that the festival's repeated rituals make the narrator, a stranger, feel briefly included in the village community. While the text mentions tasting pastries, watching boat races, and dealing with cramped lodging, the narrator 'dwells most on how the festival's repeated rituals make a stranger feel briefly included, as if the village's calendar has room for newcomers.' Choice A incorrectly focuses on negative travel details mentioned only briefly, while Choice B correctly captures the narrator's emphasis on feeling welcomed through festival rituals. When texts state what someone 'dwells most on,' that indicates the main focus.
A passage in a psychology textbook explains that confirmation bias is the tendency to notice and remember information that supports existing beliefs while overlooking contradictory evidence. The author gives an example of a sports fan recalling only the referee calls that hurt their team. The passage also mentions that scientists try to reduce this bias through preregistered studies and blind data analysis. Still, the definition remains central: confirmation bias concerns how people selectively interpret information.
According to the text, confirmation bias is the tendency to
change beliefs quickly after hearing others’ opinions
prefer new information over familiar explanations
avoid making decisions when evidence seems incomplete
selectively notice evidence that supports existing beliefs
Explanation
The textbook explicitly defines confirmation bias as 'the tendency to notice and remember information that supports existing beliefs while overlooking contradictory evidence.' The passage reinforces this with the sports fan example who recalls only unfavorable referee calls. While the text mentions scientific methods to reduce this bias, the core definition remains about selectively interpreting information to support existing beliefs. The correct answer is C, directly matching the textbook's definition. For definition questions, locate the exact definitional statement, often following phrases like 'is the tendency to.'
A business case study describes a small bakery that struggled when flour prices rose. The owner tried three changes: shrinking portion sizes, raising prices, and renegotiating delivery schedules to reduce spoilage. The study notes that customers complained about smaller pastries and that the price increase briefly reduced sales. However, it reports that waste reduction made the biggest difference, because fewer unsold items were thrown away at the end of each day.
According to the text, which change made the biggest difference for the bakery?
Reducing spoilage by renegotiating delivery schedules
Shrinking portion sizes to use less flour
Raising prices to offset higher ingredient costs
Advertising more to increase customer traffic
Explanation
The case study explicitly states that 'waste reduction made the biggest difference, because fewer unsold items were thrown away at the end of each day.' This resulted from renegotiating delivery schedules to reduce spoilage. While the study notes customer complaints about smaller portions and temporarily reduced sales from price increases, only the waste reduction through better delivery scheduling is identified as making 'the biggest difference.' The correct answer is C, as stated directly in the passage. In business case studies, look for comparative language like 'biggest difference' to identify the most impactful change.
In a critique of a new translation of a classic epic, the reviewer praises the translator’s crisp verbs and notes that the footnotes are unusually brief. The reviewer also points out a few awkward modern idioms and says the introduction spends too long on the translator’s biography. Nonetheless, the reviewer singles out one achievement: the translation preserves the original poem’s shifting rhythms by varying sentence length, so battle scenes feel urgent while laments slow into longer, heavy lines.
Based on the text, which choice best describes what the reviewer singles out as the translation’s key achievement?
Replacing awkward idioms with strictly formal vocabulary
Preserving shifting rhythms by varying sentence length
Devoting a long introduction to the translator’s biography
Using unusually brief footnotes throughout the entire book
Explanation
The reviewer explicitly 'singles out one achievement: the translation preserves the original poem's shifting rhythms by varying sentence length, so battle scenes feel urgent while laments slow into longer, heavy lines.' While the review mentions brief footnotes and criticizes awkward idioms and the lengthy biographical introduction, only the rhythm preservation through varied sentence length is identified as the key achievement. The correct answer is B, as directly stated in the passage. When questions ask what is 'singled out,' look for that exact phrase in the text.
A science magazine article describes how some desert beetles collect water from fog. The beetles climb to a ridge at dawn, tilt their bodies, and let tiny droplets condense on textured patches of their shells. The article mentions that wind direction matters and that researchers have tested fog-harvesting nets inspired by the beetles. But it states that the key biological feature is the shell’s alternating regions: bumps that attract water and smoother channels that guide it toward the beetle’s mouth.
According to the text, what feature helps guide condensed water toward the beetle’s mouth?
Alternating bumps and smooth channels on the shell
A dawn-only feeding schedule that reduces evaporation
Fog-harvesting nets built by researchers in deserts
A ridge-climbing behavior that increases wind exposure
Explanation
The text explicitly states that 'the key biological feature is the shell's alternating regions: bumps that attract water and smoother channels that guide it toward the beetle's mouth.' This directly identifies the alternating bumps and smooth channels as the feature guiding water to the mouth. While the text mentions ridge-climbing behavior and fog-harvesting nets, these aren't the features that guide water on the shell itself. The correct answer is A, matching the passage's exact description. For detail questions about specific mechanisms, locate the exact explanatory language in the text.
In a letter to a friend, a novelist describes her writing routine. She drafts quickly in the morning, then spends afternoons revising dialogue aloud to test whether it sounds natural. She notes that she sometimes consults a map to keep travel distances consistent, and she admits she loves inventing minor characters. Still, she credits one habit for finishing her book on time: she turns off the internet router for three hours each day, calling it “a small, daily quarantine from distraction.”
The text indicates that the novelist finished her book on time mainly because she
turned off her internet router for three hours daily
consulted a map to keep travel distances consistent
revised dialogue aloud to make it sound natural
invented minor characters whenever she felt stuck
Explanation
The text directly states that the novelist 'credits one habit for finishing her book on time: she turns off the internet router for three hours each day.' She calls this practice 'a small, daily quarantine from distraction,' indicating it was the key factor in meeting her deadline. While she mentions other habits like revising dialogue aloud and consulting maps, only the internet shutdown is explicitly linked to finishing on time. The correct answer is D, as stated in the passage. In detail questions asking what 'mainly' caused something, look for explicit causal statements using words like 'credits' or 'because.'
A campus newsletter recounts a student-led campaign to reduce disposable cup waste. The group tried posters, then a discount for reusable mugs, and finally a “borrow-a-cup” shelf that allowed students to return cups later. The article mentions that the discount was popular for a week and that the posters looked attractive, but it reports that the borrow-a-cup shelf produced the largest sustained drop in trash because it helped people who forgot their mugs and didn’t want to buy a new one.
According to the text, what produced the largest sustained drop in trash?
A borrow-a-cup shelf with later returns
A weeklong discount for bringing reusable mugs
A series of attractive posters around campus
A rule requiring students to purchase new mugs
Explanation
The text explicitly states that 'the borrow-a-cup shelf produced the largest sustained drop in trash.' The article explains this success occurred because the shelf helped people who forgot their mugs and didn't want to buy new ones, addressing a practical barrier to reusable cup adoption. While the discount was popular for only a week and posters looked attractive, these approaches didn't achieve sustained results. The correct answer is C, as directly stated in the passage. For detail questions, always look for exact language in the text—here, 'produced the largest sustained drop in trash' appears verbatim.
A geology textbook paragraph explains that metamorphic rocks form when existing rocks are altered by heat, pressure, or chemically active fluids, without fully melting. It mentions that shale can become slate and then schist as mineral grains grow and align under pressure. The paragraph also notes that marble forms from limestone and that contact metamorphism occurs near hot magma. The author’s focus, however, is on the defining process: metamorphism changes a rock’s texture and minerals while the rock remains solid.
Which choice best describes what the text is mainly about?
Metamorphic rocks are defined by solid-state changes caused by heat and pressure.
Contact metamorphism is the only way rocks can change near magma chambers.
Shale becomes schist primarily because it melts and then cools slowly.
Marble is more common than slate because limestone occurs in many regions.
Explanation
The textbook paragraph's main idea is that metamorphic rocks are defined by solid-state changes caused by heat and pressure, without melting. While the text provides examples like shale becoming slate and marble forming from limestone, 'the author's focus' is explicitly on the defining process: rocks changing texture and minerals while remaining solid. Choice D incorrectly states that shale melts to become schist (contradicting the solid-state definition), while Choice A correctly identifies the paragraph's focus on metamorphism as solid-state transformation. In textbook passages, main ideas often define key concepts rather than listing examples.
In an editorial about public libraries, the author lists several modern services: résumé workshops, language classes, and lending programs for tools and musical instruments. The author also notes that quiet reading rooms still matter. But the editorial’s main argument is that libraries remain essential because they provide free access to information and space without requiring customers to buy anything, which makes them one of the few civic institutions designed for people regardless of income.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
Libraries should focus on quiet reading rooms instead of offering public programs.
Libraries are vital civic spaces because they offer free access without purchases.
Tool-lending programs are the most popular service that libraries now provide.
Language classes at libraries are more effective than classes at private schools.
Explanation
The editorial's main argument is that libraries remain essential because they provide free access to information and space without requiring purchases, making them accessible regardless of income. While the author lists various services like workshops and tool-lending programs, the 'main argument' explicitly stated is that libraries are 'one of the few civic institutions designed for people regardless of income' because they don't require buying anything. Choice C incorrectly elevates one service example to the main idea, while Choice B correctly captures the editorial's central argument about libraries as vital civic spaces offering free access. Pay attention to phrases like 'main argument' to identify the central claim.
A biographical sketch of an early photographer describes how she carried a heavy camera, mixed chemicals in a tent, and waited for long exposures that made people sit unnaturally still. These anecdotes are vivid, but the sketch emphasizes her artistic choice: she photographed ordinary workers—laundry women, dockhands, and street vendors—at a time when portraits usually featured wealthy patrons. By doing so, she argued that everyday labor deserved the same careful composition and attention to light as any noble subject.
Which choice best describes what the text is mainly about?
Long exposure times forced early photography subjects to sit completely motionless.
The photographer elevated ordinary workers by portraying them with artistic care.
Wealthy patrons preferred portraits because they could afford expensive cameras.
The photographer used chemistry skills to develop images inside a portable tent.
Explanation
The biographical sketch's main idea is that the photographer elevated ordinary workers by giving them the same artistic treatment typically reserved for wealthy subjects. While the sketch includes vivid details about heavy cameras and chemical tents, it 'emphasizes her artistic choice' to photograph laundry women, dockhands, and street vendors with the same careful composition and lighting as noble subjects. Choice A focuses on a technical detail about exposure times, while Choice C correctly identifies the sketch's emphasis on how she argued everyday labor deserved artistic attention. When a text explicitly states what it 'emphasizes,' that emphasis represents the main idea.