Finding the Main Idea I Reading Skill
One of the essential learning outcomes in Reading skills is to identify the main idea. As a student, it is crucial to know how to find out the main idea of an article or a paragraph in a reading passage. By completing these quizzes, you will gain practice in identifying the main idea of reading passages or paragraphs.”
Strategies for Finding the Main Idea
Finding the main idea starts with separating the topic — what the passage is generally about — from the main idea itself, which is the specific point the writer makes about that topic. In a single paragraph, the main idea is often stated directly in a topic sentence, usually the first or last sentence, but in longer passages you may need to combine clues from several paragraphs to state it in your own words.
A reliable way to check your answer when finding the main idea is to ask whether every other sentence in the passage supports or explains it — if a sentence doesn’t connect back to your proposed main idea, either the sentence is a supporting detail or your main idea statement is too narrow. Watch out for answer choices on comprehension quizzes that restate a detail from the passage rather than the overall point; these are common wrong answers because they sound familiar even though they’re too specific to be the main idea.
Practice Finding the Main Idea
The four short quizzes below give you practice finding the main idea across different passage types and difficulty levels. For related practice, see our full set of reading skills quizzes, or read this Reading Rockets guide to comprehension strategies for more background.
Read the article on pages 77 and 78 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ Virtual Reality for Medical Students”
Question 1: What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
Read the article on pages 77 and 78 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ Virtual Reality for Medical Students”
Question 2: What is the main idea of the second paragraph?
Read the article on pages 77 and 78 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ Virtual Reality for Medical Students”
Question 3: What is the main idea of the third paragraph?
Read the article on pages 77 and 78 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ Virtual Reality for Medical Students”
Question 4: What is the main idea of the fourth paragraph?
Read the article on pages 77 and 78 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ Virtual Reality for Medical Students”
Question 5: What is the main idea of the fifth paragraph?
Read the article on pages 77 and 78 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ Virtual Reality for Medical Students”
Question 6: What is the main idea of the sixth paragraph?
Read the article on pages 77 and 78 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ Virtual Reality for Medical Students”
Question 7: What is the main idea of the seventh paragraph?
Read the article on pages 77 and 78 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ Virtual Reality for Medical Students”
Question 8: What is the main idea of the eighth paragraph?
Read the article on pages 77 and 78 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ Virtual Reality for Medical Students”
Question 9: What is the main idea of the ninth paragraph?
Read the article on pages 77 and 78 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ Virtual Reality for Medical Students”
Question 10: What is the main idea of the whole reading passage?
Please retake the quiz if you have got less than 60% marks.
Read the article on pages 84 and 85 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ The Technology Advantage”
Question 1: What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
Read the article on pages 84 and 85 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ The Technology Advantage”
Question 2: What is the main idea of the second paragraph?
Read the article on pages 84 and 85 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ The Technology Advantage”
Question 3: What is the main idea of the third paragraph?
Read the article on pages 84 and 85 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ The Technology Advantage”
Question 4: What is the main idea of the fourth paragraph?
Read the article on pages 84 and 85 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ The Technology Advantage”
Question 5: What is the main idea of the fifth paragraph?
Read the article on pages 84 and 85 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ The Technology Advantage”
Question 6: What is the main idea of the sixth paragraph?
Read the article on pages 84 and 85 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ The Technology Advantage”
Question 7: What is the main idea of the seventh paragraph?
Read the article on pages 84 and 85 of your “Reading and Writing book” and choose the correct answers. The title of the reading passage is “ The Technology Advantage”
Question 8: What is the main idea of the entire reading passage?
Please retake the quiz if you have got less than 60% marks.
Please read the article on pages 102 and 103 of your “reading and writing book” and answer the questions below ( one by one). The title of the reading passage is “ A Successful Family Business”
Question 1: What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
Please read the article on pages 102 and 103 of your “reading and writing book” and answer the questions below ( one by one). The title of the reading passage is “ A Successful Family Business”
Question 1: What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
Please read the article on pages 102 and 103 of your “reading and writing book” and answer the questions below ( one by one). The title of the reading passage is “ A Successful Family Business”
Question 3: What is the main idea of the third paragraph?
Please read the article on pages 102 and 103 of your “reading and writing book” and answer the questions below ( one by one). The title of the reading passage is “ A Successful Family Business”
Question 4: What is the main idea of the fourth paragraph?
Please read the article on pages 102 and 103 of your “reading and writing book” and answer the questions below ( one by one). The title of the reading passage is “ A Successful Family Business”
Question 5: What is the main idea of the fifth paragraph?
Please retake the quiz if you have got less than 60% marks.
Read the article on pages 107 and 108 of your “reading and writing book” and choose the correct answer to the questions. The title of the reading passage is “ The Challenge of Running a Family Business”
Question 1: What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
Read the article on pages 107 and 108 of your “reading and writing book” and choose the correct answer to the questions. The title of the reading passage is “ The Challenge of Running a Family Business”
Question 2: What is the main idea of the second paragraph?
Read the article on pages 107 and 108 of your “reading and writing book” and choose the correct answer to the questions. The title of the reading passage is “ The Challenge of Running a Family Business”
Question 3: What is the main idea of the third paragraph?
Read the article on pages 107 and 108 of your “reading and writing book” and choose the correct answer to the questions. The title of the reading passage is “ The Challenge of Running a Family Business”
Question 4: What is the main idea of the fourth paragraph?
Read the article on pages 107 and 108 of your “reading and writing book” and choose the correct answer to the questions. The title of the reading passage is “ The Challenge of Running a Family Business”
Question 5: What is the main idea of the fifth paragraph?
Please retake the quiz if you have got less than 60% marks.
