Chapter 5 Worksheet 1

Exercises for determining main ideas

(The passages from Milanda Broukals In-a-Flash Reading for the TOEFL Test by Thomson)

Read each passage below and choose the main idea from statements (A)-(D). (Which statement is
too general? Which is too specific? Which is incorrect?)

1.
Birds have two basic types of sounds: songs and calls. Songs are usually more complex than calls and
are utilized primarily by adult males during the breeding season to establish territories or attract mates.
Calls are normally simple notes, single or repeated, vocalized by males and females in all seasons to
express alarm or maintain contact with mates, offspring, or other birds of the same species. All songs and
most calls are distinctive, and with concentrated study and practice, bird-watchers can learn to identify
many birds by their sounds and to call them as well.

(A) Bird calls and songs are distinctive, meaningful, and identifiable.
(B) Bird songs are complicated and used mainly by males to attract mates.
(C) Birds have their own language by which they maintain contact.
(D) Bird-watchers can identify many bird calls and their meanings and learn to mimic them as well.

noun verb adjective, adverb others
mate
offspring
breed
vocalize
distinctive

1. having a quality or characteristic that makes something different and easily noticed; characteristic
( )
2. either of a pair of birds or animals ( )
3. (of animals) to have sex and produce young ( )
4. a child of a particular person or couple ( )
5. to say or sing sounds or words ( )

Many animals breed only at certain times of the year.
A male bird sings to attract a mate.
Your baby will begin to vocalize long before she can talk.
Most parents have problems with their teenage offspring.
The male bird has distinctive white markings on its head.

2.
Strictly speaking, cartography is the drawing or compiling of maps. The explorers and surveyors go
out and make the measurements and gather the information from which the cartographers draw their maps.
Sometimes the fieldwork and the creation of the map are done by the same person. But when the scope is
broad and the sources of information many, maps are more often a compilation of that information. They
represent the accumulated work of many people, brought together under the supervision of one person,
the compiler. The value of the map depends, of course, on the expertise of the compiler, who must sift
through available information, select the most accurate data, and come up with a thoughtful and accurate
synthesis of the geographic knowledge of the region.

(A) The definition of cartography is the drawing or compiling of maps.
(B) Maps are the product of a group effort brought together usually by one person.
(C) Not all of the information initially compiled for maps is accurate.
(D) The compilers task is more important than that of the explorers and surveyors.

noun verb adjective, adverb others
cartography
compilation
expertise
supervision
surveyor
synthesis
accumulate
come up with
compile
sift through



1. someone whose job is to examine the condition of a building, or to measure and record the details of an
area of land ( )
2. to make a book, list, or record, using different pieces of information or music ( )
3. a collection of items, especially pieces of information or songs, taken from different places and put
together ( )
4. something that has been made by combining different things, or the process of combining things
( )
5. to gradually get more and more money, possessions, or knowledge over a period of time
( )
6. special skills or knowledge in a particular subject, that you learn by experience or training
( )
7. to think of an idea or answer ( )
8. when you supervise someone or something ( )
9. to examine information or documents carefully in order to find something out or decide what is
important and what is not ( )
10. the activity of making maps ( )

Digital cartography promises a more efficient and flexible way of doing this kind of work.
Her latest CD is a compilation of all her best singles.
His expertise will be invaluable to understanding technological challenges the BBC is facing.
The drug should only be used under medical supervision.
a synthesis of scientific knowledge and religious faith
It is unjust that a privileged few should continue to accumulate wealth.
Is that the best excuse you can come up with?
The report was compiled from a survey of 5,000 households.
Police are sifting through the evidence in the hope of finding more clues.

3.
Speculation about the earths crust has a special edge of urgency in California, which sits on the San
Andreas fault, the worlds most famous and respected fracture zone. Not surprisingly, it was a scientist at
the California Institute of Technology, Charles F. Richter, who invented the Richter scale used to measure
earthquakes. Seismic activity in California is being constantly monitored and mapped. Seismometers
register many thousands of small earthquakes every year, and computers instantly calculate the location,
depth, and magnitude of an earthquake. Laser distance-ranging networks can detect changes of length,
indicating change in crustal stress, accurate to about half an inch in 20 miles. Satellite measurements of
crustal blocks are improving, and California seismologists believe they may in time be precise enough to
allow earthquake prediction.

(A) The Richter scale was invented in California.
(B) Computers provide a variety of information about earthquakes.
(C) A great deal of attention is paid to earthquake activity in California.
(D) Earthquake prediction will be possible in the future.

noun verb adjective, adverb others
crust
edge
fault
fracture
seismologist
seismometer
speculation
register

seismic

1. the hard outer layer of the Earth ( )
2. an instrument that measures and records the movement of the earth during an earthquake
( )
3. a large crack in the rocks that form the Earths surface ( )
4. when you guess about the possible causes or effects of something without knowing all the facts, or the
guesses that you make ( )
5. a scientist who studies earthquakes ( )
6. keenness or intensity of desire or enjoyment ( )
7. (of a measuring instrument) to show or record the amount of something ( )
8. [technical] relating to or caused by earthquakes ( )
9. a crack or broken part in a bone or other hard substance ( )

The continents sit on shifting plates that form the outer crust of the Earth
I lost my competitive edge.
the San Andreas fault in Northern California
Hip fractures, which especially plague older women, are the most serious fall injury for seniors.
There is speculation that the president is ill.
The Geiger counter registered a dangerous level of radioactivity.
The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Japan.

4.
Innovations in transportation in the 1800s permitted space to be traversed more rapidly and were
crucial to the industrial expansion of the North. The great spaces that separated producers from
consumers made speed essential, especially in the movement of perishable freight. The development of
the steam-powered locomotive in the 1830s and the rapid extension of the railways in the 1840s and
1850s provided the answer to the need for faster transport and dramatically altered patterns of economic
development throughout the United States. In 1830 there were 32 miles of rails in the country, in 1840
there were 2,818 miles, and by 1850 there were more than 9,000 miles. The rapid extension of rail
mileage enabled the railroads to significantly reduce their costs for shipping freight and carrying
passengers, thus enabling them to price their services more cheaply and competitively. The extension of
trunk lines, into which short or local lines fed, further tightened the east-west flow of commerce and
bound the Northeast and the old Northwest together with bands of steel.

(A) Railroad made the transportation of perishable freight possible.
(B) Between 1830 and 1850 over 8,000 miles of railroad track were laid.
(C) Railroads provided an important link between the Northwest and the Northeast.
(D) Railroads had a profound effect on the economic development of the United States in the nineteenth
century.

noun verb adjective, adverb others
freight
innovation
locomotive
mileage
trunk line
feed into
ship
traverse

crucial to
perishable


1. a new idea, method, or invention ( )
2. [formal] to move across, over, or through something, especially an area of land or water
( )
3. the number of miles that is covered by a countrys railways ( )
4. extremely important, because everything else depends on it ( )
5. a railway engine ( )
6. to become channeled or directed ( )
7. a transportation system such as a railroad or highway used for traveling long distances ( )
8. (of food) likely to decay quickly ( )
9. goods that are carried by ship, train, or aircraft, and the system of moving these goods ( )
10. to send goods somewhere by ship, plane, or truck ( )

Well send your personal belongings by air freight and your furniture by sea freight.
Innovations in information technology have completely transformed the way students work.
The decision making process can be likened to one of those great lumbering steam locomotives seen in
Western films.
The plans are announced to treble the countrys railway mileage.
The river feeds into the Atlantic ocean.
About half of the whisky produced in Scotland is shipped to Japan and the US.
An estimated 250,000 cars traverse the bridge daily.
Winning this contract is crucial to the success of the company.
perishable goods such as butter, milk, fruit, and fish

5.
Because different tree species adapted to different climates and soil types have evolved over millennia,
many kinds of forests occupy the earth today. The primitive forests of several hundred million years ago
consisted of fewer kinds of trees. In fact, the earliest trees, which grew nearly 500 million years ago,
were like giant club mosses. They lacked true roots and consisted of a tangle of specialized branches that
clambered over rocky ground. Fifty million years later came the dense forests of tree ferns that prevailed
in tropical climates of that era. The forerunners of modern conifers were on the scene 300 million years
ago, when plant life abundantly colonized marshy land, building the tremendous coal and oil reserves so
important today. By the time the dinosaurs roamed the earth some 180 million years ago, during the
Cretaceous period, seed-bearing trees had evolved that shed their leaves in winter; from these have sprung
the angiosperms and our present deciduous forests.

(A) Conifers are the oldest trees in todays forests.
(B) Climate affected the development of trees over millennia.
(C) The predecessors of todays forests were giant club mosses and tree ferns.
(D) The variety of trees in todays forest are a result of millions of years of evolution.

noun verb adjective, adverb others
conifer
fern
forerunner
millennium
reserve
adapt
clamber
colonize
evolve
prevail
deciduous
marshy



tangle

roam
shed

1. someone or something that existed before something similar that developed or came later
( )
2. a twisted mass of something such as hair or thread ( )
3. a period of 1000 years ( )
4. to gradually change your behavior and attitudes in order to be successful in a new situation
( )
5. a tree such as a pine or fir that has leaves like needles and produces brown cones that contain seeds.
Most types of this keep their leaves in winter ( )
6. to climb or move slowly somewhere, using your hands and feet because it is difficult or steep
( )
7. a supply of something kept to be used if it is needed ( )
8. if animals or plants ( ) an area, large numbers of them start to live there
9. a type of plant with green leaves shaped like large feathers, but no flowers ( )
10. [formal] to exist or be very common at a particular time or in a particular place ( )
11. if plants ( ) their leaves, they lose them naturally
12. of or relating to a marsh(=an area of low flat ground that is always wet and soft) ( )
13. to walk or travel, usually for a long time, with no clear purpose or direction ( )
14. ( ) trees lose their leaves in winter
15. if animals or plants ( ), they change gradually over a long period of time

If the conifers win out, then they shade the ground permanently and only mosses can remain.
In general, ferns like organically enriched, moist but well-draining soil on the acid side.
The ice safe kept in the cellar was a forerunner of todays refrigerator.
The tribes have inhabited this land for millennia.
As oil reserves are depleted, its price will continue to rise.
She followed him, pushing through the dense tangle of bushes and branches.
These flowers are well adapted to harsh winters.
They clambered over the slippery rocks.
a dead tree that has been colonized by ants
Fish evolved from prehistoric sea creatures.
Those beliefs still prevail among certain social groups.
Chickens and geese roam freely in the back yard.
The trees were starting to shed their leaves.
Once the Cotswolds had probably consisted of deciduous forest, with beech the dominant tree.
The crane lives in marshy habitats.

6.
Although lie detectors are being used by governments, police departments, and businesses that all
want guaranteed ways of detecting the truth, the results are not always accurate. Lie detectors are properly
called emotion detectors, for their aim is to measure bodily changes that contradict what a person says.
The polygraph machine records changes in heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and the electrical activity
of the skin (galvanic skin response, or GSR). In the first part of the polygraph test, you are electronically
connected to the machine and asked a few neutral questions (What is your name? Where do you
live?). Your physical reactions serve as the standard (baseline) for evaluating what comes next. Then you
are asked a few critical questions among the neutral ones (When did you rob the bank?). The
assumption is that if you are guilty, your body will reveal the truth, even if you try to deny it. Your heart
rate, respiration, and GSR will change abruptly as you respond to the incriminating questions.
That is the theory; but psychologists have found that lie detectors are simply not reliable. Since most
physical changes are the same across the emotions, machines cannot tell whether you are feeling guilty,
angry, nervous, thrilled, or revved up from an exciting day. Innocent people may be tense and nervous
about the whole procedure. They may react physiologically to a certain word (bank) not because they
robbed it, but because they recently bounced a check. In either case, the machine will record a lie. The
reverse mistake is also common. Some practiced liars can lie without flinching, and others learn to beat
the machine by tensing muscles or thinking about an exciting experience during neutral questions.

(A) How physical reactions reveal guilt
(B) How lie detectors are used and their reliability
(C) How lie detectors distinguish different emotions
(D) How lie detectors make innocent people nervous

noun verb adjective, adverb others
polygraph
respiration

bounce
contradict
evaluate
flinch
guarantee
incriminate
rev up
tense
galvanic
neutral
physiologically
practiced



1. to disagree with something, especially by saying that the opposite is true ( )
2. deliberately not expressing any strong feeling ( )
3. a piece of equipment that is used by the police to find out whether someone is telling the truth
( )
4. to make your muscles tight and stiff ( )
5. to excite or stir up; to make more active or effective ( )
6. if a bank ( ) a check, the bank will not pay any money because there is not enough
money in the account of the person who wrote it
7. [technical] relating to the production of electricity ( )
8. to make someone seem guilty of a crime ( )
9. [technical] the process of breathing ( )
10. in a way that is characteristic of normal functioning of the body ( )
11. to promise to do something or to promise that something will happen ( )
12. to feel embarrassed or upset ( )
13. someone who is ( ) in a particular job or skill is good at it because they have done it
many times before
14. to judge how good, useful, or successful something is ( )

The suspect was given a polygraph test.
Give the child artificial respiration if needed.
The bank charges 30 for a bounced check.
The article flatly contradicts their claims.
It can be difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of different treatments.
The man flinched at the sight of blood.
The law guarantees equal rights for men and women.
He refused to answer questions for fear he might incriminate himself.
Investors keep putting money in U.S. companies, revving up the economy even more.
He tensed himself, listening to see if anything had followed him.
a galvanic cell
So you told her? he said in a neutral tone of voice.
A practiced observer would quickly notice changes in the birds behavior.

7.
In the 1820s and 1830s, American painting added a new chapter to the story of its development. Until
the nineteenth century, portraiture and occasional historical pieces were the only concerns of American art,
but throughout the 1800s some of Americas most talented painters chose to depict landscapes and the
daily activities of ordinary people. With the nations declaration of independence had come prosperity and
with it the opportunity and inclination for painters to contemplate their environment. As they traveled
beyond the early settlements and left the nations first cities, such as Boston and Philadelphia, they began
to experience and appreciate the pristine beauty of the American scenery, which differed greatly from the
European landscape, partly because in its unsettled state it appeared wild and primeval.

(A) Conditions in the early 1800s were favorable to the emergence of the American landscape artist.
(B) In the early 1800s, landscapes were produced in preference to portraits and historical pieces.
(C) Americas declaration of independence brought prosperity to the nation and with it an appreciation of
the outdoors.
(D) An increase in travel in America led to an appreciation of the beauty of the American landscape.

noun verb adjective, adverb others
inclination contemplate
depict
primeval
pristine


1. to describe something or someone in writing or speech, or to show them in a painting or picture
( )
2. not spoiled or damaged in any way; left in its original condition ( )
3. a feeling that makes you want to do something ( )
4. very ancient; existing from a very early time ( )
5. to think about something that you might do in the future ( )

Neither of my children showed the slightest inclination to follow me into journalism.
Did you ever contemplate resigning?
The god is depicted as a bird with a human head.
primeval forests
pristine African rainforest

8.
The few places left on earth that have not been altered by humankind are almost invariably hostile to
humans. One such place is the Alaskan Arctic, which is inhabited, where inhabited at all, by only a
scattering of Eskimos, Native Americans, and whites. But while the Arctic is indeed a chill and inimical
realm of snow, ice, and polar bears, it is also a region of great beauty and, above all, purity, where plants
and animals still exist undisturbed in a state of natural balance. Nearly one third of Alaska lies north of
the Arctic Circle and consists of pristine land. The Brooks Range cuts across the region like a wall,
making access difficult. Even today, in an age of jet travel, the number of persons who have had firsthand
experience in the Alaskan Arctic remains small, and countless valleys and mountains go unnamed and
even unexplored.

(A) The Alaskan Arctic is a beautifully pristine realm of snow, ice, and polar bears.
(B) The Alaskan Arctic is habitable only to arctic animals and a few hardy humans.
(C) The ruggedness of the Alaskan Arctic makes it one of the last few remaining pristine areas in the
world.
(D) Remarkably, parts of the Alaskan Arctic still remain unexplored.

noun verb adjective, adverb others
the Arctic
range


alter
inhabit

chill
hostile
inimical
invariably
pristine
rugged
a scattering of

1. (of conditions) making it difficult to live in, or making it difficult to achieve something
( )
2. the large area of land surrounding the North Pole ( )
3. to live in a particular place ( )
4. always ( )
5. a group of mountains or hills, usually in a line ( )
6. to change, or to make someone or something change ( )
7. [formal] making it difficult for something to exist or happen; unfriendly ( )
8. [written] a small number of things or people spread out over a large area ( )
9. not spoiled or damaged in any way ( )
10. unpleasantly cold ( )
11. (of the landscape) not level or smooth and having rocks rather than plants or trees ( )

a land of high mountain ranges and deep valleys
The city center has altered beyond recognition.
Some tribes still inhabit the more remote jungles of the country.
By now the skies were black, a chill wind was blustering down the street and the rain was slashing
sideways.
Sales increased last year despite the hostile economic environment.
Authoritarianism is historically inimical to genuine invention.
This acute infection of the brain is almost invariably fatal.
pristine African rainforest
Today they exist in a scattering of settlements on the outskirts of Phoenix
They admired the rugged beauty of the coastline.

9.
In the first half of the nineteenth century, the first distinctly American culture took form. The rise of
an American tradition in literature paralleled the expansion of the nation, as American writers began to
look within themselves and across their enlarged continental homeland for their subjects and themes. The
romance, or novel, provided a useful form for dealing with the large moral subjects and the peculiar
circumstances of the American setting. In James Fenimore Coopers The Pioneers (1823) and The
Deerslayer (1841), Natty Bumppo and the Mohican guide Chingachgook confronted the environment of
the American frontier, chronicling the advance of civilization and questioning the implications of its
impact on the natural world. The theme of the individual confronting nature was further developed by
Herman Melville in the classic novel Moby Dick (1851). Nathaniel Hawthorne dealt with equally difficult
questions of inner limits and the individuals responsibilities to society in The Scarlet Letter (1850) and
The House of the Seven Gables (1851).

(A) As the nation expanded, novelists began writing about the American frontier.
(B) The first American literature took the form of novels that dealt with uniquely American themes.
(C) In their novels, Melville and Hawthorne both addressed difficult questions facing Americans.
(D) The individual versus nature was one of the main themes explored in early American literature.

noun verb adjective, adverb others
implication confront
chronicle
parallel


1. to be similar to something; to happen at the same time as something ( )
2. to deal with a problem or difficult situation ( )
3. a possible effect or result of an action or a decision ( )
4. [formal] to record events in the order in which they happened ( )

The rise in unemployment is paralleled by an increase in petty crime.
She knew that she had to confront her fears.
Her achievements are chronicled in a new biography out this week.
The development of the site will have implications for the surrounding countryside.