Implied Main Ideas Exercises
Exercise 2
DIRECTIONS: Read the passage. Then choose the implied main idea of the selection.
1. (1) Three men decided to go moose hunting. (2) They hired a small plane to
take them into the forest. (3) Before the hunters left their plane, the pilot gave
them a warning. (4) “We can only take one moose on this plane,” he said.
(5) “Don’t bring more than one back with you.” (6) When the men returned to
the plane later that day, they each had one moose. (7) The pilot was not happy.
(8) “We can’t take all three,” he said. (9) “We will have to leave two behind.”
(10) The men grumbled. (11) “That’s what you said last year,” they told the
pilot. (12) “But you let us take two more for $100 extra.” (13) The pilot took
the $100 and loaded the three huge moose onto the plane. (14) Shortly after the
plane took off, it plunged into the trees in a fiery crash. (15) “Where are we?”
asked one of the injured hunters. (16) “Just a few feet from where we crashed
last year,” said the pilot.
The implied main idea is that
a. an overburdened plane is likely to crash.
b. most moose hunters are not willing to part with the moose they kill.
c. the moose hunters and pilot were extremely lucky to have survived two plane crashes.
d. some people never learn from their mistakes.
Implied Main Ideas Exercises
Exercise 3
DIRECTIONS: Read the passage. Then choose the implied main idea of the selection.
1. (1) How could a fire that started in a cowshed become a raging inferno that
destroyed several square miles of a great American city and killed hundreds of
people? (2) There are several reasons why a barn blaze on the night of October
8, 1871 became the Great Chicago Fire. (3) One reason is that, although the
blaze started around 9:00 P.M. that Sunday, the city’s fire department didn’t
receive the first alarm until 9:40 P.M. (4) Another reason is that strong winds
were blowing from the southwest, driving the blaze toward the heart of the city
in the northeast. (5) Finally, the fire was fed by an abundance of fuel in the
closely packed wood buildings, wooden ships lining the Chicago River, the
city’s elevated wood-plank sidewalks, and the commercial lumber and coal
yards along the river. (6) By the time the fire burned out on Tuesday, October
10, it had destroyed $222 million in property and left 100,000 people homeless.
The implied main idea is that
a. the Great Chicago Fire was the most destructive fire in American history.
b. strong winds and an abundance of fuel caused a minor barn blaze to become the Great
Chicago Fire.
c. if the buildings in Chicago hadn’t been mainly constructed of wood, the Great Chicago
Fire would have caused little damage.
d. delay in seeking help, strong winds blowing toward the city, and an abundance of fuel
turned a small blaze into the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Implied Main Ideas Exercises
Mastery Test 1
DIRECTIONS: Choose the implied main idea of the selection.
1. (1) During World War II, more adolescents worked than ever before.
(2) Over a million students dropped out of school to contribute to the war effort.
(3) By 1943 almost three million boys and girls were working on farms and in
factories. (4) In the new prosperity following the war, their jobs gave them
freedom and spending money. (5) They soon became an important new segment
of the consumer economy as they snapped up records and clothing. (6) Before
long, advertisers aimed marketing campaigns at them, magazines were
dedicated to their interests, and even newspapers ran columns about teen news
and views. (7) The result was an emergence of a distinct youth subculture that
helped shape the nation. (8) Their dances, their rigidly conforming clothing, and
their choice of recreation set them apart from adults. (9) The word teenager was
added to the vocabulary, confirming the importance of those thirteen through
nineteen years of age.
a. As a result of World War II, teenagers worked at jobs which gave them freedom and
spending money.
b. Because of World War II, advertisers, magazines, and newspapers began catering to a
distinct youth subculture.
c. In World War II, adolescents made a major contribution to the war effort by working on
farms and in factories.
d. World War II led to a change in the status and lifestyle of young people.
Implied Main Ideas Exercises
Mastery Test 2
DIRECTIONS: Choose the implied main idea of the selection.
1. (1) If you are an avid reader of self-help books, you know that this advicefilled genre urges people to actively envision the state they hope to achieve in
the future. (2) Yet research suggests that this idea is badly misleading. (3) In a
study that tested this point, researchers asked college students who were
studying for an exam a few days away either to envision their satisfaction and
celebration in achieving a good grade on the exam or to envision themselves
studying so as to produce a good grade on the exam. (4) That is, one group
focused on the outcome to be achieved, whereas the other group focused on the
process for achieving it. (5) Those students who had focused on the process
improved their grades substantially over a control group that practiced neither
mental simulation; but those students who focused on the outcome they wanted
to achieve had lower scores on the exam than the control group.
a. Researchers have studied the effects of mental simulation on groups of college students.
b. Students who envision studying so as to produce a good grade do better than students
who don’t.
c. Mental simulation doesn’t help students who don’t work to achieve their goals.
d. Mental simulation helps achieve goals if it is focused clearly on what you must do to
reach them.
Implied Main Ideas Exercises
Mastery Test 3
DIRECTIONS: Choose the implied main idea of the selection.
1. (1) In preindustrial societies that rely on hunting and gathering, physical
strength and good health are important. (2) Consequently, the elderly (who in
those societies may be people as young as in their late 30s or 40s) may be
viewed as burdens to the family and society. (3) In desperate circumstances,
where the survival of the group is at stake, the elderly may be literally
abandoned, as in the case of the North American Eskimo. (4) Conversely, in
preindustrial societies that rely on growing food or raising animals, physical
possessions are regarded as more important than health and strength. (5) In such
societies, the elderly, who are the most likely to own land, may be held in
higher esteem than younger members of society. (6) For example, among the
Berbers of Morocco, elderly tribesman are accorded the highest status because
they generally own more land, larger herds, and more material possessions than
younger society members.
a. In some preindustrial societies, abandoning the elderly is common.
b. In many societies, the elderly are given respect only if they have material possessions.
c. Elderly people deal with death and aging in different ways.
d. Preindustrial societies tend to value the elderly according to their contributions to the
community.