Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
Not all cultures have the same views of reality. One example is the way that different cultures regard and describe time. Native American tribes have concepts of time that differ from those of the predominant Anglo culture in North America. In American English, people often represent time in spatial terms: “That’s a big chunk of time.” We commonly hear and accept, “Four days is longer than three days.” However, the Hopi Indians do not say this. In their native language, the same expression would be translated as, “The fourth day is later than the third day.” In other words, they represent time temporally but not through spatial metaphors.
In another example, a Navajo man was hired by an Anglo businessman to do a job. However, on the day they had scheduled for the work, the Navajo man’s truck broke down, and he did not have a telephone or any way to contact the businessman. Initially, when the Navajo man showed up three days after their appointment, the Anglo man thought him irresponsible or confused. But then he found out that the Navajo man’s truck had broken down; and, unable to contact the employer, the man had walked the entire distance to the employer’s business, which took three days. The Navajo placed greater importance on honoring his commitment and keeping his promise than on the length of time it took him to do so. An Anglo in the same situation would be more likely to assign priority to being on time, to assume that walking would take too long, and to give up, not honoring his commitment due to the factor of time.
1. Which of the following best represents the main idea of this passage?
A. Native Americans take longer than Anglos to get things done.
B. Different cultural values affect the way people perceive reality.
C. Native Americans treat time differently only in their languages.
D. Anglos are more impatient because they think time takes space.
2. Which of the following is not a detail from this passage?
A. The Hopi language describes time differently than American English.
B. The Navajo man’s truck broke down on the day of the appointment.
C. The Navajo tried to call the Anglo but had the wrong phone number.
D. It took three days for the Navajo man to walk to the Anglo business.
Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
Most of us are familiar with Florence Nightingale as the woman who founded modern nursing and revolutionized medicine, both by reducing deaths through infection control and by legitimizing nursing as a profession. However, not as many people are aware that Florence Nightingale was also a great lover of cats. She reportedly cared for around 60 cats in her lifetime.
When she volunteered to nurse wounded soldiers in the Crimean War, Nightingale found that more of them died from infections due to lack of sanitation than from their wounds. She not only introduced sanitary measures such as washing hands and surgical instruments, thereby greatly reducing fatalities; she also employed cats to rid the barracks hospital of rats.
Nightingale’s health was ruined by her efforts in the Crimea. Upon her return to England, although she still pursued her mission to sanitize and reorganize military and other hospitals and professionalize nursing through voluminous correspondence, she stayed at home and accepted few visitors. During this part of her life, many cats were her constant companions. Her letters often were marked with paw prints. She was known to comment that she preferred cats as dining companions over humans.
Nightingale was blind for the last 15 years of her life. Caregivers and visitors observed that in those years, the only things she found joy in other than her many great-nieces and great-nephews were her cats.
3. Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of this passage?
A. Florence Nightingale revolutionized the medical and nursing professions.
B. Florence Nightingale’s volunteer work in Crimea ruined her own health.
C. Florence Nightingale lived the end of her life with blindness and solitude.
D. Florence Nightingale was a cat lover as well as the founder of modern nursing.
4. Which of the following is not a detail included in this passage?
A. Nightingale organized a group of 38 nurses to travel to Crimea.
B. Nightingale’s own health was ruined by her battlefield nursing.
C. Nightingale relied mainly upon the company of cats in later life.
D. Nightingale enjoyed dining with cats more than with humans.
Read this passage and answer the questions that follow.
According to the United States Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, everybody who is at least six months old should get a flu shot this year. This recommendation was first made last year. The AARP Bulletin reports that a vaccine called Fluzone High-Dose is now available, designed especially for people aged 65 years and older. Because older people produce less robust immune responses than younger people, scientists have produced this vaccine to give them better protection against the influenza virus. This is important because cases of the flu can involve very serious complications for older persons.
5. Which of the following choices best identifies the main idea of this passage?
A. Everyone over six months old should get a flu shot this year.
B. There is now a special high-dose flu shot just for older people.
C. People over 65 years of age are more likely to contract the flu.
D. Due to complications, no flu shot can protect an older person.
6. Which choice is a detail included in this passage?
A. The recommendation about flu shots is new this year.
B. The new high-dose flu shot is designed for everybody.
C. Avoiding the flu is more important for elderly people.
D. Older people have an exaggerated immune response.
Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
As of the year 2011, heart disease was the number one killer of Americans. It was projected that more than 40 percent of adults in the United States would be diagnosed with cardiovascular disease by the year 2030. This proportion translates to more than a trillion dollars in medical costs. In addition, Medicare would be responsible for covering more than half of those expenses. Therefore, advocates such as AARP say one way that aging Americans can help to reduce our federal government’s budget deficit is to exercise. Regular aerobic exercise strengthens the heart muscle, improves blood circulation, and helps us lose weight. These results can lower our nation’s medical expenditures by reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease.
7. Which of the following best represents the main idea of this passage?
A. Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of Americans.
B. In 2011, heart disease was expected to have declined by 2030.
C. Medicare would have to cover less than half our medical costs.
D. Exercise can reduce the budget deficit by cutting medical costs.
8. Which of the following is a detail included in this passage?
A. More than 50% of American adults would have heart disease by 2030.
B. Heart disease was projected to cost a billion dollars for medical care.
C. Medicare would owe over half of the medical costs for heart disease.
D. Exercising would improve our health but not affect the budget deficit.
Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
Many of us have become aware that statistically, the majority of Americans are overweight. Although we hear this often in the media, not everybody may realize the implications of this fact for health care and ultimately for our national economy. Not only is excess weight associated with heart disease, a number of different cancers, and other problems; it especially is associated with diabetes. In 2011, 28.5 million of American citizens had diabetes. An additional 66 million Americans had pre-diabetic symptoms. In 2011, medical costs for diabetics were $174 billion per year. Research from a health insurance company projected that by 2020, diabetes would cost America $3.4 trillion per year. The federal government would pay over 60% of that total. Accordingly, some organizations have recommended that losing weight by reducing our intake of high-calorie foods could help save the government money by lowering the risk, and hence the incidence, of diabetes. As a result, improving our physical health also can improve our fiscal health.
9. Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of this passage?
A. More than 28 million Americans had diabetes in 2011.
B. Losing weight reduces diabetes risk, thereby saving government expense.
C. The federal deficit must be reduced to allow for medical expense.
D. Diabetes has become an American epidemic unrelated to weight.
10. Which of the following statements is a detail stated in this passage?
A. The annual medical cost for diabetics in 2011 America was $174 billion.
B. Health insurance companies could not predict future diabetes expenses.
C. 28.5 million United States citizens had pre-diabetic symptoms as of 2011.
D. The United States federal government would pay 100% of diabetes costs.
Answers – Identifying main idea and details
1. B: This passage points out that different cultures have different perceptions of reality. It states this directly, and then it gives two examples of how some Native American tribal cultures view time differently from Anglo-American culture. The point is not that Native Americans take longer to get things done (A). The Navajo man’s taking three days was because his truck broke down and he walked. His walking shows his determination to honor his commitment regardless of the time it took, whereas an Anglo would likely prioritize being on time rather than keeping a promise. The passage also describes how Native Americans treat time differently, not only in language (C), but in thought and action as well. (Also, this is more of a detail than a main idea.) While the passage does point out that Anglos represent time in spatial terms, it cannot be inferred that this perspective makes them more impatient.
2. C: Nowhere does this passage state that the Navajo tried to call the Anglo but had the wrong phone number. The passage states instead that the Navajo did not have a telephone or any way to contact the businessman. This passage does describe how the Hopi language represents time differently than American English (A). It does say that the Navajo man’s truck broke down on the day of the appointment (B). It also includes the detail that it took the Navajo man three days to walk to the Anglo man’s business (D).
3. D: The main idea of this passage describes Florence Nightingale not only as the founder of modern nursing, but also as a cat lover. The passage states that she revolutionized the medical and nursing professions (A), but this is not the main idea: it is cited as something most of us already know, in contrast to the lesser known fact that she loved cats, which is the main idea. That her volunteer work in the Crimea ruined her own health (B) is a detail of the passage, not the main idea. That she lived the end of her life in blindness and solitude (C) is also a detail, used to make the points that cats were her best company during those years; that she preferred them over humans; and that they were one of her few sources of joy. These all support the main idea that Nightingale was a great cat lover as well as the founder of modern nursing.
4. A: Nightingale did organize a group of 38 women to go to the Crimea with her as volunteer nurses; however, this detail is not stated anywhere in this passage. The passage does state the details that her battlefield nursing in the Crimea ruined her own health (B); that she preferred the company of cats in her later life (C); and that she said she preferred dining with cats over dining with humans (D).
5. B: The main idea of this passage is that a higher-dose flu shot designed especially for older people is now available. The first sentence does state that everyone over six months old should get a flu shot this year (A), but this is not the main idea. This passage introduces the main idea by citing the general recommendation, and then proceeds to the main idea about a special flu shot for older people. This passage does not state that people over age 65 are more likely to contract the flu (C). It does state that older people can have very serious complications if they do contract it. However, the passage does not say these complications mean that no flu shot can protect the elderly (D). In fact, it states that the new higher-dose shot for older people can protect them better than the regular-dose vaccine.
6. C: The passage includes the detail that cases of the flu can cause serious complications for older people, stating this as a reason why better protection against the flu is important for them. A detail of the passage does not say the recommendation about flu shots is new this year (A), but rather that it was introduced last year. The passage does not say the new high-dose flu shot is designed for everybody (B). It includes a detail that this new vaccine was designed especially for people over 65 years of age. The passage never says that older people have exaggerated immune responses (D) but the opposite: their immune responses are “less robust,” i.e. weaker.
7. D: This choice best represents the main idea of the passage; namely, one way to reduce our federal budget deficits is to reduce medical expenses for heart disease by exercising. That cardiovascular disease was the number one killer of Americans (A) is a detail rather than the main idea. According to the passage, in 2011, heart disease was not expected to decline by 2030 (B) but to increase substantially. The passage does not say Medicare would have to cover less than half of our medical costs (C) but more than half of them.
8. C: The passage states that Medicare would owe or be responsible for paying more than half of the medical costs for heart disease. Another detail is the 2011 projection that more than 40% of American adults would have heart disease by 2030, not more than 50% (A). The passage says heart disease was projected to cost more than a trillion dollars, not a billion (B). It is not a detail that exercising would improve our health without affecting the budget deficit (D); the passage states that lowering the incidence of cardiovascular disease, i.e. improving our health, could lower the budget deficit by reducing federal expenditures on medical care for heart disease.
9. B: The main idea in this passage is that government expenses could be saved by lowering federal health care expenditures, which could be done by reducing the risk and incidence of diabetes, which in turn could be done by losing weight. The fact that there were over 28 million Americans with diabetes in 2011 (A) is a detail of the passage, not the main idea. Diabetes does cost the federal government a lot of money. That point supports the main idea that we can save the government money by losing weight, thus decreasing diabetes. The main idea is not that the federal deficit must be reduced to allow for medical expenses (C), but the reverse—reducing medical expenses will reduce the deficit. The passage clearly states excess weight is especially associated with diabetes, not that diabetes is unrelated to weight (D). Also, although the passage cites statistics for the incidence of diabetes, it does not explicitly aver that it has become an epidemic.
10. A: This passage states the detail that 2011’s annual medical costs for diabetics in America were $174 billion. However, the passage does not say that health insurance companies could not predict future diabetes expenses (B); in fact, it cites a 2011 projection for future costs of $3.4 trillion by 2020, made through research by a health insurance company. A detail of the passage states that 66 million Americans, not 28.5 Americans, had pre-diabetic symptoms (C), which was the number of Americans who already have diabetes. It is not a detail of this passage that the U.S. federal government would pay 100% of medical costs for diabetes (D), but over 60% of those costs.