Chapter 8: Review Test 6

Determining the Implied Main Idea

A. Read the following paragraphs from college textbooks. Then use your own words to state the implied main idea of each paragraph.

Listening or Hearing?

¹Hearing is a physiological process that occurs when you are in the vicinity of vibrations in the air and these vibrations impinge on your eardrum. ²Hearing is basically a passive process that occurs without any attention or effort on your part. ³In contrast, listening involves a series of five steps: receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating, and responding. ⁴The listening process is circular. ⁵The responses of one person serve as the stimuli for the other person, whose responses in turn serve as the stimuli for the first person, and so on.

—Adapted from DeVito, The Interpersonal Communication Book, 10th ed., pp. 115-116.

1. Implied main idea:

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

The Fast Growth of a Young Country

¹The first federal or national census in 1790 recorded that there were 3.9 million people in the United States. ²In the early 1850s, there were six times as many. ³The population was doubling every 22 years. ⁴The growth can be seen geographically by the admission of new states in the 1830s and 1840s. ⁵Arkansas was admitted in 1836, Michigan in 1837, Florida in 1845, Texas in 1846, and Wisconsin in 1848.

—Adapted from Garraty & Carnes, The American Nation, 10th ed., p. 277.

2. Implied main idea:

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

Rock the Vote

¹When you click onto the site rockthevote.org, you get this message: "Rock the Vote is dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and to helping young people realize and utilize their power to effect change in the civic and political lives of their communities." ²Rock the Vote is a blend of new politics and new media. ³It began in 1990 to fight censorship in the recording industry, but it quickly grew to become a campaign to register voters. ⁴Rock the Vote,MTV, and Fox Network have worked together. ⁵As a team, they have supported political messages aimed directly at people in their twenties.

—Adapted from Folkerts & Lacy, The Media in Your Life: An Introduction to Mass Communication, 2nd ed., p. 3.

3. Implied main idea:

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

Lewis and Clark: Exploring the Louisiana Purchase
¹Lewis and Clark gathered a group of 48 experienced men near St. Louis during the winter of 1803-1804. ²In the spring, they made their way slowly up the Missouri River in a 55-foot keelboat and two dugout canoes, called pirogues. ³By late fall, they had reached what is now North Dakota, where they built a small station, Fort Mandan, and spent the winter. ⁴In April 1805, having shipped back to President Jackson more than 30 boxes of plants, minerals, animal skins and bones, and Indian artifacts, they struck out again toward the mountains. ⁵They were accompanied by a Shoshone woman, Sacajawea, and her husband, who acted as guides. ⁶They passed the Great Falls of the Missouri. ⁷They clambered over the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass in southwest Montana. ⁸They descended from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific by way of the Clearwater and Columbia Rivers. ⁹By 1806, the group had concluded its exploration of the Louisiana Purchase and returned to St. Louis.

—Adapted from Garraty & Carnes, The American Nation, 10th ed., p. 180.

4. Implied main idea:

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

B. Read the following passage, then select the best summary of the implied central idea. Late Bloomer
¹James Floyd finally has some time to stop and smell the roses, but that wasn't the case until recently. ²The tree service owner has been renovating the 1950s Deland, house and garden of his late grandparents since he and his family moved in last year. ³A few months ago, while working in the backyard, Floyd found a rosebush and remembered that his grandmother, Myrtle Floyd, had planted it in the 1970s or early '80s. ⁴The plant was in poor shape—almost dead—because it had been neglected when the house stood unoccupied for several years. ⁵James Floyd pruned and fertilized the shrub but didn't expect big results— the Deland native knows how hard the Florida climate can be on roses. ⁶He continued with other chores, and, when working outdoors, kept his pet cockatoo, Ziggy, nearby for company by hanging the bird's cage near the rose. ⁷Floyd didn't pay attention to the bird droppings scattered around the bush until the rose started blooming—and blooming—in May. ⁸At one time, the 31/2-foot-tall bush had as many as 100 flowers on it. ⁹Floyd credits Ziggy's help for the surprising burst of blooms, but he also thanks his grandmother. ¹⁰"I cherished my grandmother," he said. ¹¹"And she cherished me."

—Adapted from Bauer, "Blooming Rose All in the Family." The Daytona Beach News-Journal. 3 June 2003, D1.

5. Which is the best summary of the implied central idea?

a. Bird droppings are an excellent source of fertilizer for roses.

b. James Floyd enjoys renovating his family home.

c. The rose bush planted by his grandmother has special meaning for James Floyd.

d. The Florida climate is hard on roses.