Main Idea Questions
Main Idea Questions
Necessary Skills
- Understanding the overall topic or basic idea of a lecture or conversation
- Understanding the speaker’s general purpose in giving a lecture or having a conversation
- Inferring the speaker’s purpose or main idea when it is not directly stated
Example Questions
- What is the main topic of the lecture?
- What is the main topic of the conversation?
- What are the speakers mainly discussing?
- What aspect of__________ does the professor mainly discuss?
- What aspect of the problem does the___________ help with?
- What features of each type of___________ does the professor focus on?
- What is the woman’s main concern about__________
- What concerns does the student have about__________
- Why did the professor mention__________
- What is the student’s motivation for__________
Pay attention to phrases like:
- Today’s talk is on . . .
- Today we’re going to talk about..
- Now we are going to discuss . .
In a conversation,
listen for cues that will indicate a speaker’s main, purpose.
- How can I help?
- What do you need?
- Can you help me with .
- Listen for key words that are emphasized or repeated.
Keep in mind that two or more major ideas together may define the overall topic.
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Pregunta 1 of 40
1. Pregunta
PRACTICE 1
Listen to a lecture in a music class, and fill in the diagram with the information that you hear.
Key vocabulary:
icon: an object or person that has an uncritical following
orchestrate: to write and arrange music for an orchestra
tuba: a large, metal, wind instrument that is shaped like a tube
recognition: specific notice or attention
recording: a copy of music onto a CD, tape, record, etc.
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Cool Jazz
Cause 1:
Effect 1:
Effect 2:
Cause 2:
Effect 1:
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Pregunta 2 of 40
2. Pregunta
- What is the main topic of the lecture?
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Pregunta 3 of 40
3. Pregunta
- What is the main idea of the lecture?
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Pregunta 4 of 40
4. Pregunta
Fill in the blanks to complete the summary
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The professor is talking about cool jazz from the 1940s and ’50s. This jazz had more classical European influences than earlier forms of jazz. This meant that jazz musicians could also use instruments like flutes and . The music sounded lighter and softer and jazz bands became bigger. Bands grew to be mid-sized groups and also gave individuals more focus, The first true cool jazz was Miles Davis. He made a famous that brought him much as a musical artist.
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Pregunta 5 of 40
5. Pregunta
PRACTICE 2
Listen to a lecture in a geology class, and fill in the diagram with the information that you hear.
Key vocabulary:
carbon: a nonmetal element that can exist as diamonds coal or organic compounds.
crystalize: to cause the formation of crystals
erupt: to burst out suddenly and violently
magma: hot liquid rock that is contained within the Earth.
weather: to expose something to the open air so that it breaks down.
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How diamonds are formed
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
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Pregunta 6 of 40
6. Pregunta
- What is this lecture mainly about?
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Pregunta 7 of 40
7. Pregunta
2. What aspect of diamonds does the professor discuss?
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Pregunta 8 of 40
8. Pregunta
Fill in the blanks to complete the summary
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The professor explains how diamonds are formed from lumps of coal. Coal is made from molecules that change due to heat and pressure. The coal lumps are found about 160 kilometers inside the Earth. The temperature here is about 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. These conditions change the molecules of coal which to form a diamond. When volcanoes , molten rock, or , containing diamonds is pushed upwards. The rock then hardens and away over time to reveal the diamonds.
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Pregunta 9 of 40
9. Pregunta
PRACTICE 3
Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor, and fill in the diagram with information that you hear.
Key vocabulary:
apply: to make a request especially in the form of a written application.
appreciate: to be thankful for.
GPA: grade point average; the grade points a student earns divided by the number of credits.
recommendation: a praise or commendation of one as being worthy or desirable.
scholarship: a fund of money awarded to a student for school.
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School Trip
Problem:
Solution 1:
Solution 2:
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Pregunta 10 of 40
10. Pregunta
- Why does the student talk to the professor?
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Pregunta 11 of 40
11. Pregunta
2. What are the speakers mainly discussing in the passage?
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Pregunta 12 of 40
12. Pregunta
Fill in the blanks to complete the summary
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A student speaks to her professor about going on a summer trip to study the Great Barrier Reef. Kim is in college; and this trip is organized by her school. She can’t afford it so the professor tells her to for a that is awarded to ten students per semester. She needs a of.3.0 to get it, and her’s is professor agrees to write her a , and Kim says she his help.
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Pregunta 13 of 40
13. Pregunta
PRACTICE 4
Listen to a conversation between a student and a librarian, and fill in the diagram with information that you hear.
Key vocabulary:
biography: the written history of a person’s life.
call number: a number used by libraries to classify a book and indicate its location the shelf.
catalogue: a complete set of items that has been arranged by a system of numbers.
database: a large collection of information, organized for quick use on a computer.
document: an important piece of paper that contains written information.
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Misplaced Book
Problem:
Solution:
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Pregunta 14 of 40
14. Pregunta
- Why does the student talk to the librarian?
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Pregunta 15 of 40
15. Pregunta
2. What are the speakers mainly discussing in the passage?
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Pregunta 16 of 40
16. Pregunta
Fill in the blanks to complete the summary
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A student is searching the library for a of poet James Wright. He asks the librarian for help so she asks him for the book’s .She uses this number to search the library for the book. The librarian cannot find it there but realizes it may have been as a . By checking the computer , she finds it. Now the student can print it out to complete his paper on time.
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Pregunta 17 of 40
17. Pregunta
PRACTICE 5
Listen to a discussion in history class, and fill in the diagram with information that you hear.
Key vocabulary:
convinced: sure of something
disprove: to prove that something is wrong.
evidence: something that can be used as proof of something
predate: to happen at an earlier time than something else
outsider: someone who is not part of a core group of individuals.
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Who discovered America?
Theory 1:
Support 1:
Theory 2:
Support 2:
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Pregunta 18 of 40
18. Pregunta
- What is this discussion about?
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Pregunta 19 of 40
19. Pregunta
2. What is the main idea of this passage?
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Pregunta 20 of 40
20. Pregunta
Fill in the blanks to complete the summary
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A history professor is talking about Christopher Columbus. He believes Columbus was not the first in the Americas. He says new has shown that Polynesians came there before 1492. Scientists know this from a chicken bone found in Chile. The bone was from a chicken from the Polynesian Islands. One of the students is not that the bone Columbus was there first. The professor explains that the bone Columbus’s arrival by more than one hundred years.
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Pregunta 21 of 40
21. Pregunta
PRACTICE 6
Listen to a lecture in a biology class, and fill in the diagram with information that you hear.
Key vocabulary:
genetic: relating to; caused by; created by; or affected by genes
immune: having a high level of resistance against something harmful.
inherit: to obtain a trait genetically from one’s parents.
parasite: an organism that needs to live in , on or with another animal or person in order to survive.
trait: an inherited characteristic.
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Sickle-Cell Trait
Cause:
Effect 1:
Effect 2:
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Pregunta 22 of 40
22. Pregunta
- What is this lecture about?
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Pregunta 23 of 40
23. Pregunta
- What is the main idea of the passage?
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Pregunta 24 of 40
24. Pregunta
Fill in the blanks to complete the summary
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The biology professor is discussing sickle-cell- disease, The disease is which means you it from your parents. If you get from both your parents, you will get sick and die. If you bet the sickle-cell from only one parent, you will live. You will also be to malaria, another dangerous disease. Malaria is a disease carried by mosquitoes.
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Pregunta 25 of 40
25. Pregunta
PRACTICE 7
Listen to a a conversation between a student and a professor, and fill in the diagram with information that you hear.
Key vocabulary:
assistant: someone whose job is to help out another individual
culture: the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group.
fascinate: to interest
tribal: relating to a social group of people consisting of several families or clans.
warrior: someone from a group who participates in fighting against another group
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Retaking a Class
Problem:
Solution:
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Pregunta 26 of 40
26. Pregunta
- Why does the student talk to the professor?
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Pregunta 27 of 40
27. Pregunta
2. What is the student’s problem?
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Pregunta 28 of 40
28. Pregunta
Fill in the blanks to complete the summary
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Brenda is talking to Professor Brown about his course. She is by it and wants to repeat the class. Professor Brown tells Brenda about his course for the next semester. It will focus on a tribe of African called the Masai. He also tells her she will not get any credits for taking his class a second time. He suggests that she become his teacher’s . Then she will get a credit for repeating his class
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Pregunta 29 of 40
29. Pregunta
PRACTICE 8
Listen to a conversation between a student and a university employee, and fill in the diagram with information that you hear.
Key vocabulary:
increment: a specified amount of something bang gained
parking meter: a device that allows someone to pay for temporary parking.
permit: a written license that allows someone to do something.
structure: a building
town: the act of pulling something away like a truck taking away a car.
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Parking Problem
Issue:
Solution 1:
Solution 2:
Concern:
Refutation:
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Pregunta 30 of 40
30. Pregunta
- Why does the student go to the Department of Transportation?
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Pregunta 31 of 40
31. Pregunta
- What is the student’s major concern?
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Pregunta 32 of 40
32. Pregunta
Fill in the blanks to complete the summary
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A student wants to buy a parking for one semester. The student does not want to pay for the whole year because she is going to graduate soon. The explains that the university doesn’t sell semester and tell her to try the . The student says she won’t have time to fill the meter. She is scared her car will be or ticketed. The man says she could park at visitor’s parking .
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Pregunta 33 of 40
33. Pregunta
PRACTICE 9
Listen to a conversation in history class, and fill in the diagram with the information that you hear.
Key vocabulary:
analyze: to observe and study.
core: the central or innermost part.
drought: a long period of time when there’s no rain.
sediment: dirt and other material that settles at the bottom of water
segment: a small part of a whole.
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Mayan’s Disappearance
Theory:
Support:
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Pregunta 34 of 40
34. Pregunta
- What is the main topic of the discussion?
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Pregunta 35 of 40
35. Pregunta
2. What is the main idea of the discussion?
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Pregunta 36 of 40
36. Pregunta
Fill in the blanks to complete the summary
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The professor explains to his history class that destroyed the Mayan people. They needed water to produce corn. Without water, their major food source did not survive and so their civilization perished. Scientists have made some amazing discoveries to prove this, They parts or of the ocean floor near Venezuela. The of the ocean floor are made of layers of light and dark . The layers show how little rain fell there hundreds of years ago.
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Pregunta 37 of 40
37. Pregunta
PRACTICE 10
Listen to a discussion in zoology class, and fill in the diagram with the information that you hear.
Key vocabulary:
defend: to avoid or drive away a dangerous attack
dialect: regional versions and varieties of a language
distinguish: a long period of time when there’s no rain.
oval: an elongated circle
distinguish: complicated and well developed
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The Complex Language of Prairie Dogs
Theory 1:
Support 1:
Support 2:
Theory 2:
Support 1:
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Pregunta 38 of 40
38. Pregunta
- What is the discussion mainly about?
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Pregunta 39 of 40
39. Pregunta
2. Why is the professor discussing prairie dogs?
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Pregunta 40 of 40
40. Pregunta
Fill in the blanks to complete the summary
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The professor says prairie dogs may have- the most language in the animal world. Scientists recorded their barks and yips and analyzed them. They found that these dogs use nouns; verbs, and adjectives and between colors Their language is not universal, and they use different in different areas. The dogs also make up new word. During a test, they made up a word for an shape. They use their language to themselves.
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