As we learned in Unit 4, a sentence usually provides one key idea, although the sentence may give a great deal of information. Readers should learn to find key ideas in order to understand sentence meanings clearly.
The key idea of a sentence usually tells:
a) what a person or an object is
b) what a person or an object is doing
Look at the following taken from Reading Passage A:
To those of us who are immigrants, the bill seems simply to sanction a policy secretly implemented by U.S. industry for nearly four decades — namely, stealing brains from the third world. (Para. 2, Reading Passage A, Unit 9)
This sentence tells about the bill. We know that the bill seems to sanction a policy. What kind of bill is it? And to whom does the bill seem to sanction a policy? The answers to these questions given in the sentence merely add details. The details are helpful in completing the scene for the reader, and we need to rely on these details to make the key idea clearer. But the key idea, or the main thought, in this sentence is simply that the bill seems to sanction a policy.
The particular reading skill reviewed in this unit is reading for the key idea in a sentence. Although a sentence may give a great deal of information, it usually provides one key idea. Readers should learn to find the key idea in order to
understand the meaning of a sentence clearly.
The key idea of a sentence usually tells:
a) what a person or an object is
b) what a person or an object is doing
Look at the following example taken from Reading Passage A:
During the 1960s and 1970s, politicians in my native country, India, used to wave the slogan “Stop Brain Drain” — a reference to the fact that the cream of India was leaving for the lucrative shores of England and America. (Para. 4, Reading Passage A, Unit 9)
This sentence tells about Indian politicians. We know that Indian politicians used to wave the slogan “Stop Brain Drain”. All the information about what the slogan refers to and when those politicians waved the slogan adds details. The details are helpful in completing the scene for the reader, and we need to rely on these details to make the key idea clearer. But the key idea, or the main thought, in this sentence is simply that Indian politicians used to wave the slogan “Stop Brain Drain”.
In order to find the key idea of a sentence we have to:
a) ask who or what the sentence is about.
b) ask what the person or object is doing, or what is happening to the person or object.
c) learn to separate details from the key idea.
Many words in a sentence describe things about the subject of the sentence and only add details around it. If we ask when, what kind, where, or why, we will find details. As a result it will be easier for us to see the key idea. Now look at the following example taken from Reading Passage A:
Over the next two decades, IIT graduates — educated at the expense of Indian taxpayers — played a major role in founding California’s Silicon Valley. (Para. 11, Reading Passage A, Unit 9)
The key idea of this sentence is that IIT graduates played a major role in founding California’s Silicon Valley. The information as to when those graduates played such a role and as to the fact that those IIT graduates had been educated at the expense of Indian taxpayers simply adds details.
