92 TOEFL EXAM ESSENTIALS
Question: What is the main point of this paragraph? a. The U.S. government is currently planning a voyage
to Mars.
b. Muscle atrophy and bone loss are major problems for
astronauts in extended space flight.
c. Astronauts confront many dangers in space flight. d. Short stays in space cause little bone and muscle dam-
age in humans.
Choice b is correct—It represents a general statement that holds together all of the information in the paragraph. Choice d
is too specific to be the main idea. Choice c is too general to be the main idea. Choice a may be true, but the passage does not
give this information.
FINDING SUPPORTING DETAILS
Supporting details are facts or specific information that provide
evidence for an author’s main idea. They often answer the ques- tions what? when? where? why? or how? Three question types on
the reading test ask you about specific information within a pas- sage: supporting-detail questions, exception questions, and loca-
tion of information questions. You will need to be able to:
■
identify supporting details from a passage
■
recognize information that is not provided in the passage
■
identify the place in the passage where specific information is given
READING 93
How can you recall one fact from a passage that is five para- graphs long? Follow these techniques as a guide:
Do not memorize. The reading test does not ask you to have
perfect recall. Instead, it measures your ability to read carefully and know where to look for specific information.
Look for language clues as you read the passage. Writers
often use one of the following phrases to signal that they are introducing a fact or example:
one reason is in one case
specifically for example
for instance in particular
Use key words from the question. Questions have two or
three important words that tell you exactly what informa- tion to look for in the passage. For example, in the ques-
tion How many species of penguins are there worldwide? the key words are how many, and species. They signal to you to
look for a sentence in the passage that has a number and the word species.
Take note of structure. As you read, pay attention to how
information is presented and in what order. Understand- ing the organization of a passage will help you locate the
facts you need. See pages 100–103 for more about structure.
Practice
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow it. Find the answers on page 111.
1 Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest network of coral reefs, stretching 2,010 km 1,250 miles off Australia’s
