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1 Diagnostic Test 44 Practice Tests Question of the Day Flashcards Learn by Concept

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Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

I was born in the working-class. Early I discovered enthusiasm, ambition, and ideals; and to satisfy these became the problem of my child-life. My environment was crude and rough and raw. I had no outlook, but an uplook rather. My place in society was at the bottom. Here life offered nothing but sordidness and wretchedness, both of the flesh and the spirit; for here flesh and spirit were alike starved and tormented.

Above me towered the colossal edifice of society, and to my mind the only way out was up. Into this edifice I early resolved to climb. … In short, as I accepted the rising of the sun, I accepted that up above me was all that was fine and noble and gracious, all that gave decency and dignity to life, all that made life worth living and that remunerated one for his travail and misery.

Adapted from "What Life Means to Me" by Jack London (1909)

Which of the following is one of the main ideas of the passage?

The desire to increase one's social position

The post-secondary education options available in the early 20th century

An optimism that the government will provide needed services

The yearning the prosperity of days gone by

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Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

Which of the following is one of the main ideas of the passage?

Your answer:

The post-secondary education options available in the early 20th century

Your answer:

An optimism that the government will provide needed services

Your answer:

The yearning the prosperity of days gone by

Correct answer:

The desire to increase one's social position

Explanation:

This passage is all about the desire to attain a higher social position. The author states that he started as a working-class citizen, and that his ambition was "to climb" to a better position for multiple reasons, including comfort and nobility. He does not address the government's influence on matters, nor the role of higher education. He also does not seem to long for days gone by. For these reasons, the best choice is "The desire to increase one's social position."

Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

If you wanted to build a house, of what should you build it? In a new country, people generally use wood; but after a time wood grows expensive. Moreover, wood catches fire easily; therefore, as a country becomes more thickly settled and people live close together in cities, stone and brick are used. Large cities do not allow the building of wooden houses within a certain distance from the center, and sometimes even the use of wooden shingles is forbidden. Of late years large numbers of "concrete" or "cement" houses have been built. Our grandfathers would have opened their eyes wide at the suggestion of a house built of sand, and would have felt anxious at every rainfall lest their homes should suddenly melt away. Even after thousands of concrete buildings were in use, many people still feared that they would not stand the cold winters and hot summers of the United States; but it has been proved that concrete is a success provided it is properly made.

From Diggers in the Earth by Eva March Tappan (1919)

What is the main idea of this passage?

Grandfathers have tremendous wisdom and should be respected

Cement is a more practical building material than wood

As more people moved to America, it became harder to find more housing for the growing population

Wood was easily accessible to early American settlers, and made strong houses

Report an Error Copyright Notice

Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

What is the main idea of this passage?

Your answer:

Grandfathers have tremendous wisdom and should be respected

Your answer:

As more people moved to America, it became harder to find more housing for the growing population

Your answer:

Wood was easily accessible to early American settlers, and made strong houses

Correct answer:

Cement is a more practical building material than wood

Explanation:

The correct answer is "Cement is a more practical building material than wood." Most of the passage emphasizes the reasons why cement is more practical than wood--the author mentions cost as well as fire safety, and discusses how these buildings have been a success. The main focus of the passage is on cement as a good replacement for wood in house-building, and not on respecting elders, difficulties finding housing for the population, or the accessibility of wood.

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Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

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Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

Flashcards: Main idea and thesis

Report an issue with this question

DMCA Complaint

Contact Information

Address

Complaint Details

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