Homework answers / question archive / CHAPTER 4: IDENTIFY THE STATED MAIN IDEA SENTENCE AND SUPPORTING DETAILS OF A PARAGRAPH Read each paragraph, and then decide which sentence is the stated main idea sentence

CHAPTER 4: IDENTIFY THE STATED MAIN IDEA SENTENCE AND SUPPORTING DETAILS OF A PARAGRAPH Read each paragraph, and then decide which sentence is the stated main idea sentence

Sociology

Share With

---

CHAPTER 4: IDENTIFY THE STATED MAIN IDEA SENTENCE AND

SUPPORTING DETAILS OF A PARAGRAPH

Read each paragraph, and then decide which sentence is the stated main idea sentence. Ask yourself, “What is the one most important thing the author wants me to understand about the topic?”

 

1. Like clichés, euphemisms can confuse people who are unfamiliar with their meaning. A euphemism is a more polite, pleasant expression used in place of a socially unacceptable form. In one expert's opinion, euphemisms enter the language to "camouflage the naked truth." Most people use euphemisms in their everyday language. Euphemisms are frequently substituted for short, abrupt words, the names of physical functions, or the terms for some unpleasant social situations. Although euphemisms are frequently considered more polite than the words for which they are substituted, they distort reality. For example, you might hear people say “powder my nose,” “see a man about a dog,” “the little girls’ room,” or "go to the bathroom" instead of "urinate."

Source: Judy Pearson, Paul Nelson, Scott Titsworth, and Lynn Harter, Human Communication, 2nd ed., Copyright © McGraw-Hill, 2006, p. 67.  

The stated main idea sentence is ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________       

2.    When studying the world of living things, biologists and other scientists use the scientific process. Observations along with previous data are used to formulate a hypothesis. New observations and/or experiments are carried out in order to test the hypothesis. Scientists often do controlled experiments. The control sample does not go through the step being tested, and this acts as a safeguard against a wrong conclusion.

Source: Silvia Mader, Inquiry into Life, 9th ed., p. 14. Copyright © 2000 McGraw-Hill. Reprinted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

The stated main idea sentence is ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________         

3. Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevski commented that “The degree of civilization in society can be judged by entering its prisons.” Anyone observing conditions in many of America’s jails and lockups would question just how civilized we really are. At the Erie County Holding Center, the second largest jail in New York state, inmates are jammed in so tight sometimes 300 men must sleep on the floor. Wherever a mattress can be thrown, an inmate may be sleeping, even next to toilets. Overcrowding conditions similar to those in Erie County have given rise to a number of lawsuits in recent years, from such varied places as Kenton County, Ohio; Onondaga and Broome counties in New York; and Blount County, Tennessee.

Source: Freda Adler, Gerhard Mueller, and William Laufer, Criminal Justice: An Introduction, 3d ed., New York, McGraw-Hill, 2003, p. 358.           

The stated main idea sentence is ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. The Drug Enforcement Administration

     Established in 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is the primary federal agency responsible for the enforcement of federal laws concerning the use, sale, and distribution of narcotics and other controlled substances in the United States. Of the DEA’s over 9,200 staff members, nearly half are special agents. The agency is headquartered in New York; its agents are stationed throughout the United States in 21 divisional offices and 14 strike forces in major cities. Some agents are posted overseas.

Source: Freda Adler, Gerhard Mueller, and William Laufer, Criminal Justice: An Introduction, 3d ed., New York, McGraw-Hill, 2003, p. 121.

The stated main idea sentence is ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Analysts sometimes use the words such as liberal, conservative, populist, and  libertarian to describe how ordinary Americans think about politics. These are ideological terms, as are terms such as socialism and communism. An ideology is a consistent pattern of political attitudes that stem from a core belief. The core belief of socialism, for example, is that society should ensure that every person’s basic economic needs are met. Accordingly, a socialist would support public policies that provide for economic security, such as a government-guaranteed annual income for all families.

Source: Thomas Patterson, We the People, 6th ed., p. 211. Copyright © 2006 McGraw-Hill. Reprinted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

The stated main idea sentence is ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. The stereotype of the homosexual, particularly the male, is one of promiscuity. Indeed, there is some basis for that stereotype; about half of all white males in one study reported that they had had over five hundred partners. However, Riedmann (1995) estimated that 75 percent of lesbians and 50 percent of gay men are in stable, monogamous relationships at any given time. The point is that many gays, and an even greater proportion of lesbians, try to form stable, monogamous relationships.

Source: Robert Lauer and Jeanette Lauer, Marriage and Family, 4th ed., New York, McGraw-Hill, 2000, p. 53.

The stated main idea sentence is ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     

7. Research done by Hawken, Duncan, and Kelly (1991) shows that college students who get involved with others tend to stay in college whereas those who are uninvolved tend to drop out. These researchers point out that “socially integrated students are more likely to live in a dormitory, have a part-time job on campus, participate in clubs and social organizations, and declare an academic major earlier in their careers.” Students appear to have the most difficulty establishing social integration in their first year at school, when 60 percent of the dropping out occurs.    

Source: Judy Pearson and Paul Nelson, An Introduction to Human Communication, 8th ed., New York, McGraw-Hill, 2000, pp. 151-52.

The stated main idea sentence is ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  

8. People who use computer keyboards—some of whom make as many as 21,600 keystrokes an hour—account for some RSI (repetitive strain injury) cases that result in lost work time. Before computers came along, typists would stop to make corrections to change paper. These motions had the effect of providing many small rest breaks.  Today, computer users must devise their own mini-breaks to prevent excessive use of the hands and wrists that can lead to RSI injuries. People who use a mouse for more than a few hours a day—graphic designers, desk-top publishing professionals, and the like—are also showing up with increased RSI injuries.

The stated main idea sentence is ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Source: Adapted from Fred Hofstetter, Internet Literacy, p. 272. Copyright © 2006 McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Reprinted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies.