Central Idea

Edouard de Laboulaye, a French writer and law professor, held the United States in high regard due to the freedoms they enjoyed. During the American Civil War, he was an advocate of the Union cause and the abolition of slavery. After the war, in 1865, he suggested that France present a statue to the U.S. The gift was meant to memorialize President Abraham Lincoln and celebrate the end of slavery. Laboulaye was also an opponent of his own government, which he thought was very undemocratic. The statue was also meant to shine light on the lack of liberty in France. Work began on the project in 1875. 20 years later, the statue, known as the Statue of Liberty, finally arrived in New York. What is the central idea of this passage?

• The Statue of Liberty took 20 years to create.
• Edouard de Laboulaye created the idea of the Statue of Liberty.
• Edouard de Laboulaye opposed slavery and admired Lincoln.
• The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States that was also created to inspire and celebrate freedom.

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Recycling things like paper, plastic, and metal is beneficial for our environment by cutting down on trash. Yet many people throw away their water bottles, shipping boxes, and cans instead of recycling them. An increased focus on getting more people to recycle is leading people to develop creative ways to make it easier for Americans. One way is to put bright colored recycling containers in more places. Seeing more recycling bins helps people remember to use them. Another idea that has been developed is reverse vending machines. These machines are the opposite of traditional vending machines since you give it a recyclable good and it gives you money or reward in return. Hopefully more places will introduce new and unique ways to get people to start recycling. What is the central idea of the passage?

• People need to start recycling in order to protect our environment.
• Bright colored collection bins will help encourage people to protect the environment.
• The amount of people who recycle will increase if innovative methods are implemented.
• Reverse vending machines that gives money for recyclable goods is a creative recycling solution.

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A progressive social reformer and activist, Jane Addams, was on the frontline of the settlement house movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As the daughter of a wealthy Illinois businessman, Jane Addams did not have to worry about money. Despite her wealth and privilege, she was concerned about the poor. After college, Addams found her true calling in London. It was during a trip to Europe that Addams visited Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in London on the city’s East End that provided much-needed services to poor industrial workers. Addams vowed to bring that model to the United States, which was in the early years of industrialization and immigration. Inspired by what she saw in London, Addams founded a settlement house of her own, Hull House, in Chicago in 1889. Hull House was one of the first centers of its kind in the United States.The house provided services for the immigrant and poor population living in the Chicago area. The center also offered classes, child care, food, and help with finding jobs. What is the central idea of the article?

• Addams was the daughter of a wealthy businessman.
• The Hull House provided help for the poor and immigrant population in Chicago.
• After a trip to Europe, Addams was inspired to start a settlement house in the US leading her to found the Hull House
• Addams was impressed and inspired by Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in London on the city’s East End that provided much-needed services to poor industrial workers.

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The Maya were an ancient people who lived in what is now Central America that have some 3,000 years of rich history. The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork. All Maya shared a common culture and religion, but each city governed itself and had its own noble ruler. These cities never came together to form a single empire since the kings were constantly at war with each other. This constant fighting could have led to their decline. In the 8th and 9th centuries AD, Classic Maya culture went into decline, with most of the cities of the central lowlands abandoned. Warfare, ecological depletion of croplands, and drought or some combination of those factors are usually suggested as reasons for the decline. What is the central idea of this passage?

• The Maya were once a thriving civilization that declined for various reasons.
• The Maya civilization has 3,000 years of history and that makes them interesting to read about.
• The kings of the Mayan cities were constantly at war with each other and this contributed to the decline of the civilization.
• It is sad the such an innovative group of people declined due to warfare, lack of crops, and droughts.

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The history of the Penny goes back over 1,200 years ago. The first pennies were made in 790 A.D. The word penny originally denoted any sort of coin or money, not just a small denomination. In fact, Great Britain is the only country to have a denomination that is officially called the penny. In the United States we have been calling our one-cent coins “pennies” for centuries, largely because our one-cent coin was inspired by the British penny. However, the official name of the coins we endearingly call pennies today is the cent. Over 300 billion one-cent coins, with 11 different designs have been minted since 1787, but some of them are more valuable than others. For example, the 1943 Bronze Lincoln recently sold in a private action for $1.7 million dollars. In order to preserve copper for the war effort, the U.S. Mint switched to making pennies from zinc-coated steel planchets, instead of the usual bronze coin blanks. However some of the old bronze planchets got stuck in the big tote bins the Mint used to feed the coin presses at the end of 1942. The few bronze coins that were struck went unnoticed and got released into circulation. But odds are you have a piggy bank full of typical pennies that are worth, well, a penny. However, you never know...What is the central idea of this article?

• There have been 300 billion one cent coins minted since 1787.
• Due to a printing error, the 1942 penny is extremely rare and valuable.
• The word penny came from other countries and the official name for the US penny is the cent piece.
• Although pennies, or cent pieces, have been around a long time some are considered rare and valuable.

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The Tour de France is probably the worlds most famous cycle race. It takes place over 23 days and covers over 2,000 miles. Each year the race takes a different route, but ever since 1975 the finish has always been in Paris with a magnificent sprint down the Champs-Élysées. At the end of each day's race the leader is given a yellow shirt, the best sprinter is given a green shirt, and the best rider in the mountain races is given a polka dot jersey. He is sometimes called the King of the Mountains. The best young rider, who must be under 25, gets a white jersey. The winner is the one who finishes the race to Paris in the fastest time. There is a lot of prize money for the teams of the winners of the Tour, but the winner of each day's race also gets prize money. What is the central idea of the passage?

• The Tour de France is a most famous cycle race.
• The Tour de France is an intense race that takes place over 23 days and contains many perks for the athletes.
• Even though there is a different route every year, The Tour de France always finishes in Paris, France.
• On each day of The Tour de France a player has a chance to earn something, but the overall winner is the one who finishes the race in the fastest time.

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Reality television is touted a genre of television programming which presents unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, document actual events, and have ordinary people instead of professional actors. However, critics argue that reality television shows do not accurately reflect reality since participants are placed in artificial situations and given scripts or story lines to follow. Other critics say reality TV make stars out of untalented people unworthy of fame. Many people still tune into their favorite reality TV show since it is fun to watch, but they take it with a grain of salt and put it in the same category as scripted sitcoms.

• Reality TV is more like a scripted show.
• People can become famous with reality TV even if they are without a specific talent.
• Many people do not like reality TV since the majority of the shows are not considered real.
• Reality television does not accurately reflect reality since participants are placed in artificial situations

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We all know that every snowflake is unique and we assume a scientist discovered this fact. Surprisingly it was not a scientist, but a young farmer from Vermont, who took the first micro-photograph of a snowflake in 1885 when he just 19 years old. Wilson Bentley always loved nature so when he received a microscope for his 15th birthday, the first thing he did was try and examine a snow flake. Intrigued by their unusual designs, he tried to sketch detailed drawings, but the snow would melt before he could get it done. He decided it would be better to photograph them. This was not an easy process, and it took him 2 years to figure out. But once he got started he could not stop. Bentley went on to capture over 5,000 images, and was the first one to realize that no two snow flakes were alike. What is the central idea of this passage?

• It took Wilson Bentley 2 years to learn how to photograph a snowflake.
• Wilson Bentley had a love for nature which led to an interest in snowflakes.
• A farmer received a microscope for his birthday which sparked a love of science.
• Wilson Bentley, a nature lover and farmer, was one of the first to observe snowflakes each determine each one is unique.

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In 1890 the first hairdryer was invented by French stylist Alexander Godefroy. His invention was a large, seated version that consisted of a bonnet that attached to the chimney pipe of a gas stove. Godefroy invented it for use in his hair salon in France, and it was not portable or handheld. It could only be used by having the person sit underneath it. This invention led to the first patent of a portable hair dryer in 1911, and handheld dryers finally arrived in homes around 1920. Hard to believe that before hair dryers could be mass produced at affordable prices, women would sit next to a stove or fireplace and some resorted to using hose attachments at the exhaust end of a vacuum cleaner to dry their hair! Hairdryers have come a long way over the years. What is the central idea of the passage?

• Woman would try almost anything to dry their hair.
• Godefroy's invention changed how people could dry their hair.
• Godefroy's hair dryer was not portable was cumbersome to use.
• Portable hairdryers started showing up in homes in the 1920s.

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For most American kids, it wouldn’t be Halloween without trick-or-treating for candy. However, when trick-or-treating first started candy wasn't even an option. In the 1930s and early 1940s, children were given everything from homemade cookies and pieces of cake to fruit, nuts, coins and toys. It wasn't until the 1950s when candy manufacturers began to get in on the act and promote their products for Halloween. As trick-or-treating became more popular, candy was considered an affordable, convenient offering. It wasn’t until the 1970s, though, that wrapped, factory-made candy was viewed as the only acceptable thing to hand out to all the little ghosts and goblins that showed up on people’s doorsteps. What is the central idea of the article?

• American kids love receiving candy on Halloween.
• Trick-or-treating has a long history that didn't always involve candy.
• In the 1930s kids were given toys, cake, and even toys when they went trick-or-treating.
• In the 1970s individually wrapped candies were introduced to the market and considered the best thing to pass out to trick-or-treaters.

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