Expository Reading

the author's general point; all other material of the paragraph fits under it

• supporting details

• main idea

• author's purpose

• commentary

a short, clear description that gives the main facts or ideas throughout the passage

• thesis

• main idea

• summary

• inference

specific evidence that supports the main idea 

(examples, causes, reasons, or facts)

• main idea

• supporting details

• summary

• context clues

information an author provides, in the same or surrounding sentences, to help define a difficult or multi-meaning word

• summary

• inference

• context clues

• author's purpose

the reason an author decides to write about a specific topic *Think P.I.E.E. to persuade, to inform, to entertain, or to express (feeling).

• thesis

• author's purpose

• summary

• context clues

What is a statement that a person believes to be true but it cannot be measured or proven true against an standard?

• fact

• opinion

• testimonial

• trustworthiness

What words help the reader understand the word elaborate as used in that phrase: At the beach, there is a contest for building castles from the sand. Some of the castles are very elaborate. They have towers, windows, and even bridges.

In this paragraph the word elaborate means-

• They have towers, windows, and even bridges.

• there is a contest for building castles from sand

Answer explanation

The word elaborate means fancy so the description of the castle really helps the reader understand that word.

What is the main idea of this passage?

• The order of events leading to seeing the stars

• The effects lights have on stargazers

• The problem stargazers have seeing stars in the city and the solution to stargaze in the country

What is a reliable source?

• a celebrity endorsed idea or product

• one that gives some bias, but is mostly true

• one that provides a thorough, well-reasoned theory, argument, discussion, etc. based on strong evidence

• one that gives a well-thought out idea based in logic with little opinion

Which term best describes the main idea of a piece of writing?

• A supporting detail

• The author's message

• The author's purpose