1. Create a title for the passage related to the main idea.
2. Accurately summarize the text.
3. Your summary
must describe all key ideas from the text.
4. Do not include opinions or personal info in your summary.
5. Highlight or underline key ideas in each passage.
Electric trolley cars or trams were once the chief mode of public transportation in the United States.
Though they required tracks and electric cables to run, these trolley cars were clean and comfortable. In
1922, auto manufacturer General Motors created a special unit to replace electric trolleys with cars,
trucks, and buses. Over the next decade, they lobbied for laws and regulations that made operating trams
more difficult and less profitable. In 1936 General Motors created several front companies to purchase
and dismantle the trolley car system. They received big investments from Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of
California, Phillips Petroleum, and others in the automotive industry. Some people suspect that these
parties wanted to replace trolley cars with buses to make public transportation
less desirable. This would
then increase automobile sales. The decline of the tram system in North America could be blamed on
many things labor strikes, the Great Depression, regulations that were unfavorable to operators. Yet,
perhaps the primary cause was having a group of powerful men from rival sectors of the auto industry
working together to ensure its
destruction
Main idea related title for the passage:
(
/2)
Answers
Answer:
In this article, we explore another particular Reading Comprehension question type: title of the passage. This is one of the most commonly asked questions. Whenever you are asked this question, you need to identify one central point around which the whole passage is built. Passages are built by accumulating a number of ideas. All these ideas (which might appear disconnected or unique to you) are actually built around a central theme, the theme of the passage that the author wishes you to understand. At times this central idea might be directly quoted in the passage and on other occasions, only a passing reference might be made to it. In either case, it is imperative that you follow the flow of the passage to identify the answer.
What are 'titles' exactly?
Titles refer to the most appropriate headings given to the passages (like the headings given to the newspaper/magazine/journal articles). These titles have the following qualities:
They are brief and precise.
They contain the subject of the passage and refer to the central idea/theme of the passage directly or indirectly.
Mostly, books/academic journals' articles have more direct titles than newspaper articles.
Types of titles:
Basically, we come across two types of titles:
Explicit: These state the subject directly. You are able to identify such titles easily.
Implicit: These state the subject indirectly. You need to be careful with this title type.
They may be given in form of metaphors/idioms that imply the main idea of the passage.
These questions are asked in the following forms
The most apt title for the passage is:
Select the most suitable title for the passage from the following?
Strategy to answer the title questions correctly:
Identify the subject/central idea: Identify the subject of the passage and make sure it reflects in the answer options (implicitly/explicitly), as done in case of 'main idea' question. This is the topic around which the whole passage is built.
Donot be misled by minor details; focus on the key ideas: Pay attention to the central ideas only. Details are irrelevant here. Donot obsess over single points/ideas. They may be stated directly but donot convey the main idea or theme of the passage. Always keep the whole picture in mind as single points cannot form the answer.
'Title' is not a 'conclusion': This is a common mistake committed by the students. The title is meant to summarize the ideas/points enlisted in the passage and not to recommend subsequent action or deduce judgments. One important tip: summarize individual paragraphs of the passage. Look at the main idea question as one where you need to reach the final destination. How do you do so? Well, you take one step at a time- pausing at important junctions. Consume the information one paragraph at a time, summarize and make a mental roadmap of the passage flow. Once you have identified the flow of the passage, try to outline that one central idea the author of the passage is aiming at.
Focus on the structure: The structure and organization of the passage indicates the message/idea the author intends to convey. The tone and attitude adopted by the author, the way he presents his ideas- all signal towards the theme of the passage.
Explanation:
main idea related title for the passage