TUGAS

DIRECTION : In following paragraphs the main idea is not directly stated. Read each
paragraph, identify the topic, and write it in the space provided.

1. Traffic is directed by color. Pilot instrument panels, landing strips, road and water
crossings are regulated by many colored lights and signs. Factories use colors to
distinguish between thoroughfares and work areas. Danger zones are painted in special
colors. Lubrication points and removable parts are accentuated by color. Pipes for
transporting water, steam, oil, chemicals, and compressed air , are designated by different
colors. Electrical wires and resistances are color coded.
Main Idea : ___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. In 1920 there was one divorce for every seven marriages in the United States. Fifty years
later the rate had climbed to one divorce for every three marriages, and today there is
almost one divorce for every two marriages. The divorce rate in the United State is now
highest of any major industralizied nation, while Canada is in a rather distant second
place.
Main Idea : ___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Severe punishment may generate such anxiety in children that they do not learn the
lesson the punishment was designed to teach. Moreover, as a reaction to punishment that
they regard as unfair, children may avoid punitive parents, who therefore will have fewer
opportunities to teach and guide the child. In addition, parents who use physical
punishment provide aggresive models. A child who is regularly slapped, spanked,
shaken, or shouted at may learn to use these forms of aggression in interaction with peers.
Main Idea : ___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

4. When President Lincoln was shot, the word was communicated by telegraph to most
parts of the United States, but because we had no links to England, it was five days
before London heard of the event. When President Reagan was shot, journalist Henry
 Fairlie, working at his typewriter within a block of the shooting, got word of it by
telephone from his editor at the Spectator in London, who had seen a rerun of the
assassination attempt on television shortly after it occured.
Main Idea : ___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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Exercise on Impled or Unstated Main Ideas

Direction

In the following paragraphs the main idea is not directly stated. Read each paragraph,
identify the topic, and write it in the space provided. Then write a sentence that expresses the
main idea of the passage.

1. Traffic is directed by color. Pilot instrument panels, landing strips, and road and water
crossings are regulated by many colored lights and signs. Factories use colors to
distinguish between thoroughfares and work areas. Danger zones are painted in special
colors. Lubrication points and removable parts are accentuated by color. Pipes for
transporting water, steam, oil, chemicals and compressed air are designated by different
colors. Electrical wires and resistances are color coded.

_Gerritson, Theory and Practice of Color, p.9

Topic : ___________________________________________________

Implied main idea : ___________________________________________________

2. Jack Schultz and Ian Baldwin found last summer that trees under attack by insects or
animals will release an unidentified chemical into the air as a distress signal. Upon
receiving the signal, nearby trees step up their production of tannin – a poison in the
leaves that gives insects indigestion. The team learned, too, that production of the poison
is in proportion to duration and intensity of the attack.

_ “Trees Talk to One Another,” Science Digest, p. 47

Topic : ____________________________________________________

Implied main idea : ____________________________________________________

3. When President Lincoln was shot, the word was communicated by telegraph to most
parts of the United States, but because we had no links to England, it was five days
before London heard of the event. when president Reagan was shot, journalist Henry
 Fairlie, working at his typewriter within a block of the shooting, got word of it by
telephone from his editor at the Spectator in London, who had seen a rerun of the
assassination attempt on television shortly after it occurred.

_Naisbitt, Megatrends, p. 23

Topic : ____________________________________________________

Implied main idea : ____________________________________________________

4. A study by the market research department of the New York Times found that when
choosing between two similar food or beverage products 81 percent of consumers would
choose one they could both smell and see over one they could only see. Samuel Adams
beer was one of the first non – perfume products to be advertised with a scent strip that
smelled of hops, and Rolls Royce distributed ads scented with the smell of leather.
However, a note of caution: This technique adds at least 10 percent to the cost of
producing an ad, so marketers will need to watch their dollars and scents.

_Solomon, Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being, 4th Ed., p.48

Topic : ____________________________________________________

Implied main idea : ____________________________________________________

In this paragraph the main idea is not directly stated. Read the paragraph; identify the topic and
main idea.

In 1920 there was one divorce for every seven marriages in the United States. Fifty years
later the rate had climbed to one divorce for every three marriages, and today there is almost one
divorce for every two marriages. The divorce rate in the United States is now the highest of any
major industrialized nation, while Canada is in a rather distant second place.

_Coleman and Cressey, Social Problems, p. 130

Topic : ____________________________________________________

Implied main idea : ____________________________________________________