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Seventh Grade (Grade 7) Main Idea Questions

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Grade 7 :: Main Idea by Debbiepalazzolo
What is a word or phrase that tells what the author is writing about in a paragraph?
  1. topic
  2. supporting details
  3. main idea
  4. none of the above
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by Lovinmuzic
The raisin business in America was born by accident. It happened in 1873 in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Many farmers raised grapes in this valley. That year, just before the grape harvest, there was a heat wave. It was one of the worst heat waves ever known. It was so hot the grapes dried on the vines. When they were picked, California had its first raisin crop.

People were surprised to find how good raisins were. Everybody wanted more. So the San Joaquin farmers went into the raisin business. Today, of course, they do not let the grapes dry on the vines. They treat them with much more care.

In late August the grapes start to ripen. They are tested often for sweetness. The growers wait until the sugar content is twenty-one percent. Then they know the grapes are ripe enough to be picked.

Skilled workers come to the vineyards. They pick the bunches of grapes by hand. The workers fill their flat pans with grapes. They gently empty the pans onto squares of paper. These squares lie between the long rows of vines. They sit in the sun.

Here the grapes stay while the sun does its work. It may take two weeks or longer. The grapes are first dried on one side. When they have reached the right color, they are turned to dry on the other side. The grapes are dried until only fifteen percent of the moisture is left. Then they have turned into raisins.

The raisins are rolled up in the paper on which they have dried. Trucks take them from the fields. They are poured into big boxes called sweatboxes. Each box holds one hundred and sixty pounds of raisins. Here, any raisins that are a bit too dry take moisture from those that have a bit too much. After a while they are all just moist enough.

The big boxes are trucked next to the packaging plant. They are emptied onto a conveyor belt that shakes the raisins gently. This knocks them from their stems. A blast of air whisks the stems away. The water bath is next. Then the plump brown raisins have a last inspection. They are again checked for moisture and sugar. Then they go on a belt to packing machines. Here they are poured into packages, which are automatically weighed and sealed. The raisins are now ready for market.

What is the main idea of this passage?
  1. The process of raisin development requires multiple steps.
  2. California has been the leader in American raisin development.
  3. Raisins on the grocery store shelf undergo a brief fermentation process.
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by Lovinmuzic
Every year since 1986, some of the world's most daring runners have gathered in the desert of Morocco. They are there to take part in one of the most difficult races in the world. The Marathon of the Sands, as it is called, covers over 125 miles of desert and mountain wilderness. The runners complete the course in fewer than seven days, and they run with their food, clothing, and sleeping bags on their backs.

The Marathon of the Sands was founded in 1986 by Patrick Bauer. His idea was to give the runners, who come from all over the world, a special kind of adventure. Most of the runners in this race have found that they form deep friendships with the other runners during their days and nights in the desert. Facing terrible heat and complete exhaustion, they learn much about themselves and each other.

For most of the runners, though, the challenge of the race is the main reason for coming. On the first day, for example, they run fifteen miles across a desert of sand, rocks, and thorny bushes. Few runners finish the day without blistered and raw feet. They also suffer from a lack of water. (They are allowed less than nine quarts of water during each day of the race.) Most of all, they are exhausted when they arrive at the campsite for the night.

The second day, the runners are up at 6:00 A. M. Within a few hours, it is 100 degrees F, but the runners do not hesitate. They must cover eighteen miles that day. That night, they rest. They must be ready for the next day's run.

On the third day, the runners must climb giant sand dunes- the first they have faced. Dust and sand mix with the runners' sweat. Soon their faces are caked with mud. After fifteen miles of these conditions, the runners finally reach their next camp.

The race continues like this for four more days. The fourth and fifth days are the worst. On the fourth day, the runners pass through a level stretch and a beautiful, tree-filled oasis, but then, on this and on the next day, they cross more than twenty-one miles of rocks and sand dunes. The temperature soars to 125 degrees F, and many runners cannot make it. Helicopters rush fallen runners to medical help. Runners who make it to the end of the fifth day know that the worst is over.

On the sixth day, heat and rocks punish the racers terribly. In the Valley of Dra, the wind picks up and, as the desert heat is thrust against them with great force, they grow more and more exhausted.

The seventh day is the last, with only twelve miles to be covered. The dusty, tired, blistered runners set out at daybreak. Near the finish line, children race along with the runners, for everybody has caught the excitement. The ones who have run the whole marathon know they have accomplished what most people could not even dream of. ?During the hard moments,? says one contestant who has raced here twice, ?I'd think, ?Why am I here?' Then I'd realize I was there to find my limits.?

What is the main idea of this passage?
  1. The Marathon of the Sands race tests the limits of human endurance
  2. The runners run at their own pace.
  3. The race causes the strong to stumble and the weak to not finish.
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by nita0620
Main ideas are:
  1. specific
  2. general
  3. both specific and general
  4. none of the above
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by Lovinmuzic
Most people think it's fine to be busy as a beaver. Little do they know. Beavers may work hard, but often they don't get much done.

Beavers are supposed to be great tree cutters. It is true that a beaver can gnaw through a tree very quickly. (A six-inch birch takes about ten minutes.) But then what? Often the beaver does not make use of the tree. One expert says that beavers waste one out of every five trees they cut.

For one thing, they do not choose their trees wisely. One bunch of beavers cut down a cottonwood tree more than one hundred feet tall. Then they found that they could not move it.

In thick woods a tree sometimes won't fall down. It gets stuck in the other trees. Of course, doesn't think to cut down the trees that are in the way. So a good tree goes to waste.

Some people think that beavers can make a tree fall the way they want it to. Not true. (In fact, a beaver sometimes gets pinned under a falling tree.) When beavers cut a tree near a stream, it usually falls into the water. But they do not plan it that way. The fact is that most trees lean toward the water to start with.

Now what about dam building? Most beaver dams are wonders of engineering. The best ones are strongly built of trees, stones, and mud. They are wide at the bottom and narrow at the top.

Beavers think nothing of building a dam more than two hundred feet long. One dam, in Montana, was more than two thousand feet long. The largest one ever seen was in New Hampshire. It stretched four thousand feet. It made a lake large enough to hold forty beaver homes.

So beavers do build good dams. But they don't always build them in the right places. They just don't plan. They will build a dam across the widest part of the stream. They don't try to find a place where the stream is narrow. So a lot of their hard work is wasted.

Beavers should learn that it's not enough to be busy. You have to know what you're doing, too. For example, there was one Oregon beaver that really was a worker. It decided to fix a leak in a man-made dam. After five days of work it gave up. The leak it was trying to block was the lock that boats go through.

What is the main idea of this passage?
  1. Beavers may be hard working animals, but they don't always choose the most efficient mechanisms
  2. Beavers are excellent dam builders
  3. New Hampshire was the site of the largest beaver dam
  4. Beavers are well developed tree cutters
  5. Beavers are poor surveyors of aquatic environments in some cases
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by Lovinmuzic
What if someone told you about a kind of grass that grows as tall as the tallest trees? A grass that can be made as strong as steel? A grass from which houses, furniture, boats, and hundreds of other useful things can be made? A grass that you would even enjoy eating? Would you believe that person? You should, for that grass is bamboo, the wood of 1,001 uses.

Bamboo may look like wood, but it is part of the family of plants that includes wheat, oats, and barley. It is a kind of grass. This grass is not just a material for making useful products. Young bamboo is eaten, often mixed with other vegetables, in many Asian foods.

Bamboo grows in many parts of the world. In the United States it grows in an area from Virginia west to Indiana and south to Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. Most bamboo, however, is found in warm, wet climates, especially in Asia and on the islands of the South Pacific Ocean.

In most Asian countries, bamboo is nearly as important as rice. Many Asians live in bamboo houses. They sit on bamboo chairs and sleep on bamboo mats. They fence their land with bamboo and use the wood for cages for chickens and pigs.

Bamboo is used to build large buildings as well as homes. When it is glued in layers, it becomes as strong as steel. On some islands in the South Pacific, bamboo is even used for water pipes. This extraordinary material has many other uses. It is used to make musical instruments, such as flutes and recorders. Paper made from bamboo has been highly prized by artists for thousands of years.

Bamboo is light and strong, and it bends without breaking. It is cheap, floats on water, almost never wears out, and is easy to grow. Nothing else on earth grows quite so fast as bamboo. At times you can even see it grow! Botanists have recorded growths of more than three feet in just twenty-four hours! Bamboo is hollow and has a strong root system that almost never stops growing and spreading. In fact, only after it flowers, an event that may happen only once every thirty years, will bamboo die.

There are more than a thousand kinds of bamboo. The smallest is only three inches tall and one-tenth of an inch across. The largest reaches more than two hundred feet in height and seven inches in diameter. No wonder, then, that the lives of nearly half the people on earth would change enormously if there were no longer any bamboo. No wonder, too, that to many people bamboo is a symbol of happiness and good fortune.

What is the main idea of this passage?
  1. Bamboo has at least 2,000 uses.
  2. Bamboo grows at an amazing rate and is found primarily in Asia.
  3. Bamboo is an amazing grass that can be used in multiple ways.
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by pcwyatt
If you can't figure out the main idea of a passage, what should you do?
  1. Try to recall every specific detail in the passage.
  2. Ask yourself general questions about the passage.
  3. Read the passage over and over until you have it memorized.
  4. Read the passage once and don't look at it again.
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by tamz44
What are the two most important things to look for when trying to find the main idea?
  1. general ideas and the purpose
  2. specific details and the purpose
  3. general ideas and the setting
  4. specific details and the setting
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by Akeiah
What is an implied main idea?
  • A main idea that is not clearly stated in the paragraph
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by Debbiepalazzolo
What question should you ask yourself to find the main idea of a passage or paragraph?
  1. What is happening in this paragraph?
  2. What is going on in this paragraph?
  3. Who or what is the paragraph talking about?
  4. What is the most important point the author wants me to understand about the topic?
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by Akeiah
Where can you find the location of the main idea?
  • The main idea can be found anywhere in the paragraph.
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by Debbiepalazzolo
What are some clues to the Topic Location?
  1. bold print
  2. headings or titles
  3. repeated throughout the passage or paragraph
  4. all of the above
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by Debbiepalazzolo
What question should you ask yourself to find the topic of a passage or paragraph?
  1. Who or what is this paragraph about?
  2. What is the main idea the author is trying to make?
  3. What word is used the most in the passage?
  4. all of the above
Grade 7 :: Main Idea by Akeiah
Explain how to figure out a main idea that is not clearly stated in the paragraph.
  • You would make an inference, which means to combine your prior knowledge with the information provided in the text an make an educated guess.