Central Ideas: The Basics

Two question types show up over and over on the reading section. A central idea question asks what the whole paragraph is about. A detail question asks what the passage says about one specific thing. They sound alike, but they want opposite-sized answers, so read the question first.

Think of a central idea as a roof. It has to sit over every sentence in the passage, not just one. The most common wrong answer is a statement that is true but too small — it covers a single line. If a choice matches only one sentence, it is a detail, not the central idea.

Detail questions are easier than they look. The answer is written in the passage. You are locating a line, not deciding anything. Wrong choices there are usually true in real life but never appear in the text.

In short passages, the main point often lands in the first or last sentence. And always answer from the page: if the passage disagrees with what you already know, the passage wins.