Deck 9: About: Find the Topic

Question 1

Read each detail and choose the most appropriate topic.
What is the topic of the following details? When testing a new antidepressant drug, researchers choose volunteers who have no
History of mental illness.
Researchers track dosages of the drug and the side effects that arise.
Patients being tested may not even be taking the actual drug; they may be taking a
Placebo (sugar pill) instead.
Researchers do not know who is taking the drug and who is not until the study is over.

A)Antidepressants
B)Mental illness
C)Parameters of testing antidepressants
D)Side effects of antidepressants

Answer 1

C

Question 2

When searching for a topic, it is important to rely on __________.

A)Bias
B)Facts
C)Inferences
D)Generalities

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following techniques can help a reader find the topic of a passage?

A)Searching for repeated words
B)Asking himself/herself why the author wrote the passage
C)Turn headings into questions
D)Look at picture and chart captions

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The topic ______________.

A)Should not be so narrow that it can't include all the information provided
B)Should be just broad enough to fit all the specifics given by the author
C)Should not be so broad that it requires more information to support it
D)All of the above

Question 5

Read each detail and choose the most appropriate topic.
What is the topic of the following details? There are 5 stages of sleep people experience.
In stages 1 and 2, the eye movements slow until they completely stop.
In these stages, brain waves come to a halt.
Stages 3 and 4 are referred to as deep sleep.
Dreams occur in stage 5, REM sleep.

A)Sleep
B)5 stages of sleep
C)Dreams
D)REM sleep

Question 6

Read each detail and choose the most appropriate topic.
What is the topic of the following details? In order to maximize your weight loss, follow a few simple guidelines.
When working out, be sure to include cardiovascular exercise.
Cardiovascular exercise allows the body to burn more calories.
Weight loss is more than eating healthy; a person should have several small balanced
Meals throughout the day.

A)Weight loss
B)Maximizing weight loss
C)Benefits of cardiovascular exercise
D)Eating healthy and exercise

Question 7

When looking for a topic, it is important to keep all of the following strategies in mind EXCEPT:

A)Look at the title of the passage for a hint
B)Look for repeated words
C)Find the most general idea in the passage
D)Find the most specific idea in the passage

Question 8

Read each detail and choose the most appropriate topic.
What is the topic of the following details? There are three common types of phobias.
Agoraphobia is the fear of public places.
Claustrophobia is the fear of small, confined spaces.
Acrophobia is the fear of high places.

A)Fear
B)Phobias
C)Claustrophobia
D)Common phobias

Question 9

How are the topic and title of a passage related?

A)Both the topic and title of the passage tell what it is about
B)Both can be found in the main idea of the selection
C)Both provide supporting details
D)Neither detail is important

Question 10

A topic should be ____________.

A)A word or short phrase describing the passage
B)A sentence summarizing the passage
C)A narrow description of the most important details
D)The point the author is trying to get across

Question 11

Read each detail and choose the most appropriate topic.
What is the topic of the following details? A fear of public speaking is common for many people.
It can cause physical and emotional reactions.
The idea of public speaking can sweating, shaking, or a rapid pulse.
It can give an individual the feeling of anxiousness.

A)Fear
B)Emotional Response
C)Public Speaking
D)Fear of public speaking

Question 12

Read each detail and choose the most appropriate topic.
What is the topic of the following details? The amount of study time a college student needs for studying is based on a simple
Formula.
The number of hours spent in class each week should be equal to the amount of time
Spent studying.
If a student devotes this amount of time to studying, he or she will see an increase in
Their comprehension as well as their grades.

A)Studying
B)Amount of time college students should study
C)Amount of time college students spend in class
D)Time

Question 13

The topic should be ___________ than the other ideas in the selection.

A)More specific
B)More detailed
C)More focused
D)More general

Question 14

Read each detail and choose the most appropriate topic.
What is the topic of the following details? During the 1890s the United States experienced an economic depression.
This depression is very similar to the one being experienced now in 2010.
Both depressions experienced a drastic drop in the stock market that was hard to
Recover from.
Bank failures are another common characteristic.

A)Similarities between the depression of 1890 and 2010
B)Depression of 1890
C)Depression of 2010
D)Differences between the depression of 1890 and 2010

Question 15

To locate the topic of a sentence, a reader should ask a question that begins with ______.

A)Who
B)What
C)When
D)Where

Question 16

Read each detail and choose the most appropriate topic.
What is the topic of the following detail? The human cell and plant cells have many of the same parts.
However, plant cells contain additional parts not found in other cells.
Plant cells contain chloroplast to aid in food production.
They also contain a cell wall, which is unique only to plants.

A)Parts of plant cells
B)Parts of human cells
C)Parts of cells
D)Cells

Question 17

When using the 'About' strategy in MAPP, a reader is searching for the _______.

A)Main idea
B)Topic Sentence
C)Subject
D)Purpose

Question 18

When looking for the topic, a reader must remember _____________.

A)Sometimes pronouns are used instead of repeating nouns
B)The topic will only be seen in the title
C)The topic will always be the most specific idea
D)Topics will be in bold print

Question 19

Read each detail and choose the most appropriate topic.
What is the topic of the following details? The first day of school is usually very hectic for both teachers and students.
They both nervously await the first bell and hope they have everything.
Students worry if they chose the right shirt necessary for making a good first
Impression.
Teachers search for the class rosters and hope the students have found the correct
Classroom for their first class.

A)Teachers
B)Students
C)First day of school
D)First impressions

Question 20

Read each detail and choose the most appropriate topic.
What is the topic of the following details? Reading is an interactive process.
It should be done with a pen in hand.
Students should make notes and annotate their texts as they read.
While reading, a person should try to form a mental picture instead of staring at the
Page and hoping the material is absorbed.

A)Reading
B)Annotating a textbook
C)Strategies for being an interactive reader
D)Strategies for better reading comprehension

Question 21

Read each paragraph and place [brackets] around the topic.
Automobile side air bags are also available to protect occupants from side-impact
collisions, which account for 30% of all accidents.Side air bags must be engineered to
deploy more quickly than those that protect from front-end collisions because a few
inches of door separate the occupant from the colliding vehicle.Side air bags are
mounted in the doors; in the roof - from which they deploy downward; and in seat backs -
from which they deploy toward the door.
Shipman, Todd, and Wilson, An Introduction to Physical Science, 11th edition

Question 22

Read each paragraph and place [brackets] around the topic.
As a new musical genre, jazz developed in the brothels, saloons, dance halls, and streets
of southern cities, particularly New Orleans, primarily among African American
musicians.But from there it spread to Chicago, Kansas City, and New York and can be
heard anywhere in the world today.Although it probably was around as early as the turn
of the twentieth century, no one knows for sure where jazz actually began.
Carter, Mindscapes, 1st edition

Question 23

Read each paragraph and place [brackets] around the topic.
In the more than 50 years since the first successful organ transplant, hundreds of
thousands of patients have had their lives extended because of organ donations.Despite
decades of campaigns to persuade Americans to donate organs after they die, however,
the demand increasingly exceeds the supply.The waiting list for organs, mostly kidneys,
has doubled over the past decade to more than 92,000 patients.Eighteen die daily before
getting one.
Carter, Mindscapes, 1st edition

Question 24

Read each paragraph and place [brackets] around the topic.
What When you interact with others, especially in small group activities and on
collaborative projects, you are building interpersonal skills that will give you an edge in
the workplace.The days of isolated workers sitting alone in their cubicles are giving way
to work teams in which work is shared by a group of colleagues, each contributing his of
her expertise.Participating in class and working collaboratively on projects in and out of
the classroom can potentially help you develop interpersonal skills.
Kanar, The Confident Student, 6th edition

Question 25

Read each paragraph and place [brackets] around the topic.
Most tornadoes travel from southwest to northeast, but the direction of travel can be
erratic and may change suddenly.Tornadoes usually travel at an average speed of 30
miles per hour.The wind speed of a major tornado may vary from 100 to 300 miles per
hour.The wind speed of the devastating 1999 tornado was measured by Doppler radar to
be 312 miles per hour, the highest ever recorded.
Shipman, Todd, and Wilson, An Introduction to Physical Science, 11th edition

Question 26

Put an X in the space for the topic, or most general idea.

Question 27

Read each paragraph and place [brackets] around the topic.
In some ways, reading online is like reading print materials such as books or magazines.
But reading online materials is different from reading print materials .Print materials
have guides such as headings, subheadings, boldfaced terms and so forth.But anyone
can put up a website.Documents found on these online websites may or may not have
headings or subheadings.Rarely is there a list of key terms.
Adapted from Atkinson & Longman Reading Strategies for Today's College
Student, 1st Edition

Question 28

Read each paragraph and place [brackets] around the topic.
El Nino, an occasional disruption of the ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific
Ocean, has important weather consequences for many parts of the world.Originally
recognized by fisherman off the Pacific coast of South America, the appearance at
irregular intervals of unusually warm water near the beginning of the year was named El
Nino, which meant "the little boy" or "the Christ child" in Spanish.The name reflects
the tendency of El Nino to arrive at Christmas time.
Shipman, Todd, and Wilson, An Introduction to Physical Science, 11th edition

Question 29

Read each paragraph and place [brackets] around the topic.
Gwendolyn Brooks, whose work spans five decades, was the first African American
writer to win a Pulitzer Prize and to be appointed to the American Academy of Arts and
Letters.She won her Pulitzer for her collection of poems, Annie Allie.
Adapted from Carter, Mindscapes, 1st edition