GE4 HANDOUTS FOR FAST-TRACK PROGRAM- READING 1

READING HANDOUT 9

READING QUESTION TYPE 9: PROSE SUMMARY QUESTIONS

1. DEFINITION
These questions measure your ability to understand and recognize the major ideas and
the relative importance of information in a passage. You will be asked to select the major
ideas in the passage by distinguishing them from minor ideas or ideas that are not in the
passage. The correct answer choice will synthesize major ideas in the passage. Because the
correct answer represents a synthesis of ideas, it will not match any particular sentence
from the passage. To select the correct answer, you will need to create a mental framework
to organize and remember major ideas and other important information. Understanding
the relative importance of information in a passage is critical to this ability.
In a Prose Summary question, you will be given six answer choices and asked to pick
the three that express the most important ideas in the passage. Unlike the Basic
Information questions, each of which is worth just 1 point, a Prose Summary question is
worth 2 points. You can earn 0 to 2 points depending on how many correct answers you
choose. If you choose no correct answers or just one correct answer, you will earn no
points. If you choose two correct answers, you will earn 1 point. If you choose all three
correct answers, you will earn 2 points. The order in which you choose your answers does
not matter for scoring purposes.

2. EXAMPLE QUESTIONS
An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below:
Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most
important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because
they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.
This question is worth 2 points. [You will see a sentence in bold here.]

3. TIPS AND STRATEGIES

 Distinguish main ideas from minor ideas, and essential information from non
essential information.
 Remember that correct answer choices will not be identical to any particular
sentence in the passage.

1. PRACTICE EXERCISES
EXERCISE 1: Read the following passage and choose the correct answers
ENTREPRENEURS OF THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH
The gold rush of 1849 in California brought thousands of newcomers to the state.
They came in search of fortune and a better life. Although most of them came to dig for
gold, other opportunities were inadvertently created for entrepreneurs of a different kind.
The gold rush caused crowded camps to appear all over California, giving rise to
competition for basic daily needs. Food, clothing, and other necessities could hardly be
produced fast enough to keep up with the growing masses. People from all types of

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backgrounds quickly discovered that there was just as much fortune to be made serving
the gold diggers as there was in digging for gold. With fierce and increasingly violent
rivalry to find more gold happening all around them, some people saw an opportunity to
make a better living by providing other goods and services to the rapidly growing
population. A few had inflated their prices and taken advantage of the miners’ plight.
However, most were simply honest, hardworking businessmen with creative ideas.
One such entrepreneur was a young merchant named Levi Strauss. He was best
known for a prosperous dry goods business that manufactured various types of apparel.
Strauss created a pair of sturdy pants out of canvas, which became very popular among the
miners. The pants were durable enough to withstand the harsh conditions of the miners’
activities: stooping, kneeling, bending, and crawling in mud and on rocky surfaces.
Ultimately, he added a critical element to the trousers: the metal rivet, which provided the
best reinforcement for the laborers’ work wear. This feature, still used in the manufacture
of jeans today, changed the course of American fashion and put Mr. Strauss on the road to
unparalleled success. Levi Strauss was one of the first of many entrepreneurs to make his
fortune during the gold rush without digging for a single nugget.

An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete
the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important
ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express
ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage . This
question is wotth 2 points.
The rapid arrival of people during the California Gold Rush created a pressing need
for goods and services.
-

Answer Choices
A. The fortune seekers of the gold rush were unable to meet the miners’ daily needs.
B. Miners became hostile over inflating prices of goods and services.
C. Opportunities arose for new ways in which creative people could earn a living.
D. Levi Strauss made his fortune by manufacturing durable workmen's trousers.
E. The rapidly growing population created thriving communities.
F. The demand for goods and services increased faster than the supply.

EXERCISE 2: Read the following passage and choose the correct answers
WHY THE SKY IS BLUE
The scattering of sunlight off the molecules in the atmosphere is responsible for the
blue appearance of the sky. Usually, we see light in its full visible spectrum, which appears
white to the human eye. However, when light rays are broken or refracted by water in the

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atmosphere, its colors appear separated. This is because each color has its own
wavelength.
The reason the sky appears to be blue was first investigated by British physicist
Lord Rayleigh. He discovered that sunlight is scattered by water molecules in the air in the
same way that white light is scattered by a prism. The visible light spectrum occupies only
the portion of the entire electromagnetic radiation field that we can see. The spectrum
includes the colors of a rainbow we can sometimes see in the sky. It ranges from red,
classified as the longest wavelength, to violet, classified as the shortest. Since this
scattering in the sky is more effective at shorter wavelengths where the blue end of the
visible spectrum is, the sky appears to be blue. Although all the colors of the visible light
spectrum are present in white sunlight, the blue wavelength is most easily detected by the
human eye; due to the angle at which we view sunlight.
As we view the sunlight away from the sun, it is scattered through more
atmospheric molecules than if we looked more directly toward the sun. This scattering,
called Rayleigh scattering, is predominantly in the blue end of the light spectrum. It is
because of the shorter wavelength of blue that the light is more effectively scattered. If we
look toward the sun, the full spectrum of white light is more dominant; further from the
sun, a deeper blue is visible. In other words, the more air molecules light travels through,
the more saturation of color we can detect.

An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete
5 the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important
ideas rm in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they
express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This
question is worth 2 points.
The passage discusses the scientific reasons for the appearance of a blue sky to the
human eye.
-

Answer Choices
A. The closer we look toward the sun, the more colors of the visible spectrum we can
see.
B. Sunlight scatters off of molecules in the air more effectively at shorter wavelengths.
C. The sky looks bluer farther from the sun because of the decrease in light waves.
D. The visible spectrum includes all colors of the rainbow.
E. Water molecules in the air scatter light in the same way as a prism.
F. The blue range of colors have short wavelengths.

2. ANSWER KEYS
EXERCISE 1 C, D, F
EXERCISES 2 B, E, F

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