Unit 1 | Topics and main ideas

Understanding topics
A topic tells what a text is about in general. Knowing the topic in a text is the
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first step in answering reading comprehension questions.

1 Finding a topic
AUDIO FILE Listen to or read the conversation. What is the topic? Check (✓) the correct answer.
1. Jenny needs a roommate for her new apartment.
2. Jenny’s having a problem with her roommate.
3. Jenny stopped being friends with Shelly.

Mark Hey, Jenny. How’s your new apartment?
Better than living in the dorm, I bet.
Jenny Oh, hi, Mark. Yeah, it is. Most of the time.
Mark What? What do you mean? You have a
great apartment.
Jenny Yeah….
Mark Who’s your roommate?
Jenny Shelly Cole. You know, second-
year biology student, from L.A.
Mark Oh, yeah. I know her. How’s it going?
Jenny Oh, she’s great. We like the same
food, she likes to clean the house…
Mark That sounds nice.
Jenny Yeah. But there is one little
problem. She likes to listen to
music… while she’s studying.
Mark Oh.
Jenny Yeah. I just can’t do that. I have to
study in a quiet place. And when
we have exams, it’s really hard.
Mark Does Shelly know how you feel?
Jenny No. That’s the problem. She’s such a
nice roommate and a good friend, but
I don’t want to hurt her feelings. Do
you remember what happened last
year with my old roommate Laura?
One time I asked her if she could go
outside to talk on the phone, and she
stopped talking to me all semester!
Mark Oh, yeah. But Shelly’s a different
person. I think you should be honest
with her. I mean, if she’s really a
good friend, she’ll understand.
Jenny You think so?
Mark Yeah, sure. And if you don’t tell her,
you’re always going to feel bad. And then
someday you won’t be friends anymore.
Jenny I guess you’re right. Thanks, Mark.
Mark No problem, Jenny. Let me
know how it goes.

Understanding main ideas

Main ideas give supporting information about a topic. Finding the main ideas in a
text is one of the first things you need to do when you prepare to answer certain
kinds of exam questions.

2 Finding main ideas

Choose the group that gives the main ideas of the conversation in Exercise 1.

Group A Group B
• Shelly is generally a good roommate. • Jenny and Shelly like the same food.
• There’s one problem: she listens to loud music. • Jenny’s old roommate stopped talking to her.
• Mark tells Jenny to talk to Shelly about the problem. • Mark wants to know what happens next.

2 Spotlight on Testing • Unit 1

Strategies for taking the: TOEFL® Test TOEIC® Test IELTS™ Test
3 Choosing topics
Read the article. What is the topic? Check (✓) the correct answer.
1. Choosing a college can be hard.
2. Deciding one’s major can be difficult.
3. Students have a hard time finishing college.

A Major Decision
About 60 percent of American students go directly
from high school into college. Choosing a college
can be difficult. But once these students are in
college, there is one other choice that seems to be
even harder—deciding on a major.
On average, college students in the United States
change their major three times. There are several
reasons for this, according to academic advisers.
About half of all freshmen start college not
knowing what to major in. Among those who
think they know what they want to study, six out
of ten end up changing their major as well.
College is a time of discovery. As students take
classes, they find new areas that they are interested
in. Unfortunately, some of those students find so
many interesting classes that they are not able to
decide on a major. Some of those students end up
going to school for years, without even graduating!
Some advisers say that students need better tools,
both in colleges and in high schools, to help them
figure out what major is best for them. A few
universities have started offering special computer
programs to help. Students can learn more about
different majors, or even about what kinds of jobs
people find with each kind of major. They are
sometimes surprised to find philosophy majors
working for a soft ware development company or
biology majors in the tourism industry.
Students seem to like these new tools, and more
students use them each year. Of course there are
other resources available to help, like academic
advisers. Even with all of these tools available
to them, choosing a major is difficult for many
students. The good thing is, they can always
change it.

4 Check your understanding

Read paragraphs 2–5 in Exercise 3 again. What is the main idea of each paragraph? Number the
sentences 2–5.
a. Better tools are needed to help students choose the right major.
b. Students often discover what they like when they take
different classes. Most tests have
a time limit. Get faster by
c. Even with great tools, deciding a major can still practicing each section of the test
be hard. with a clock. Don’t spend too much
d. Many students change their majors. time on one or two questions or
your time might run out.
5 Skills in review
Look at the reading on page 5 of the Workbook. What is the
topic? What are the main ideas?

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