Comprehending

Main Ideas
Presented by Zahra Kamila
 Main Idea
• The main idea of a paragraph is the
author's message about the topic.

• Gagasan utama sebuah paragraf

adalah pesan penulis tentang topik
tersebut.
 Contoh Soal
Fort Knox, Kentucky, is the site of a U.S. army post, but it is even more
reowned for the Fort Knox Bullion Depository, the massive vault that
contains the bulk of the U.S. government's gold deposits. Completed in
1936, the vault is housed in a two-story building constructed of granite,
steel, and concrete; the vault itself is made of steel and concrete and has a
door that weighs more than twenty tons. Naturally, the most up-to-date
security devices available are in place at Fort Knox, and the army post
nearby provides further protection.
• Which of the following best describes the topic of the passage?
(A)The city of Fort Knox, Kentucky
(B)The federal gold despitory
(C)The U.S. army post at Fort Knox
(D)Gold Bullion
What is the Main Idea What is the main
idea of the
Questions
topic of the
passage? passage?

What is the What is the text What is the

subject of the primarily author's main
passage? concerned with? point in the
passage?
 Read the first line of each
paragraph

How To Look for a common theme or

idea in the first lines
Find The
Answer
Pass your eyes quickly over the rest of
the passage to check that you have really
found the topic sentence(s)

Eliminate any definitely wrong answers

and choose the best answer from the
remaining choiches
The MV Akademik Shokalskiy, a "highly ice-strengthened" Russian tour ship built in Finland in 1984 "for polar and oceanographic research, "is stranded in
Antarctica's summer ice with 74 passengers and crew members aboard. The group, which includes two Guardian journalists, is retracing the harrowing 1911
Antarctic expedition led by Sir Douglas Mawson, who lost many of his team members and nearly died himself on the frigid continent a century ago, The ship's
passenger include an Australian research team led by University of New South Wales Professor Chris Turney, who said in November that the voluminous data
collected by Mawson 100 years ago is critical to understanding global warming. But Turney reported that blizzard-like conditions and thick ocean ice are
preventing the latest expedition from leaving. "Unfortunately proceeding north we found our path blocked by ice pushed in by an increasingly strong southeasterly
wind. On Christmas Eve we realized we could not get through, is spite of being just 2 nautical miles from open water."Turney reported in his blog.

"According to reports nobody is in present danger and three nearby icebreaker are being sent to assist", said Expeditiononline.com, which books polar expedition.
The ship is "stuck part-way through her Australasian Antarctic Expedition towards Mawson's Hut at Cape Denison." located about 100 nautical miles east of
Dumont D'Urville, a French base on Antarctica, and 1.500 nautical miles south of Hobart in Tasmania.

Three icebreakers-China's Xue Long, Australia's Aurora Australis, and France's L'Astrolabe-have been dispatched to the scene, according to the Australian
Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which is coordinating the international rescue after the Falmouth Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in the United
Kingdom received a satellite distress call Chistmas morning. However, it will take the icebreakers at least two days to get to the stranded ship, which "is
experiending very strong winds and limited visibility." The clesest rescue ship is not expected to get to the scene until sometime Friday night.

"While it is early winter in the Arctic, it is early summer in the Antarctic. Continuing patterns seen in recent years, Antarctic sea ice extent remains unsually high,
near or above previous daily maximum values, "according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

• What is the topic of the text above?

Tertiary education in Australia is different to many other countries in that it is divided into two sectors: Vocational Education and Training (VET)
and Higher Education. All countries have a higher education sector which people usually associate with universities, but Australia is one of just a
few countries that have a vocational education sector where a trainee is assessed by his or her acquisition of competencies, and focuses on the
development of skills relevant to a trade or field of skilled specialization. In fact, Australia's VET sector is internationally recognized as providing
world's best practice in vocational training, and qualifications from Australian VET institutions are recognized worldwide. The VET sector is
comprised of public and private training institutions, referred to collectively as Registered Training Organizations (RTOS). Government-funded or
public training institutions are known as colleges or institutes of Technical and Further Education, or TAFE for short. All TAFE institutes offer a
range of training courses from Certificate level through to Advanced Diploma, and an increasing number now also offer, undergraduate degree
(Bachelor) courses.

Australia's higher education sector is world class and all Australia's universities have highly active and comprehensive international programs.
Universities in Australia have been welcoming international students for more than a century, and today most campuses boast an ethnic mix in the
student body of 50 or more nationalities. Cultural sensitivity, tolerance of religious observance and freedom of expression are proudly promoted and
encouraged by all Australian universities. Although every Australian university is autonomous and sets its own standards and course offerings, each
belongs to a unified national system which ensures that at undergraduate level, all Australian university degrees are nominally of equal quality.
Australian universities are not officially ranked, as in some countries, but instead are characterized by the types of courses they offer. While some
are more traditional and place great emphasis on research, others are more actively engaged in practical teaching, producing workforce- ready,
skilled graduates. Some universities also specialize in course and research programs according to their location.

2. What is the topic of the passage?