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Developing the Main Idea

Sometimes the main idea is not explicitly stated.

If you look for the main idea and don't find an obvious one, you may have to infer it from the text. In this case, you will have to locate details that are used to develop a theme in the passage. This theme will be the main idea.

For example, the main idea for the text on the right might be: the duckweed is a small aquatic plant.

Consider the humble duckweed. Its flowers and fruits are so small that they can barely be seen without a microscope. It takes thousands of these little plants to cover a regular dinner plate. Yet they can double their numbers every 2 1\ 2 days, and frequently they will cover an entire lake. If it were not for ducks and large goldfish, this very small plant could become a very large problem. If too many of these plants grow in a lake, they will take up so much oxygen, that the fish in the lake would not be able to breathe and would die. The balance of nature is truly miraculous.

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4th Grade Reading Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
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College of Education, University of South Florida ©2013.