Tips for Main Idea Questions on the Reading Comprehension part of the ASVAB
There are four specific types of questions you must answer when you take the Paragraph Comprehension section of the ASVAB. If you graduated from high school, you shouldn't be worried too much because you have already experienced the four different types of question. Most of the quizzes and tests you took in high school follow this format. One of the four types is the "Main Idea" type of question in which you are asked about the main idea, or theme, of a paragraph. A quick review of the "Main Idea" concept may be helpful.
You are first presented with a paragraph to read. The content of the paragraph may be technical in nature, or it may be a general story of the type you read in newspapers. A good reading strategy is to first read the paragraph at your normal pace so that you can get the general idea of the meaning. Since the paragraphs are short, you should then read the same material more closely with a view to picking out the most important facts and details. Now you are ready to answer the questions. There are different types of questions, however.
A main idea question might be as simple as "What is the main idea of the paragraph?" Don't underestimate the question and think it's too easy. The paragraphs you will encounter will usually be a mix of primary and secondary ideas. In other words, you must recognize that one idea is the main idea and that other ideas merely support the main idea. Consider the following excerpt:
"Many people are surprised when they hear news of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia. It is commonly believed that piracy is an activity of the past. Yet, there have been hundreds of pirate attacks in the past five years and pirates have seized many large ships. Last week, pirates seized an oil tanker that is larger than America's largest aircraft carrier."
The main idea of the paragraph is that piracy is today active on the high seas. A minor or secondary idea in the paragraph is that ships seized by pirates are huge. The paragraph is not about the huge size of ships at sea, nor the size of aircraft carriers.