Skill and Form Number: Summary and Generalization #1

Summary and Generalization

Danica Patrick
Danica Patrick is a famous auto racing driver. She was born in Wisconsin during the early 1980s. Her family later moved to Illinois where she grew up. Her father worked as a mechanic and got her started in racing while she was still very young. She began racing go-carts before she could drive on the road.
After winning some go-cart championships, Danica moved to Great Britain to race cars. She performed well in Great Britain but never won a championship. In 2005, she entered the IRL IndyCar Series, becoming one of a handful of women to ever compete.
At the Indy 500 in 2005, Danica qualified with the fourth highest time out of all drivers, setting a record for female drivers. In the same race, she became the first woman ever to take the lead. She finished the Indy 500 in fourth place, the first woman ever to do so. Over the next few years, Danica won many awards. In 2008, she became the first woman ever to win an IndyCar race taking first place at the Indy Japan 300.
The acceptance of women into the sport of auto racing has created disagreement among other drivers, owners, and fans. Many support the rights of women to join and race, while others resist the idea of women to do so. However, Danica continues to show her skills as a driver. She uses her fame as a winner to support the cause of women in professional racing.

1. Which of the following is an important detail to include in the summary of this passage?

Danica Patrick raced go-carts and won go-cart championships as a teenager.
Danica Patrick is the only woman ever to have placed first in an IndyCar race.
Danica Patrick began her career as an auto racing driver in the United Kingdom.
Danica Patrick was born in Wisconsin and grew up in Illinois during the 1980s.

Voyager 1 Probe
On September 5, 1977, NASA sent the Voyager 1 space probe to study the planets of Jupiter and Saturn. The probe weighs just over 1,500 lbs. and works on just enough power to run seven light bulbs. The probe’s power should continue to work until the year 2025, so NASA should receive data from the probe until then.
Voyager 1 reached Jupiter in the year 1979 and began to send video and photos back to Earth. In the year 1980, the probe reached Saturn and explored that planet also. NASA was shocked to find that the probe was still in great shape after completing its main missions. NASA decided to send Voyager 1 out into the solar system to pass other planets as well.
In the year 1990, an amazing 23 years after its launch, Voyager 1 was in a spot to take the first picture of our whole solar system. As of February 2008, Voyager 1 has become the farthest man-made object in history. It has gone farther than 10 billion miles away from our Sun, and it is still working. It sends back data to NASA and shows them what lies beyond our solar system. It should do so for another fifteen years until it stops working.
One amazing item that Voyager 1 carries is the “Golden Record.” It is a large golden record that tells all about humanity: our arts, music, and cultures. It also includes sounds from our planet, like the oceans and animals. The language of the disc is written with symbols and mathematics so it can be understood by alien life. NASA added this Golden Record because they knew that the probe would stop working in 2025, but it would continue to travel out into the galaxy. NASA hopes it will serve as a map to direct any alien life towards Earth in the future.

2. Which of the following is the best summary for the passage above?

Voyager 1 is a probe built to explore planets but has traveled farther. It will continue to send data until 2025. Some of its information may include possible contact with aliens.
Voyager 1 is a space probe launched in 1977. It weighs 1,500 lbs. and works on as much power as it takes to run seven light bulbs. It also contains a Golden Record.
Voyager 1 is a space probe. Jupiter and Saturn are both planets with many moons. Voyager 1 explored Jupiter and Saturn in the late 1970s. It will continue to run until 2025.
Voyager 1 explored Jupiter and Saturn in the late 1970s. It weighs 1,500 lbs and has a Golden Record. It was made to find alien life on Jupiter and Saturn.

I took back all the complaints about not having enough "alone time" when my father barged into my room that night.
"You think you can hang out by yourself till your aunt gets here tomorrow morning, Hyde?" he asked, looking flustered.
"Sure, what's up?" I asked, wanting to find out what was wrong and not feeling ready for the answer. When my stomach growled at the same moment, I realized we had not eaten dinner yet. It was almost nine at night, and Mom was not in the kitchen. I hope Mom is okay, I thought as I feared the worst.
"Your mom needs an operation—it's nothing major," my father responded in a hurry as he gathered a few things in a duffle bag. "But, I'll probably be at the hospital all night. Aunt Sara will be here as soon as she gets off from night shift. Fix yourself some dinner and keep the doors locked. Call me on my cell if anything happens." Before I knew it, he was out the door and out of sight.
As the clock started to tick louder and louder, I felt the night was getting longer by the minute. I was old enough to fix myself a meal and take care of the house, but I realized I was not ready to face my fears alone. That night, I fixed my first meal. I could have eaten a sandwich or a microwave dinner, but I wanted to eat something Mom could have cooked. So, I made my first pasta and ate it with garlic bread. Nothing about dinner was close to what Mom would have prepared, but it helped me grow up a little that night.

3. Imagine this story is a news article. Which would be the best title for this passage?

A Woman Returns to her Sister from the Hospital
A Boy Learns How to Stay Home Alone Safely
A Kind Neighbor Helps a Boy Watch his House
A Boy Resents his Father for Leaving Him Alone

Wednesday morning, the Frankfurt Book Fair opened its doors. Over 280,000 visitors from all over came to Frankfurt, Germany for this event. This is the biggest book fair in the world. It also has the most visited book publishing website in the world. The German Publishers and Booksellers Association runs the fair. The association says that the book market is doing very well. Over 100 countries and almost 7,500 people are showing books at the fair this year. There are over 100,000 new books being shown out of nearly 400,000 books at the fair. Prizes are given to authors and publishers at the fair. There are also meetings about new ways to present books to the public.

4. Which statement best supports the idea that books are very popular?

The Frankfurt Book Fair has the world's most visited website.
Over 280,000 visitors came to the book fair on opening day.
Authors and publishers can get prizes at this large book fair.
There are many new ways to present books to the public.

5. This paragraph is mainly about

the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
the new ways to sell books to the public.
the prizes given at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
the popularity of book fairs in the world.

Today, young people have less contact with senior citizens than in years past. What a shame! One reason for this situation is that families often live far apart. In the past, aging family members were commonly cared for by their kids. As a result, grandkids and grandparents had more opportunity to spend time together. Nowadays, senior citizens often live in assisted living communities when they need care. Instead of their families taking care of them, medical professionals do. The result is that children have less opportunity to spend time with senior citizens. More importantly, children are denied the wisdom of their grandparents. Grandparents also experience negative effects by this separation. They are being denied the company of youth. In turn, senior citizens can lose touch with the current world.

6. Which sentence from the paragraph supports the idea that young people suffer when they do not spend time with the elderly?

"Grandparents also experience negative effects by this separation."
"Instead of their families taking care of them, medical professionals do."
"In turn, senior citizens can lose touch with the current world."
"More importantly, children are denied the wisdom of their grandparents."

7. Which sentence from the paragraph best describes the main idea of the passage?

"Today, young people have less contact with senior citizens than in years past."
"In the past, aging family members were commonly cared for by their kids."
"Nowadays, senior citizens often live in assisted living communities when they need care."
"As a result, grandkids and grandparents had more opportunity to spend time together."

Every day for four years, I would drive to my job, and every day at the same time, on the same route, I would notice the city bus. It would pull up next to me, and I would see all the people on board. Some would be reading. Some would be sleeping. Some would stare back at me. Every day, at the same time, it would follow me right to work. As I pulled into my parking space at work, I would see it around the corner, about a block away from my job. Then, one day, my car broke down. I had no way to get to work, and then, I remembered the bus. I decided to take it since I knew it was on the same schedule as I was. Since then, I have never driven to work again. Taking the bus is a useful method with which to travel because you can save a lot of money by using public transportation.
One reason public transportation is useful is because it saves money. My commute to work was long, and it required a lot of gas. When I drove to work, I was spending $30 a week on gas. There are 52 weeks in a year. That translates to $1,560.00 a year I was spending on gas to get to work. When I started taking the bus, it cost $2 ($1 to get to work and another $1 to get home). Another way to save money is to use the toll road. That translates to $10 a week. That means that it cost me $520 a year to get to work. That's less than a third of what it cost to drive. It saved me $1,040.00. The funny part is that the reason my car broke down in the first place was because I was driving it constantly.

8. Which statement best supports the main idea of the passage?

The bus costs $10 a week, while driving a car costs $30 a week.
Driving the toll road to work costs much less than driving in traffic.
Toll roads are convenient, fun ways to drive to work and miss traffic.
Cars break down when they are not driven all the time.

9. Cars are not the most reliable way to get to work. Which sentence best supports this idea?

Cars tend to break down after they have been driven a lot.
People can sleep, read, or just think while riding on the bus.
The bus also has to deal with traffic, and it moves slower.
The toll road is another inexpensive way to get to work.

10. What is the main focus of this passage?

People who ride the bus are bored during the ride.
Using public transportation saves people money.
It costs $2 dollars to take a round trip on the bus.
Gas is expensive and makes driving almost impossible.

Answers

1. B
2. A
3.B
4.B
5.A
6.D
7.A
8. A
9.A
10. B

1. Danica Patrick is the only woman ever to have placed first in an IndyCar race.
2. Voyager 1 is a probe built to explore planets but has traveled farther. It will continue to send data until 2025. Some of its information may include possible contact with aliens.
3. A Boy Learns How to Stay Home Alone Safely
4. Over 280,000 visitors came to the book fair on opening day.
5. the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
6. "More importantly, children are denied the wisdom of their grandparents."
7. "Today, young people have less contact with senior citizens than in years past."
8. The bus costs $10 a week, while driving a car costs $30 a week.
9. Cars tend to break down after they have been driven a lot.
10. Using public transportation saves people money.

Explanations

1. A good summary helps tell the most important ideas of a passage in a shorter way. One of the important ideas in this passage is that Danica Patrick is the only woman to have ever placed first in an Indycar race. This is an important detail that should be included in a summary of her career.

2. A good summary covers all of the important details in a passage or story. This passage is about the Voyager 1 space probe. The important details that the correct summary includes are: (1) its intended purpose, (2) it has traveled beyond Pluto, and (3) it contains the Golden Disc for alien life.

3. The titles of newspaper articles reflect the main idea. This question asks the reader to choose a title that reflects the main idea of the story. Since the story is about a boy staying home alone, the correct answer makes the most sense. The other choices do not reflect the main idea of the story.

4. One of the ideas presented in this passage is that books are still very popular. People like to buy books, despite television, video games, and computers. The detail from the passage that best supports this idea is the number of visitors that came to the book fair on the first day. 280,000 visitors is a lot of people to come look at books!

5. The main idea of this passage is the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest book fair in the world. The other sentences in the passage describe the book fair, what group started it, and the number of books shown at the book fair.

6. The author makes the point that young people suffer when they are unable to spend time with senior citizens. The sentence that best supports this idea is, "More importantly, children are denied the wisdom of their grandparents." In this sentence, the author explains how young people are hurt when they do not spend time with their grandparents.

7. The main idea identifies what the passage is about. An author can write in order to express an opinion. Sometimes authors write to communicate important information. The main idea of this passage deals with the amount of time that young people and senior citizens spend together. More specifically, the author believes that the two age groups do not spend enough time together. The first sentence ("Today, young people have less contact with senior citizens than in years past.") best shows the main idea of the passage.

8. This passage focuses on how taking the bus to work, or using any public transportation, can save money. This author uses facts to help support this main idea and to explain the author's point. One such fact is that the bus only costs $10 a week, while driving a car costs $30 a week.

9. Towards the end of the second paragraph, the author talks about taking the toll road to work instead of taking the bus or driving the way the author used to drive. One supporting detail is that the toll road costs only $10 a week, instead of the $30 the author used to spend on gas each week.

10. The entire passage is about how public transportation saves people money. The author tells of a personal story where he or she was affected by riding the bus. The story is meant to persuade people to give public transportation a chance.