Social Interactions and Discussions

1. To find the main idea of a paragraph, you must first identify the ___________ or subject. a) topic b) example c) details d) title 2. Asking who or what the paragraph/passage is about is a way to find the ________________. a) meaning b) context c) main idea d) details 3. When a paragraph is about two things, it has a __________ topic. a) complicated b) creative c) compound d) complex 4. A writer includes details and ____________ to support the topic. a) examples b) contexts c) titles d) footnotes 5. If a word or phrase is repeated in a paragraph, it is often the _______. a) total b) topic c) title d) text 6. If a word is in italics or _________ type, it may be the topic. a) small b) bold c) blurry d) best 7. If a paragraph or passage has a ____________, it may be the topic. a) footnote b) heading c) clue d) margin note 8. The main idea of a passage of two or more paragraphs is called the ___________ ________. a) center point b) central point c) details and examples d) margin note 9. The central point encompasses all the ____________ and __________ . a) clues, examples b) main ideas, details c) details, definitions d) background, details 10. The main idea (central point) is the most _____________ idea in the paragraph or passage. a) implying b) apparent c) important d) obvious 11. The three main idea questions you can ask yourself to identify the main idea (or central point) are: "What is the point?", "What is the writer saying about the topic?", and "What is the writer getting at?" a) True b) False 12. The main idea of a paragraph is often the _______ sentence. a) middle b) first c) second d) center 13. The main idea sentence is the most general and most __________. a) clever b) difficult c) intriguing d) inclusive 14. The main idea or central point is always directly stated. a) True b) False 15. When the main idea or central point is not directly, stated you must find it by adding up the ____________ and details. a) commas b) examples c) errors d) words 16. A good study strategy is to write the main idea of a textbook paragraph in the _________. a) middle b) margin c) column d) cover Take a walk in the Banff woods while you can. At the rate humans are destroying their natural habitats, we should not take for granted the rich diversity of the forest ecosystem. Read the following passage and try to find the topic, central point, and main ideas of each paragraph. Then, answer the questions that follow. Extinction 1. The exploding human population, with its demand for space and natural resources, is extinguishing plant species at an unprecedented rate. The problem is especially critical in the tropics, where more than half the human population lives and population growth is fastest. Tropical rain forests are being destroyed at a frightening pace. The most common cause of this destruction is slash-and-burn clearing of the forest for agricultural use. Fifty million acres, an area about the size of the state of Washington, are cleared each year, a rate that would completely eliminate Earth’s tropical forests within twenty-five years. 2. As the forest disappears, so do thousands of plant species. Insects and other rain forest animals that depend on these plants are also vanishing. In all, researchers estimate that the destruction of habitat in the rain forest and other ecosystems is claiming hundreds of species each year. The toll is greatest in the tropics because that is where most species live; but environmental assault is a generically human tendency. Europeans eliminated most of their forests centuries ago, and habitat destruction is now endangering many species in North America. 3. Extinction is irrevocable; plant diversity is a non-renewable resource. Many people have ethical concerns about contributing to the extinction of living forms. But there are also practical reasons to be concerned about the loss of plant diversity. We depend on plants for thousands of products, including food, building materials, and medicines. So far, we have explored the potential uses of only a tiny fraction of the 300,000 known plant species. For example, almost all our food is based on the cultivation of only about two dozen species. More than 120 prescription drugs are extracted from plants. However, researchers have investigated fewer than 5,000 plant species as potential sources of medicine. And pharmaceutical companies were led to most of these species by local peoples who use the plants in preparing their traditional medicines. 4. The tropical rain forest may be a medicine chest of healing plants that could become extinct before we even know they exist. This is only one reason to value what is left of plant diversity and to search for ways to slow the loss. The solutions we propose must be economically realistic. If the goal is only profit for the short term, then we will continue to slash and burn until the forests are gone. If, however, we begin to see rain forests and other ecosystems as living treasures that can regenerate only slowly, we may learn to harvest their products at sustainable rates. What else can we do to preserve plant diversity? Few questions are as important. —Campbell, Neil, and Jane Reece. Essential Biology. 1st ed. San Francisco: Pearson Education, 2001. 477. Print. 1. What is the most appropriate title for this selection? a) Plant Diversity b) The Loss of Plant Diversity c) Our Vanishing Rain Forests d) Why We Need Plants 2. What is the central point? a) Humans are extinguishing plants at a rapid rate. b) Plant diversity is a nonrenewable resource. c) Humans are destroying plant diversity and there are practical consequences. d) People should move out of cities. 3. Which of the following sentences best expresses the main idea of paragraph 3? a) Many people have ethical concerns about the loss of plant diversity. b) Researchers have investigated fewer than 5,000 plant species as potential sources of medicine. c) There are many practical reasons to be concerned about loss of plant diversity. d) We depend upon plants for thousands of products. 4. Which of the following is NOT an example that backs up the main point of paragraph 3? a) We depend on plants for thousands of products. b) More than 120 prescription drugs are extracted from plants. c) We’ve only explored potential uses of a tiny fraction of plant species. d) We must develop realistic solutions to slow the loss of plant diversity. 5. What is the stated main idea of paragraph 2? a) Europeans eliminated most of their forests centuries ago, and habitat destruction is now endangering many species in North America. b) In all, researchers estimate that the destruction of habitat in the rain forest and other ecosystems is claiming hundreds of species each year. c) As the forest disappears, so do thousands of plant species. d) The disappearance of plant species. 6. What is the main idea of paragraph 4? Your Answer: The tropical rain forest may be a medicine chest of healing plants that could become extinct before we even know they exist. Feedback: The tropical rain forest may be a medicine chest of healing plants that could become extinct before we even know they exist. Influences on Food in Belarus With Russia on the east and Poland on the west, Belarus has undergone continuous social and religious upheavals. The peasants belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church, the petty gentry were mostly Unitarian, and the nobility, mostly of Polish or Lithuanian origin, were Roman Catholic. These different religions had an influence on food. The cooking of the upper class resembled that of Poland and Germany, whereas the cuisine of the small-town merchants and artisans was influenced by Jewish cooking after the 17th-century influx of Jews. The peasants maintained the Slavic tradition of their ancestors. Most people are Eastern Orthodox: the observant do not eat animal products on days when they fast, and they eat special foods on holidays, especially Easter, when special cakes and decorated hard-boiled eggs are made. The cold, damp climate is also important. It influences what foods are grown: mainly potatoes, rye, barley, and oats. Potatoes, rye bread, and dairy products are prominent in the diet. Lakes and rivers provide fish. Foods are often preserved by drying, pickling, or fermenting (e.g., sour cream). —Adapted from Brittin, Helen C. The Food and Culture Around the World Handbook. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011. 38. Print. 7. What is the topic of this passage? a) social and religious upheavals b) Belarus c) influences on food in Belarus d) cooking 8. What is the main idea of the second paragraph? a) These different religions had an influence on food. b) The peasants maintained the Slavic tradition of their ancestors. c) The cooking of the upper class resembled that of Poland and Germany. d) Most people are Eastern Orthodox. 9. What is the topic of the third paragraph? a) the cold, damp climate b) potatoes c) lakes and rivers d) dairy products 10. What is the main idea of the third paragraph? a) The cold, damp climate is also important. b) Potatoes, rye bread, and dairy products are prominent in the diet. c) Foods are often preserved by drying, pickling, or fermenting (e.g., sour cream). d) Lakes and rivers provide fish. 11. What is the topic of the second paragraph? a) religious influences on food b) Jewish cooking c) different religions d) the cooking of the upper class 12. What is the main idea of paragraph 1? Your Answer: With Russia on the east and Poland on the west, Belarus has undergone continuous social and religious upheavals Preview the following selections. Then read them and answer the questions. You will receive your score at the end. There is no feedback during the test. Life History Strategies 1. (1) Interaction, as you recall, is the back-and-forth dialogue and discussion in which participants engage during meetings. (2) Without interaction, meetings would be like a monologue, a speech, or a seminar, rather than a lively discussion. (3) But too much unfocused interaction can result in a disorganized, chaotic discussion that rambles and wobbles. (4) To keep the meeting on track, meeting leaders and participants need facilitation skills. (5) These are skills that ensure the discussion stays focused. (6) A meeting facilitator needs to be a skilled listener who is sensitive to both individual members’ needs and the over-arching group goals. (7) By listening, you can determine when you need to use gatekeeping skills. (8) A gatekeeper encourages less-talkative members to participate and limits lengthy contributions by more long-winded members. (9) Gatekeepers make such comments as this: “Ayako, we haven’t heard your ideas yet. (10) Won’t you share your thoughts with us?” or “Mike, thanks for sharing, but I’d like to hear what others have to say.” (11) Polite, tactful invitations to talk or limit talk usually work. (12) You may need to speak privately with an unruly over-verbalizer to let him or her know that you’d appreciate a more balanced discussion. 2. Another effective interaction management skill is to use metadiscussion. Metadiscussion literally means “discussion about discussion.” It’s a comment about the discussion process rather than about the topic under consideration. Metadiscussional statements include “I’m not following this conversation. What is our goal?” or “Can someone summarize what we’ve accomplished so far?” and “Peggy, I’m not sure I understand how your observation relates to our meeting goal.” These comments contain information and advice about the communication process, rather than about the issues that are being discussed. Metadiscussional phrases are helpful ways to keep the team or group focused on the task. We’re not suggesting that you personally attack others. Don’t just blurt out, “You’re off task” or “Oh, let’s not talk about that anymore.” Instead, use tactful ways of letting other group members know you’d like to return to the issues at hand. Use “I” messages rather than “You” messages to bring the group back on track. An “I” message begins with the word “I,” such as “I am not sure where we are in our discussion” or “I am lost here.” A “you” message is a way of phrasing a message that makes others feel defensive. Here are examples of “you” messages: “You’re not following the agenda” or “Your point doesn’t make any sense.” Another way to express these same ideas, but with less of a negative edge, is to use “I” messages such as “I’m not sure where we are on the agenda” or “I’m not sure I understand how your point relates to the issue we are discussing.” 3. Metadiscussion is an exceptionally powerful skill because you can offer metadiscussional statements even if you are not the appointed leader. Being sensitive to the time the group is spending on an issue is yet another skill necessary to manage meeting interaction. Think of your agenda as a map, helping you plan where you want to go. Think of the clock as your gas gauge, telling you the amount of fuel you have to get where you want to go. In a meeting, keeping one eye on the clock and one eye on the agenda is analogous to focusing on the map and the gas gauge on a car trip. If you are running low on fuel (time), you will either need to get more gas (budget more time) or recognize that you will not get where you want to go. Begin each meeting by asking how long members can meet. If you face two or three crucial agenda items, and one-third of your group has to leave in an hour, you may need to reshuffle your agenda to make sure you can achieve your goals. —Beebe, Steven, Judith Beebe, and Diana Ivy. Communication: Principles for a Lifetime. 1st ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. 295297. Print. 1. What is the best title for this selection? a) Managing Meeting Interaction b) Meeting Facilitation c) Meeting Interactions d) Meetings 2. What is the central point of the selection? a) Active listening, metadiscussion, and time management are helpful meeting management skills. b) To keep meetings focused, facilitators need various interaction management skills. c) Metadiscussion is an effective interaction management skill. d) Unfocused interaction at meetings is the cause of tremendous boredom. 3. The main idea of paragraph 1 is expressed in which sentence? a) sentence 1 b) sentence 2 c) sentence 4 d) sentence 5 4. What is the topic of paragraph 2? a) Interaction. b) Metadiscussion. c) Problems with metadiscussion. d) Becoming an effective leader. Correct. 5. Which sentence states the main idea of paragraph 3? a) the first sentence b) the last sentence c) the third sentence d) the second sentence 6. Why does paragraph 2 contain so many direct quotations? Your Answer: Paragraph 2 contain so many direct quotations because they show how the metadiscussion look like. All quotations show how to use the right discussion. Preview the following selection. Then read it and answer the questions. You will receive your score at the end. There is no feedback during the test. Antlers 1. The familiar antlers you see on male deer—bucks and stags—in fall are not the same antlers they wore the fall before. They lose their antlers in early winter; they will produce new antlers the coming fall. The acquisition of new antlers and the associated reproductive cycle are controlled by the influence of day length on the pituitary gland, located on the floor of the brain. 2. The lengthening days of spring stimulate the pituitary to increase secretion of growth hormones and prolactin, a hormone associated with lactation in females. In males these hormones stimulate the growth of antlers in the spring and early summer. Fur-covered skin, called velvet, carries blood vessels and nerves to the growing antlers. During the shortening days of late summer, growth hormones and prolactin decrease. Under the influence of melatonin, testosterone secretion increases in the enlarging testes. The presence of testosterone inhibits the action of growth-stimulating hormones. Antler growth ceases, and deer thrash and rub their antlers against vegetation to remove the shedding velvet. 3. By the onset of the season of sexual activity, called the rut, the antlers have become hardened and polished. The useful life of the newly acquired antlers, however, is short. In the shortening days of winter, pituitary stimulation of the testes declines, and testosterone, which maintains the connection between the dead bone of the antlers and the live frontal bone, diminishes. This decline of testosterone causes a loss of calcium at the point of connection between the antler and the frontal bone, and the antlers drop. In the lengthening days of spring the cycle of antler growth and sexual resurgence begins anew. 4. Normally the deer is in velvet about one-third of the year. When the duration of that year is changed artificially by altering the day length, deer may replace antlers as often as two, three, or four times a year, or only once every other year. —Smith, Thomas, and Robert Smith. Elements of Ecology. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 1998. Print. 7. What is the subject matter? a) Antlers. b) Bucks and stags. c) Male deer. d) Hunting. 8. What is the central point of the selection? a) Deer antlers are renewed each season. b) For male deer, the growth of new antlers and the associated reproductive cycle is controlled by the influence of day length on the pituitary gland. c) The reproductive cycle of male deer controls antler acquisition. d) The long days of winter affect antler acquisition in male deer. 9. What is the main idea of paragraph 2? a) The long days of spring and summer stimulate antler growth while later, shorter days cause growth to stop. b) Hormones stimulate antler growth. c) The lengthening days of spring stimulate the pituitary to increase secretion of growth hormones and prolactin. d) The velvet is an important part of deer antlers. 10. What is the topic of paragraph 3? a) testosterone b) the seasons c) antler loss and growth d) how antlers stimulate sexual interest 11. What is the main point of paragraph 1? a) The pituitary gland is located in the brain. b) Deer lose their antlers and grow new ones each year. c) Deer lose their antlers in the fall. d) Deer grow antlers when they become sexually active. 12. How do the lengthening days of spring affect a deer’s antlers? Your Answer: The lengthening days of spring stimulate the pituitary to increase secretion of growth hormones and prolactin, a hormone associated with lactation in females. In males these hormones stimulate the growth of antlers in the spring and early summer.