Main Ideas

ลำดับตอนที่ #3 : Exercise 03

Directions: Each paragraph is followed by a statement of the main idea that is not quite accurate or precise enough. In other words, it almost—but not completely—sums up the main idea. Revise each statement to make it more effectively express the main idea.

1. Over the last two centuries, America’s soldiers have been given several nicknames, among them “yanks,” “grunts,” “doughboys,” and “Johnny Reb.” However, none of those nicknames has had the staying power of the nickname “G.I.” Derived from the words “government issue,” the term “G.I.” emerged in World War II and gave birth to its own masculine and feminine forms, “G.I. Joe” and “G.I. Jane.” It was even attached to one of the most famous educational bills in American history, the G.I. Bill. At one point, the military tried to rid itself of the name G.I. claiming that it dehumanized the people to whom it referred. Military manuals and pamphlets began substituting the supposedly more favorable term “service members.” But the public would have none of it. Newspapers, radio, television, and most importantly, World War II veterans themselves clung to the nickname. Particularly for the veterans of World War II, being a G.I. was a badge of honor, and they were not about to give up the name.

Imprecise Main Idea: Throughout the last two centuries, America’s soldiers have been given many different nicknames.

Revised Main Idea:

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2. While she lived, the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was known mainly as the wife of the famed muralist Diego Rivera. Yet in the decades since her death, Kahlo has become hugely famous in her own right and is probably now better known than her husband. In 1990, Kahlo became the first Mexican artist to break the one million mark at an auction. The vivid, self-portraits that Kahlo created in the thirties and forties continue to be widely sought after by collectors willing to pay high prices for her paintings. Although Kahlo is often described as a painter intent on exploring her own personal reality, many of her paintings include references to Mexico’s political and social history. It’s not surprising, then, that in 1985, the Mexican government publicly proclaimed her work a national treasure.

Imprecise Main Idea: Unfortunately, the painter Frida Kahlo spent her life in the shadow of her famous husband, the muralist, Diego Rivera.

Revised Main Idea:

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Main Idea: Answer Key

1. No nicknames for soldiers of previous generations have earned the popularity of the term GI.

2. Since her death, Frida Kahlo’s reputation has overtaken her husband’s.