ISEE Main Idea Questions: Spot Too Broad and Too Narrow Answers

A three-step method

This section gives a routine that students can repeat on any main idea question, in about the time it takes to read the passage once.

Before using the routine, separate three things that students often treat as one. The table shows how each behaves in a passage about a school science fair.

Term	What it is	Example
Topic	The subject, in a few words	The school science fair
Detail	One fact, example or reason	A seventh grader won a prize for a water filter
Main idea	The topic plus what the author says about it	The science fair gives students a real chance to test their own ideas

A topic is a label, a detail is a piece of evidence, and the main idea is the whole claim that the details support. ISEE answer choices are usually written as full statements, so a choice that sounds like a label or like a single fact is rarely correct.

Step 1: Name the topic. After reading, finish the sentence “This passage is about …” in five words or fewer. Doing this first prevents the next mistake, which is choosing the answer that sounds most interesting.

Step 2: Find the author’s point about the topic. Authors usually place the point in the first sentence, the last sentence, or the sentence after a turn word such as although, yet, however or but. Read those sentences again and underline the one that says something about the topic instead of simply describing it.

Step 3: Test every choice against the whole passage. For each choice, ask whether it would make a fair title for the entire passage. Cross out a choice that covers only one sentence, one that goes beyond the passage, and one that says the opposite. The choice that remains should fit every paragraph.

Try the example

Read the passage below, apply the three steps, and choose an answer before opening the explanation.

Why each answer works or does not

This section compares the four choices so that the pattern behind them is visible, because the same four roles appear in most main idea questions.

Choice B is correct. The topic is animals in tidal pools, and the author’s point appears after the turn word “although”: the pools are harsh, yet the animals have adapted to constant change. Every later sentence supports that point, first by explaining the changes and then by giving examples.

Choice A is too narrow. It is accurate, since anemones do close their tentacles, but it covers one clause of one sentence. A student who reads only for familiar words may select it because the sentence is easy to find.

Choice C is too broad. It begins with the right idea, adaptation, but it extends the claim to all ocean animals. The passage never leaves the tidal pool, so the choice cannot be defended with anything on the page.

Choice D contradicts the passage. It is the easiest to remove, but only for a student who has read the second sentence. Skimming for the word “pools” would leave this choice looking reasonable.

Common traps

This section lists the habits that most often turn a manageable main idea question into a missed one.

• Choosing the first true statement. Several choices can be true. The task is to find the one that summarizes, not the one that is accurate.
• Matching words instead of meaning. A choice that repeats exact phrases from one sentence is often a detail in disguise.
• Trusting outside knowledge. A broad choice may be a true fact about the world. If the passage does not support it, it is not the main idea.
• Overreacting to extreme words. Words such as all, always, never and only often signal a claim that is wider than the text.
• Reading only the first sentence. The opening may set up a view that the author then corrects. The point can sit in the second sentence or in the last one.
• Confusing the main idea with the purpose. Some questions ask why the author wrote the passage. The main idea is what the passage says, and the purpose is what it is meant to do.

A useful habit during practice is to label each wrong choice as too broad, too narrow or contradictory before moving on. Within a few sessions, students begin to recognize the pattern on sight, which saves time on test day.

Your next step

Return to the Reading Comprehension overview to see how main idea fits with detail, inference and vocabulary questions, then try inference questions, which build on the same habit of testing answers against the text. Students who want feedback on their own work can start a free practice session.

Original practice item written by the ISEEPrep teaching team; not a question from the actual ISEE.