iBT Reading Question: Summary Chart (Beware of Paragraph Structures) The summary chart is fairly easy if you think of it as an exercise in locating the main idea of the passage, its topic sentences, and conclusion. However, nothing is as easy as it seems on the iBT TOEFL test, right? Scan the first and last sentences of each paragraph. These are the usual hiding places for the points that will best summarize the reading passage. Be careful, though, because some paragraphs invert their structure. The most common structure in written English is to begin with a main idea and then support it with R.E.D. (reasons, examples, and details). The inverted style is most common in the first and last paragraph, so be careful! These paragraphs will begin with R.E.D. and work towards the thesis or conclusion. Again, the most common areas are the first and last sentences of each paragraph. Whenever you find two answer choices from the same paragraph, then you know that one needs to be eliminated. However, keep in mind that some answer choices for the summary chart actually include multiple pieces of information that might occur throughout a paragraph. If this is the case, then you know it’s a good choice.
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