iBT Reading Question: Summary Charts The summary chart should be a no-brainer, but a surprising number of students needlessly lose points on it. The concept is simple. you are given a general statement and asked to choose the three choices that best support the statement. The general statement may or may not be the thesis of the essay. it will always be a broader statement than any of the choices. Fall back on your knowledge of essay structure from the writing section. Remember how paragraphs have topic sentences that are illustrated with details or examples. In most cases, you are simply looking for a paraphrase of a topic sentence. It must directly support the general statement. if it doesn’t, throw it out. Wrong choices will either be minor details, factually incorrect information, or facts not present in the essay. Know the difference between a major support sentence and a minor detail! The details will often be describing one of the support sentences. For example. our general statement is The automobile industry in the United States developed rapidly in the first half of the twentieth century. Consider these two choices: a) The assembly line, first implemented at Ford’s Dearborn factory, increased its production capacities sevenfold, churning out automobiles at a rate of hundreds per day. b) Leading the way in popularizing the mass-produced automobile was the Model T., the first vehicle affordable to the working and middle classes. The general statement is about the overall growth of the industry. Both choices seem to refer to growth (increased its production in choice a, and mass-produced in choice b). But look at those words carefully. Which one really describes growth? "increased its production", not "mass-produced" which describes the automobile. For that reason alone, a clearly supports the general statement, and b does not. On a deeper level, we can compare the meaning of the sentences. Choice b is an example of a mass produced automobile, which we can infer was made possible by the increased production capacities referenced in choice a. Therefore, b is really a detail of a. a is support of the general statement. A main idea. Think of your essay outlines. that will do the trick!