Name: ________________________________

Central Idea
Directions: Read each passage and ask yourself, What is the author doing in this paragraph? Write your answer in the summary bo and then think of an appropriate title for the passage based on the main idea of the passage! "! # penny for your thoughts? $f it%s a "&'( copper penny, it could be worth as much as fifty thousand dollars! $n "&'(, most pennies were made out of steel since copper was needed for World War $$, so the "&'( copper penny is ultra)rare! #nother rarity is the "&** double die penny! +hese pennies were mistakenly double stamped, so they ha,e o,erlapping dates and letters! $f it%s uncirculated, it%d easily fetch -.*,/// at an auction! Now that%s a pretty penny! 0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea.

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________ .! 2efore you put on that Angry Birds costume and e haust yourself ro,ing from door to door pandering for candy, take a minute to reflect on the tradition in which you are taking part! 3alloween is belie,ed to ha,e come from an ancient 4eltic festi,al dating back some .,/// years! No,ember "st was the 4eltic New 5ear and marked the end of summer to the 4elts, so they celebrated on its e,e by wearing costumes made of animal skins and dancing around bon fires! 6,er the ne t two millennia, this primiti,e celebration grew to be candy fueled costume ball that we know today! 0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea.

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________ (! When one hears the term reality applied to a tele,ision show, one might e pect that the e,ents portrayed occurred naturally or, at the least, were not scripted, but this is not always the case! 7any reality shows occur in unreal en,ironments, like rented mansions occupied by film crews! 0uch li,ing en,ironments do not reflect what most people understand to be reality! Worse, there ha,e been accusations that e,ents not captured on film were later restaged by producers! Worse still, some in,ol,ed in the production of reality tele,ision claim that the participants were urged to act out story lines premeditated by producers! With such accusations floating around, it%s no wonder many people take reality +8 to be about as real as the sitcom! 0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea.

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________

'! $t is estimated that o,er twenty million pounds of candy corn are sold in the 90 each year! 2rach%s, the top manufacturer, sells enough candy corn to circle the earth '!.* times if each piece were laid end to end! +hat%s a lot of candy corn, but that%s nothing compared to +ootsie Roll production! 6,er :' million +ootsie Rolls are produced e,ery day; 2ut e,en +ootsie Rolls ha,e got nothing on the candy industry%s staple product, chocolate! 4onfectioners manufacture o,er twenty billion pounds of chocolate in the 9nited 0tates each year! Now that%s a mouthful;

0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea.

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________

*! 0creech; When a dri,er pushes on the brake pedal, it initiates a process that causes the ,ehicle to stop in motion! 5ou literally trust automoti,e braking systems with your life e,ery time you get into a ,ehicle or cross at a busy intersection, but how does this process work? $t begins when the pedal is pushed! #t this moment brake fluid is released into the area where the braking mechanisms are! #s the fluid collects, this creates a le,erage, which causes a friction to be applied! $f the braking system is functioning properly, this friction will create a force that will cause the wheels to stop and allow you to reach your destination safely!

0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea.

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________

:! +here are many types of lethal ,enom in the animal kingdom, but perhaps no stranger carrier than the platypus! +he platypus is one of few ,enomous mammals! 7ales carry a ,enom cocktail in their ankle spurs that incapacitates ,ictims with e cruciating pain! 0tranger still, the platypus is the only mammal that uses electroreception! What this means is that the platypus uses its bill to sense the electricity produced by the muscular mo,ements of its prey! +he platypus neither sees, hears, nor smells its prey while hunting but, rather, pursues it through electroreception! <erhaps most odd, the platypus is the only mammal that lays eggs rather than gi,ing birth to li,e young! +he platypus is an odd creature indeed!

0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea.

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________

=! 5ellowstone National <ark is mainly located in Wyoming, although three percent is located in the state of 7ontana! +he 4ontinental >i,ide of North #merica runs diagonally through the southwestern part of the park! +he park sits on the 5ellowstone <lateau, which is an a,erage ele,ation of ?,/// feet abo,e sea

le,el! +his plateau is bounded on nearly all sides by mountain ranges! +here are .&/ waterfalls that are at least fifteen feet in the park, the highest being the @ower Aalls of the 5ellowstone Ri,er, which falls (/? feet!

0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea.

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________ ?! 2eing a clown isn%t all fun and games! Rodeo clowns e pose themsel,es to great danger e,ery time they perform! When cowboys dismount or are bucked off of bulls at riding competitions, rodeo clowns Bump in front of the bulls and motion wildly to get their attention! $n this way rodeo clowns pro,ide an alternate target, and in doing so protect the rider! 0o you see, sometimes clowning around can be serious business! 0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea!

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________ &! +he wol,erine, a medium si1ed mammal weighing no more than */ lbs!, has earned its reputation for ferocity with its documented ability to kill prey many times its si1e! +he reason why wol,erines ha,e so many conflicts with other animals Cincluding wol,es, cougars, and e,en bearsD is probably because of the wol,erine%s preferred hunting style! Rather than chasing down or tricking its prey like most hunters, the wol,erine prefers to take its meals directly from other hunters! 0o while a polar bear or a lone wolf might be enBoying a hard earned carcass, a hungry wol,erine may try to take his lunch! +his keeps the wol,erine in plenty of fights! 0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea.

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________ "/! 0ometime in >ecember of "?&", >r! Eames Naismith, a gym teacher at the 574# 4ollege in 0pringfield, 7assachusetts was trying to keep his gym class acti,e on a rainy day! 3e wanted a ,igorous game that would keep his students mo,ing! #fter reBecting a few other ideas because they were too rough or not suited for the walled)in gym, Naismith wrote out the rules for a game with peach baskets fi ed to ten)foot ele,ated tracks! Naismith%s students played against one another, passing the ball around and shooting it into the peach baskets! >ribbling wasn%t a part of the original game, and it took a while to reali1e that the game would run more smoothly if the bottoms of the baskets were remo,ed, but this game grew to be one of the most popular sports in #merica today! 4an you guess which one?

0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea!

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________ ""! What%s that humming sound? 4ould it be hummingbird, the only bird capable of backward flight? 3ummingbirds ha,e many uniFue flight habits that distinguish them from other birds! 7ost birds flap their wings up and down to fly, but the hummingbird mo,es its wings forward and backward ,ery rapidly in a figure eight pattern! +his allows the hummingbird to ho,er in position, fly upside down, and mo,e about ,ery rapidly! #nd while other birds ha,e to push off with their feet to begin flying, and work their ways up to their top speeds, the hummingbird can both start flying at ma imum speed and stop flying instantaneously! #fter you%,e seen a hummingbird in flight, it%s unlikely that you%ll mistake them for another bird! 0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea.

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________ ".! Remember, if something is worth doing, it is worth doing correctly! +hat said, the key to making perfect cookies is merely a matter of preparation and precision! +o begin with, read your cookie recipe thoroughly before baking! 7ake sure that you ha,e all of the necessary ingredients before you continue! Ne t, use good tools and utensils! 0ometimes, the craftsperson is only as good as his or her tools! 2y using good tools you can minimi1e mistakes and impro,e the Fuality of your product! @astly, you should use top Fuality ingredients! 9nlike in the fairytales, you can%t turn lead into gold! $f you use poor Fuality materials, you%ll create an inferior product! 0o, to make perfect cookies you should use the highest Fuality materials a,ailable! 2on apatite; 0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea.

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________ "(! +he term machine gun is commonly applied to any gun that is designed to fire repeatedly and in rapid succession for as long as the trigger is held down! >uring the course of warfare, the trigger of some machine guns may be held down almost continuously for hours to create suppressant fire Crounds fired not necessarily to kill an enemy, but to pre,ent them from attackingD! #ll of this firing can generate a lot of heat, which may cause the weapon to o,erheat and malfunction! 2ut this situation has been addressed in a number of ways! Aor one, practically all machine guns fire from an open bolt, which allows air to cool the breach between bursts of fire! #dditionally, some machine guns ha,e remo,able barrels, which allow hot barrels to be replaced! #nd some ad,anced machine guns e,en ha,e sophisticated barrel cooling systems,

which maintain a functional heat le,el within the weapon! #s you might ha,e concluded, a lot of brain power has gone into keeping those guns firing! 0ummari1e this paragraph in one sentence! Be specific and clearly explain the central idea.

#n appropriate title: _____________________________________________________________