The Beach Cleanup Main Message
You read a short passage in an English class. The passage says: 'Last spring, my class cleaned the beach near our town. In two hours, we collected 120 plastic bottles. At first, I thought the problem was only in the sea. Then a fisherman told us that many bottles come down the river after heavy rain. Now, before I go to the beach, I check the river near my house. I also carry a bag to pick up trash on my way to school.' The class must answer: 'What is the writer's main message?' Four students give different answers: A says, 'The class collected 120 bottles.' B says, 'The writer wants people to think about where beach trash comes from.' C says, 'The fisherman is the most important person.' D says, 'The writer likes going to the beach.' The teacher asks you to choose the best answer and to find the one sentence that best supports it.
1. Choose the best main-message answer and explain why the other three are details or unsupported.
Read the worked answer
B is best. The passage starts with a beach cleanup, then gives the fisherman's information about bottles coming down the river, then ends with the writer checking the river and picking up trash on the way to school. That sequence shows a change in the writer's understanding: beach trash is connected to the river, so readers should think about where it comes from. A is a supporting detail (120 bottles), not the message. C makes the fisherman the topic, but he is only a source of information. D is not supported; the passage is about trash, not about liking the beach. The main idea must cover the whole passage.
2. Which sentence best supports your answer? Explain how it connects the beginning and the end of the passage.
Read the worked answer
The best supporting sentence is 'Then a fisherman told us that many bottles come down the river after heavy rain.' It is the turning point. Before it, the writer thinks the problem is only in the sea. After it, the writer checks the river near the house and carries a bag for trash. That sentence links the beach cleanup at the beginning to the new habit at the end. A detail like 'we collected 120 plastic bottles' supports the cleanup but does not explain the writer's change, so it is weaker evidence for the main message.