Reading about a caring job: main idea and idioms
The main idea of a text is the one sentence that covers the whole text. Details are smaller facts that support it. To find the main idea, read the first and last sentences, ask what every paragraph is about, and then cross out answers that are only one detail. An idiom is a fixed phrase that means something other than its separate words. To guess an idiom, read the sentence around it and test a plain meaning in its place. To spring into action means to start acting quickly; a hive of activity is a very busy place, like a hive full of bees; many hands make light work means that a job is easy when many people help. Do not translate an idiom word by word. Your book has an article on page 13 about a day in a hospital. Read it after this lesson, find its main idea in one sentence and ask the same questions as here.
| Skill | What to do |
|---|---|
| Main idea | One sentence that covers the whole text. |
| Detail | A small fact that supports the main idea. |
| Idiom | Read around it and test a plain meaning. |
| Check | Does your answer fit every paragraph? |
Yasmin is seventeen, and every Saturday she works a four-hour shift as a volunteer at the town library. She arrives at nine, switches on the lamps and puts the returned books on a trolley. The work is quiet until half past ten, when thirty pupils from a primary school arrive for a story morning. Suddenly the room is a hive of activity. One child cannot find his bag, two girls are arguing about a picture book, and the printer jams in the middle of a worksheet. Yasmin does not panic. She springs into action: she asks a colleague to take the group to the story corner, finds the bag under a chair and clears the printer. Many hands make light work, and soon the room is calm again. Her manager says that Yasmin is reliable, because she keeps smiling when the day is chaotic. At twelve she is tired, but she feels that the work is rewarding, because a small boy thanked her for finding his bag. She hopes to volunteer again next Saturday.
Desk role-play. Work with a grown-up. One of you is a library helper and one is a visitor. The visitor asks three questions: Where can I find ...? How long can I keep the book? Can you help me with the printer? The helper answers in full sentences and uses one idiom from this lesson.