SUPPORTING AND SPECIFIC INFORMATION

Recognize that supporting details in a text are typically more specific than the main idea of a
text. A supporting detail is meant to describe or expand on the larger main idea being made. If you ask
yourself what a passage is mostly about, you will typically find that any supporting details given are too
narrow to answer that question. Supporting details can come in many forms such as:

 The 5 W’s and How

 Objective facts and historical examples
 Comparisons made between different ideas
 Definitions of key words or phrases
 Appeals to emotion
 Lists, charts, or other images
 Anecdotes

Read the following paragraphs and answer the questions!

Text 1
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the thirty-second president of the United States, served his
country for most of his life. He was the only president to be elected four times. He was born in
Hyde Park, New York, on January 30, 1882, and he began his studies at Harvard in 1903. In
1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt, a distant cousin. During their marriage they had six
children. After serving in the NewYork state senate. Mr. Roosevelt worked in Washington as
secretary of the navy until 1921. At that time, he became very ill with polio and lost the use f his
legs. 1n 1928, Mr. Roosevelt ran for governor of New York. After serving two terms as governor,
he was elected to the presidency in 1933. President Roosevelt died in office on April 12, 1945.

1. What does the paragraph tell us about?

2. What is the main idea of the text?
3. When was Mr. Roosevelt born?
4. Who did he marry in 1905?
5. How many children did he have?
6. When did he run for governor of New York?
7. When was he elected as a president?

Text 2

Timing is everything. An individual is more likely to fall in love when they are in an
adventurous mindset, restless, lonely, or financially prepared. Similarly, people who meet in a
dangerous situation are more likely to fall in love than had they met in a boring situation.
The time taken to judge your feelings on a person is estimated to be four minutes. The
feelings formed in a first impression are believed to be more related to tone, body language,
and the speed of speaking than to what is being said. Happiness is contagious, studies have
found. This makes is hard not to fall in love with someone who is happy.
Women are generally drawn to men with a strong sense of humor because humor is
associated with honesty and intelligence.In long term relationships, people usually favor an
attractive face over and attractive body. The reverse is true for short term relationships. There
is a thing called `frustration attraction´ which means that a person will become even more
attracted to someone who rejects them, or only want what they can’t have.
Falling in love can increase nerve growth in the body for about a year, because of the
calming effect it has on the body and mind. Cocaine use and falling in love have the same
neurological effects on the body, causing a sense of euphoria and stimulating 12 areas of the
brain.Holding hands with a loved one has been found to alleviate both stress and fear, and
physical pain.
The most likely time to break up is 3-5 months in to a relationship.During cuddling, the
brain releases oxytocin. Oxytocin is a natural pain killer which can reduce headaches and stress
for 4 hours.
In the early stages of love, a person’s physiological symptoms are comparable to those
of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). In both, the brain shows decreased levels of serotonin-
associated with peace- and increased levels of cortisol-associated with stress.
When you fall for someone, your body produces adrenaline-the fight or flight hormone.
This is what is responsible for the feeling of butterflies in your stomach.
Feelings of lust activate the hypothalamus (hunger and thirst) and amygdala (arousal)
areas of the brain, while feelings of love activate areas of the brain with high concentrations of
dopamine receptors (associated with euphoria, addiction, and craving). Chemicals associated
with attachment love, oxytocin and vasopressin, are suppressed by testosterone. Testosterone
levels decrease when a man holds a baby.
Men tend to feel loved when they work, talk, or play side by side with their partner.
Alternately, women tend to feel more close when talking face to face. When two people in love
look into each other’s eyes, their heart rates will actually fall into synchronization. This takes
about three minutes.

1. What should be the best title of the text?

2. What is the main idea of paragraph 8?
3. How long does it take to make a first impression? (4 minutes)
4. What quality makes someone almost irresistible?
5. What is it called when you want what you can’t have?
6.  When is the most likely time to break up? 
7.  What does oxytocin do? 

Text 3
The Moon is 4.5 billion years old. The distance between the Earth and the Moon varies
between about 365,000 km and about 409,000 km. The average distance is about 385,000 km,
or about 60 times the radius of the Earth itself. The Moon has a diameter of 3,476 kilometres.
The moon causes the tides in the sea on the Earth. This is because of the gravity force between
the Earth and Moon which attracts the water in the sea and causes it to bulge. We always see
the same side of the moon. The Moon always keeps the same side pointing towards us so we
can never see the other side of the Moon from the Earth. From the Earth we can see 59 percent
(almost three-fifths) of the moon.
The new moon rises and sets at approximately the same time as the sun. You would
need 398,110 full moons to equal the brightness of the sun but there is not enough space in the
sky for so many moons. If you look at the Earth from any spot on the moon (except on the
other side, where you cannot see the Earth), the Earth would always be in the same place in the
sky.
The lunar craters were formed by asteroids and comets that hit the moon.
Approximately 300,000 craters wider than 1 km (0.6 miles) are thought to be on the side of the
moon that we see from Earth. The highest mountain on the moon is 7,800 m. The mountains on
the moon are not very steep. The temperature at the lunar equator ranges from minus 173
degrees C at night to 127 degrees C during the day. In some deep craters near the moon's
poles, the temperature is always near minus 240 degrees C.
1. What should be the best title of the text?
2. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
3. How old is the moon?
4. What is the factor that makes the moon causes the tides in the sea on the earth?
5. How is the time sets and rises of the moon?
6. How is the temperature of the lunar?