La idea principal cubre todo el texto, no solo una frase.
En preguntas de detalle, la respuesta está escrita casi literalmente en el texto.
Estrategia paso a paso
Resume el texto en una frase antes de leer las opciones.
En textos literarios, fíjate en lo que hace y siente el personaje, no solo en lo que dice.
Trampas habituales
Opciones demasiado amplias (“todos”, “siempre”) o demasiado estrechas (un solo detalle).
Opciones que dicen lo contrario de un detalle del texto.
Ejemplo resuelto
Un texto cuenta que una ciudad plantó 10.000 árboles y que la temperatura de sus calles bajó 2 °C. Idea principal: plantar árboles puede refrescar las calles (no “los árboles resuelven el cambio climático”).
Preguntas de ejemplo
Intenta responder antes de abrir la solución. Las preguntas están en el idioma del examen.
Pregunta 1
Dificultad fácil≈ 1 min
Each year, a tree growing in a temperate climate adds a new layer of wood to its trunk, forming a ring. In years with plenty of rain, the ring tends to be wide; in dry years, it tends to be narrow. By measuring the rings of very old trees, scientists can learn about rainfall in periods before weather records were kept.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
AA. The rings in tree trunks can reveal information about rainfall in the past.
BB. Trees in temperate climates can add rings only in years with plenty of rain.
CC. Scientists have kept weather records for as long as the oldest trees have been alive.
DD. Trees form their widest rings during dry years.
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta correcta: A. The rings in tree trunks can reveal information about rainfall in the past.
Explicación
The text explains that ring width reflects rainfall and concludes that measuring the rings of old trees tells scientists about rainfall before records existed. The correct choice states that idea.
Trees add a ring every year, including dry years (when the ring is narrow), so they do not grow only in rainy years. The text says the rings cover periods before records were kept, which contradicts the claim about records. Wide rings form in wet years, not dry ones.
Pregunta 2
Dificultad media≈ 1 min
The following text is from a poem. The heron stands where the river bends, As still as a post that the fisherman mends; The water hurries, the minnows dart, The swallows dive—but stillness is the heron’s art.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
AA. The heron stays still while everything around it moves.
BB. The heron chases the minnows and swallows along the river.
CC. The fisherman repairs his fence while watching the heron.
DD. The river becomes calm and quiet when the heron arrives.
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta correcta: A. The heron stays still while everything around it moves.
Explicación
The poem contrasts the heron, standing “as still as a post,” with the hurrying water, darting minnows, and diving swallows. Its main idea is the heron’s stillness amid constant motion.
The heron does not chase anything, the fisherman appears only in a comparison, and the water keeps hurrying rather than becoming calm.
Pregunta 3
Dificultad difícil≈ 2 min
The following text is from a short story set in the early twentieth century.
For eleven years Mr. Hale had written to the borough council about the children who played in the vacant lot beside his house (the shouting, the ceaseless thump of the ball against his fence), and for eleven years the council had replied with courteous indifference. When at last the lot was sold and boarded up for building, the council wrote to inform him of it, as though conceding a point. He read the letter twice, set it on the mantel unanswered, and spent the better part of the afternoon at the window, regarding the boards.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
AA. A man whose long campaign against a nuisance has succeeded reacts with something closer to loss than to triumph.
BB. A man is quietly pleased that the council has finally acted on the complaints he made for so many years.
CC. A man resents that the council is taking credit for ending a nuisance that he alone fought against for years.
DD. A man grows anxious that the building planned for the lot will prove more disruptive than the children were.
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta correcta: A. A man whose long campaign against a nuisance has succeeded reacts with something closer to loss than to triumph.
Explicación
Mr. Hale complained for eleven years, yet when the council finally reports the outcome he wanted, he leaves the letter “unanswered” and spends the afternoon staring at the boarded-up lot. Nothing suggests satisfaction; the stillness and the long gaze at the empty lot suggest a sense of loss.
The council did not act on his complaints (the lot was sold), and he shows no sign of pleasure (B). Nothing indicates that the council takes credit or that he resents it; the council merely informs him (C). He gazes at the boards, but the text gives no hint that he fears the coming building (D).