<p>Well, I think I've finally found what's tearing me apart on the CR passages.</p>
<p>The thing is I seem to have trouble finding the central idea of the passage and; as a result, I have trouble with central idea questions. Would a CR Master please enlighten me as how I am suppose to approach this problem?</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>The main idea will either be in the first sentence or last sentence of the intro paragraph, the second sentence of the second paragraph, and will usually be reiterated in the last sentence of the whole paragraph. Read slowly until you get to the first sentence of the second paragraph. If you still don’t know it by then, skip to the last sentence of the passage and read that. If you still don’t know the main idea, then that’s bad. At that point, you should start reading more quickly, and just hope you’ll get it as you read the rest of the passage and answer the line based questions, which you should always do before the main idea questions.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! I will try it!</p>
<p>Although there are no hard rules, it’s a good idea to remember that the “meat” of a passage is often found in the last few paragraphs. Some passages won’t really begin to make their main points until you’re a few paragraphs in. (Then again, there are passages where the first paragraph is key to finding the central idea. But it’s rare that the last paragraphs are not closely related to the central idea.) When looking for a central idea, focus on the beginning and ends of the passage, but especially on the last two paragraphs. Especially think about the last few sentences of the last paragraph. Also pay attention to the attitude of the writer because that factors in to the central idea of the passage.</p>