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Difficulty: MediumIdentifying Main Ideas and Supporting Details

Read the following excerpt from a journalistic feature on environmental conservation in Costa Rica:

In the lowland rainforests surrounding Costa Rica’s Golfo Dulce, smallholder farming cooperatives and conservation biologists have pioneered an integrated corridor management model to halt forest fragmentation. Rather than relying solely on state-enforced perimeter boundaries, the Golfo Dulce Agro-Forestry Alliance incentivizes landowners to interplant native canopy trees—such as the purple heart and mountain almond—within commercial cacao and vanilla plots. These agroecological buffer zones restore arboreal migration pathways for scarlet macaws and squirrel monkeys while securing diversified agricultural revenue for rural families. A recent regional biological survey revealed that canopy connectivity increased by 28 percent across private parcels over the past five years, accompanied by a 15 percent rise in household income from certified shade-grown exports. While technical challenges remain in standardizing soil nutrient monitoring and expanding nursery operations, the alliance demonstrates that ecological connectivity is most resilient when conservation goals align directly with local economic security.

Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?

  1. A
    Canopy connectivity expanded by 28 percent and farming household revenue increased by 15 percent over a five-year period.
  2. Long-term ecological corridor preservation is most successful when habitat restoration is integrated into profitable community agriculture.Answer
  3. C
    State-managed conservation boundaries have proven entirely ineffective and are being replaced by unregulated private farming.
  4. D
    The primary objective of the alliance is to resolve technical difficulties surrounding soil testing and tree nursery expansion.

Answer

Long-term ecological corridor preservation is most successful when habitat restoration is integrated into profitable community agriculture.
The correct response encapsulates the full scope and concluding thesis of the article: that environmental connectivity and corridor restoration are most resilient when aligned with sustainable, profitable agroforestry for local families.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the passage structure to identify the central thesis.
The text introduces the cooperative model combining native tree cultivation with commercial farming, details its mutual benefits, and concludes with the overarching takeaway that conservation succeeds when aligned with local economic security.
Main ideas in journalistic articles are typically framed around the central problem, the broader solution, and the concluding synthesis.
2
Distinguish between the primary argument and supporting quantitative data.
The 28 percent increase in canopy cover and 15 percent increase in household income serve as empirical evidence supporting the broader claim of mutual ecological and financial viability.
Specific metrics and examples are supporting details rather than the main idea.
3
Evaluate the choices to match the synthesized main idea.
The statement highlighting that habitat preservation is most effective when combined with profitable community agriculture captures the complete scope of the passage without narrowing to a single detail or making unsupported claims.
The correct main idea statement encompasses the entire article's purpose and conclusion.

Key Concept

Identifying the central thesis in a journalistic article and distinguishing it from supporting data and secondary details.
Estimated Time:1m 15s
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Topics

Identifying Main Ideas and Supporting Details

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