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Difficulty: EasyIdentification of Main Idea and Supporting Details

Read the passage below carefully:

For generations, women in rural northern Ghana have processed shea nuts into butter using painstaking manual techniques. The traditional procedure involves cracking the nuts, roasting the kernels, pounding them into a paste, and repeatedly kneading the mixture with water to separate the oil. Although this labor-intensive method yields high-quality butter rich in unrefined nutrients, it limits production capacity and causes significant physical strain. In recent years, local women's cooperatives have introduced mechanized processing equipment, such as motorized grinders and hydraulic presses. These modern tools drastically reduce physical labor and shorten extraction time from several days to a few hours. Consequently, mechanized processing allows cooperatives to scale up production to satisfy growing international demand while improving the livelihoods of rural women.

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

  1. Mechanized equipment enhances shea butter production efficiency while easing physical strain for rural women.Answer
  2. B
    Traditional shea butter extraction involves cracking, roasting, pounding, and kneading nut kernels.
  3. C
    Motorized grinders and hydraulic presses have completely eliminated manual labor across northern Ghana.
  4. D
    High-quality unrefined shea butter is exclusively consumed by international market buyers.

Answer

Mechanized equipment enhances shea butter production efficiency while easing physical strain for rural women.
The correct answer accurately synthesizes the passage's primary focus: explaining how the adoption of mechanized tools improves processing efficiency and benefits rural women compared to traditional manual methods.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the passage structure
Identified that the text introduces traditional manual extraction and its limits, then presents mechanized processing as a transformative solution.
Determining the passage structure helps distinguish the central thesis from supporting illustrations.
2
Evaluate the thesis statement
The concluding sentences emphasize that modern tools reduce labor, shorten processing time, and allow cooperatives to scale production.
The main idea unifies all details presented across the paragraph.
3
Select the choice reflecting the overall thesis
The statement summarizing productivity gains and labor reduction correctly articulates the main idea.
Main idea statements must encompass the central point without being overly narrow or unjustifiably broad.

Key Concept

Identifying the Main Idea
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Topics

Identification of Main Idea and Supporting Details

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