Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the topic of the passage.   (1)In 1801, a candidate for Congress challenged to a duel an Army officer who called him “a bowl of skimmed milk.” (2)At that duel, the two men killed each other. (3)Newspaper editors were challenged so often that many put on their pistols when they dressed in the morning. (4)In Vicksburg, Mississippi, three newspaper editors died in duels in the 1840s. (5)These examples indicate that as recently as the 1800s, dueling with weapons was a common way to defend one’s honor.   The topic is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the number of the sentence that contains the main idea.   (1)Shakespeare wrote that “all the world’s a stage.” (2)He meant that everyone has at least one part, or role, to play in life. (3)In fact, every role we play has an “on stage” and a “backstage” area; in the first area, we’re on our best behavior; but in the second area, we can “let our hair down.” (4)For example, in the dining room, a waiter is “on stage.” (5)No matter how rushed he is or how annoyed he feels, a waiter is expected to be polite and helpful to his customers. (6)Once he returns to the kitchen, however, it’s another matter. (7)There he is “backstage” and can let his true feelings show. (8)In the kitchen, the waiter can make sarcastic remarks about the customers or even joke about serving a plate of food that’s been dropped.   The sentence that states the main idea of the paragraph is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the number of the sentence that contains the main idea.   1)People who are convicted of robbing or burglarizing strangers are likely to be sent to prison. (2)But policemen and prosecutors tend to regard crimes between acquaintances less seriously than other crimes. (3)For example, suppose that Joe and Dan know each other. (4)Dan steals Joe’s TV set, and claims he did it because Joe didn’t pay back money that Dan had lent him. (5)This is likely to be regarded as a sort of private matter—Joe may not be considered altogether innocent by the police and prosecutor. (6)And Dan is less likely to be sent to prison than if he had stolen the TV from someone he didn’t know.   The sentence that expresses the main idea is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the number of the sentence that contains the main idea.   (1)Blocking out your feelings may seem like a good way to protect yourself at emotionally difficult times. (2)But psychologists report that people who keep feelings locked inside are likely to run into trouble. (3)First, unexpressed emotions only deepen and become even more troubling. (4)Also, people with buried emotions often have a difficult time relating to others and are afraid of being hurt if they open up. (5)In addition, those hidden feelings may eventually find a harmful way to get out. (6)For example, people whose feelings are blocked off are more likely to have alcohol problems, attempt suicide, or try to hurt others.   The sentence that expresses the main idea is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the number of the sentence that contains the main idea.   (1)In the seventeenth century, the Dutch became very fond of collecting tulip bulbs. (2)The finest bulbs gained high prices, and traders began making a profit in buying and selling them. (3)Eventually, people paid great fortunes for single tulip bulbs, kept them for a few weeks, and then sold them for even a higher price. (4)But finally, buyers realized that the bulbs were not worth the high prices demanded. (5)The great Tulip Mania came to a sudden end when prices fell greatly overnight. (6)Interest in the common Dutch tulip thus led to one of the first “crashes” in economic history.   The sentence that expresses the main idea is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the sentence that best expresses the implied main idea of the passage.   (1)In his book Anatomy of an Illness, writer Norman Cousins described his battle with a severe joint ailment. (2)Told that his doctors could do no more for him, he checked out of the hospital and into a pleasant hotel room. (3)He spent weeks watching Marx Brothers movies and other comedies. (4)He read the funniest authors he could find. (5)He joked and wisecracked with his visitors. (6)Cousins’ health improved so much that his doctors were amazed.   The sentence that best expresses the implied main idea is

Directions: Read the paragraph below. Then select the number of the sentence that contains the main idea.   (1)Few things are more boring than standing in line. (2)Luckily, some ways have been found to make waiting in line more bearable. (3)Airline personnel now use hand-held devices to look up customers’ information, scan or print boarding passes, and direct passengers to the appropriate area. (4)One New York bank pays five dollars to any customer who has waited more than five minutes. (5)Fast-food restaurants have found that timing the work of fast-food workers motivates crews to work more quickly, resulting in lines that move faster. (6)Dividing tasks so that one person takes an order while another begins to prepare it also gets food to customers more quickly. (7)In amusement parks, customers complain less when signs explain how long people can expect to wait. (8)Also, live entertainment such as a magician or juggler cheers people waiting in long lines.   The sentence that expresses the main idea is

A type of graph that that displays components of a whole.

Community Physician’s Clinic have received several complaints that patients have to wait an inordinate amount of time to see specialists in the clinic. The administrator asks the HIM manager to construct a graph that will show how long patients had to wait to see the gastroenterologist, endocrinologist, and dermatologist. She wanted the graph to include the number of patients who waited more than four weeks, three to four weeks, one to two weeks, less than one week, and the number who were able to have an appointment on the day they called for all three specialties. Which would be the best graph to show this information?

A type of diagram that is used to display frequency distributions for continuous numerical data (interval or ratio data).