Question 155·Medium·Central Ideas and Details
Chef Marta Rodriguez opened her small bakery in 2015 with the intention of preserving recipes handed down in her Puerto Rican family. She sources plantains, guava paste, and coconut milk from local markets and follows the handwritten notes of her grandmother to create pastries such as pastelillos and tembleque. Rodriguez says that sharing these traditional flavors with her neighborhood is her way of keeping her cultural heritage alive.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
For main idea questions, first read the whole passage and then, in your own words, summarize what the author is mainly talking about and why it matters. Next, compare each answer choice to this summary: the correct choice will capture the overall purpose or focus of the passage, while wrong choices will either (1) zoom in on a minor detail, (2) add new information or business motives not mentioned, or (3) contradict something in the text. Use process of elimination quickly—cross out any option that introduces ideas you do not clearly see in the passage.
Hints
Focus on purpose, not just details
Ask yourself: Why did Rodriguez open her bakery, according to the passage? What is she trying to do by following her grandmother’s recipes?
Look at the beginning and the end
Pay special attention to the first sentence and the last sentence. What intention is stated at the beginning, and how does she describe what she is doing in the final sentence?
Watch out for extra or new information
Check each answer choice and ask: Is this clearly stated in the passage, or is it adding something new, like a business goal or a problem that was never mentioned?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the question task
The question asks for the main idea of the text. This means you must find the overall point or purpose of the passage, not just one detail or something that is implied but not stated.
Summarize the passage in your own words
Briefly restate what the passage is mostly about:
- Rodriguez opened a bakery in 2015 specifically to preserve recipes passed down in her Puerto Rican family.
- She uses ingredients like plantains, guava paste, and coconut milk and follows her grandmother’s handwritten notes.
- She says that sharing these traditional flavors with her neighborhood is how she keeps her cultural heritage alive.
Overall, the passage is about her using her bakery and family recipes to keep her culture and traditions alive and share them with others.
Eliminate choices that add new or wrong ideas
Now compare each option to your summary:
- Choice A talks about experimenting with modern fusion desserts, but the passage emphasizes traditional recipes and preserving heritage, not fusion or experimentation.
- Choice C says the bakery struggles to find local sources for tropical ingredients; the passage simply says she sources them from local markets and does not mention any difficulty.
- Choice D says she aims to expand into a nationwide franchise, which is never mentioned.
These three choices either contradict the passage or introduce information that is not in the text, so they cannot be the main idea.
Match the remaining choice to the passage’s main idea
The remaining option states that Rodriguez uses family recipes to preserve and share her Puerto Rican heritage. This matches the passage’s focus on preserving family recipes, following her grandmother’s notes, and keeping her cultural heritage alive by sharing traditional flavors with her neighborhood. Therefore, the correct answer is: Rodriguez uses family recipes to preserve and share her Puerto Rican heritage.