Question 94·Easy·Central Ideas and Details
City planner Marta Nguyen has long advocated for replacing vacant urban lots with “pocket parks,” small patches of greenery in densely populated neighborhoods. Over two decades, Nguyen helped convert more than fifty such lots into parks that feature benches, native plants, and community art. She also recorded before-and-after surveys showing increases in outdoor activity and neighbor interaction. Today, urban ecologists cite Nguyen’s program as evidence that even modest green spaces can significantly improve residents’ well-being in crowded cities.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
For main-idea questions, first ignore the choices and quickly restate the passage’s point in your own words, focusing especially on the first and last sentences. Then pick the option that matches your summary and is broad enough to cover the whole paragraph. Eliminate any choices that introduce new topics, focus on minor details, or use extreme language like "every," "always," or "most important" that the passage does not support.
Hints
Look for the conclusion
Reread the final sentence of the paragraph. Ask yourself: how does this sentence sum up what the earlier sentences describe about Nguyen’s work?
Connect details to a broader point
Think about why the passage mentions the surveys showing more outdoor activity and neighbor interaction. What general point do these details help to support about life in crowded cities?
Eliminate extreme or off-topic choices
Cross out any answer choices that introduce ideas the passage never mentions (like specific social problems or disagreements among experts) or that exaggerate by saying things like "every" or "most important."
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the task
The question asks for the main idea of the text, so you need a choice that captures the overall point of the entire paragraph, not a small detail or something the text never mentions.
Summarize the paragraph in your own words
Go sentence by sentence:
- Nguyen wants to replace vacant lots with small "pocket parks" in crowded neighborhoods.
- Over twenty years, she helped convert more than fifty lots into parks with benches, native plants, and community art.
- She collected before-and-after surveys that showed more outdoor activity and more interaction between neighbors.
- Urban ecologists now point to her program as evidence that these small green areas have a strong positive effect on how people feel and live in crowded cities.
In your own words, the paragraph is mainly about Nguyen’s long-term project turning vacant lots into small parks and the positive impact those parks have on city residents.
Use the last sentence to lock in the central point
The last sentence often states the main idea directly. Here, it says urban ecologists use Nguyen’s program as evidence that even modest green spaces can significantly improve residents’ well-being. That sentence pulls together all the earlier details (what she built, the surveys, the changes in behavior) into one broad conclusion about the effects of these small parks in cities.
Match your summary to the best answer choice
Now compare your understanding to the options:
- Choice A adds a claim about crime rates that the passage never mentions.
- Choice C claims community art is the most important feature, but the passage just lists art as one of several features and never ranks it.
- Choice D says urban ecologists often disagree about green spaces, but in the passage they are cited as using Nguyen’s program as supporting evidence, not as something they argue over.
- Choice B captures the broad conclusion: Nguyen’s program is used to show that small urban green spaces can have a meaningful positive impact on community life.
Therefore, the best answer is: Nguyen’s program demonstrates that small urban green spaces can meaningfully improve community life.