Skill 3
Identify the Best Title
Another way to identify the main idea of a reading passage and to show that you understand what you are reading is to think about the best title for that passage. The best title would be a word or phrase that describes the entire passage, not just a part of it.
Let’s read a passage and think through the best title for it. Remember that the best title should be something that ties the entire passage together in the best way.
Three athletes are highlighted in the summer issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. Here is some general information on each one. Starting on page 26 you can find indepth stories on each athlete by our own editor, Max Persell. |
Oscar De La Hoya, nicknamed the Golden Boy, is a Mexican-American boxer who defeated 17 world champions and won 10 world titles. In 1992, he won a gold medal in boxing at the Barcelona Olympic Games. Outside the boxing ring, he has released a Grammy-nominated Latin pop album and started a charitable foundation to help educate underprivileged youth. |
Celebrated Puerto Rican right fielder Roberto Clemente started the trend of Hispanic players excelling in U.S. Major League Baseball. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1954 and played 18 seasons for them. He won 12 Golden Glove awards for his fielding prowess and was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player (1966) and World Series MVP (1971). Clemente died in 1972 when a plane he was on that was delivering humanitarian supplies to earthquake victims. |
In 2003, Mexican–American football (soccer) player Carlos Bocanegra became the first U.S. defender since 1994 to score four goals in one year. Born in California, Bocanegra was drafted by U.S. Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire in 2000. He was Rookie of the Year in 2000 and was named MLS Defender of the Year in 2002 and 2003 before transferring to England’s Fulham Football Club. In 2008, he signed with the Rennes, France, football club. |
Of the following, which is the best title for this passage?
Soccer, Baseball, and Boxing
Sports in a Minute
Hispanic Athletes
Winning Teams
Choice A: Although the passage does talk about a soccer player, a baseball player, and a boxer, these three sports are not a unifying theme for all of the paragraphs.
Choice B: There is nothing in the reading passage to give you the idea that the passage relates to a particular minute of time. Also, the passage does not cover many sports, just three specific ones.
Choice D: The passage certainly has something to do with winning athletes, but not necessarily teams. For example, Oscar De La Hoya, a boxer, is not a member of a team.
Choice C: This is the best answer because the entire passage is about athletes who are Hispanic.
Test Yourself!
Can you think of other possible titles for the passage you just read? List them in the spaces below.
Let’s try another passage.
Read the passage and answer the question.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” (written in 1814 by lawyer/poet Francis Scott Key and declared the national anthem in 1931) is invariably played on Independence Day. The song’s rousing refrain recalls the early struggles of a nation. Less than two decades after the debut of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the Reverend Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics to “My Country, ’Tis of Thee’” (adapted from the British national anthem “God Save the Queen”), which became a patriotic staple.
In the late 19th century, classics of the Civil War era were added to the national repertoire, notably “Battle Cry of Freedom” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
“America the Beautiful” appeared as a poem in 1895, written by Katharine Lee Bates, a professor at Wellesley College. In the early 1900s, it was set to music by Samuel A. Ward and achieved national popularity.
List some possible titles for this passage.