Why is it so important to find the main idea in each paragraph when reading an expository text?
a. it is critical for comprehension.
b. it allows for transitions in the text.
c. it supports the author's arguments.
d. it is critical for scanning the text.

What caused the american civil war? there were many reasons for a civil war to happen in america, and political issues and disagreements began soon after the american revolution ended in 1782. between the years 1800 and 1860, arguments between the north and south grew more intense. one of the main quarrels was about taxes paid on goods brought into this country from foreign countries. this tax was called a tariff. southerners felt these tariffs were unfair and aimed toward them because they imported a wider variety of goods than most northern people. taxes were also placed on many southern goods that were shipped to foreign countries, an expense that was not always applied to northern goods of equal value. an awkward economic structure allowed states and private transportation companies to do this, which also affected southern banks that found themselves paying higher interest rates on loans made with banks in the north. the situation grew worse after several “panics,” including one in 1857 that affected more northern banks than southern. southern financiers found themselves burdened with high payments just to save northern banks that had suffered financial losses through poor investment. which sentence from the selection states a major detail that supports the main idea? a there were many reasons for a civil war to happen in america, and political issues and disagreements began soon after the american revolution ended in 1782. b taxes were also placed on many southern goods that were shipped to foreign countries, an expense that was not always applied to northern goods of equal value. c the situation grew worse after several "panics," including one in 1857 that affected more northern banks than southern. d this tax was called a tariff. e between the years 1800 and 1860, arguments between the north and south grew more intense.

Read this excerpt from "the light of gandhi's lamp" by hilary kromberg inglis, in which she describes driving to the police station where her sister is being detained. to avoid looking at the blackened windows at the top of the building and thinking about the history of who had died or been tortured there, i always looked instead at the little chinese restaurant on the opposite side of the road. how does this passage affect the text? it conveys, with great subtlety, the conflict she felt over having a sister who would break the law and end up in the custody of the police. it conveys, without any implied moral judgment, that those who fought against apartheid considered themselves to be soldiers in a just war. it conveys, with an extended metaphor, the idea that being detained by the police in this society was regarded as a badge of honor. it conveys, with direct language, the view held by many anti-apartheid activists that the police often acted in brutal and unlawful ways.

Read this paragraph from chapter 5 of the prince. there are, for example, the spartans and the romans. the spartans held athens and thebes, establishing there an oligarchy: nevertheless they lost them. the romans, in order to hold capua, carthage, and numantia, dismantled them, and did not lose them. they wished to hold greece as the spartans held it, making it free and permitting its laws, and did not succeed. so to hold it they were compelled to dismantle many cities in the country, for in truth there is no safe way to retain them otherwise than by ruining them. and he who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it, may expect to be destroyed by it, for in rebellion it has always the watchword of liberty and its ancient privileges as a rallying point, which neither time nor benefits will ever cause it to forget. and whatever you may do or provide against, they never forget that name or their privileges unless they are disunited or dispersed, but at every chance they immediately rally to them, as pisa after the hundred years she had been held in bondage by the florentines. what idea is stressed in the passage? the desire for liberty the establishment of an oligarchy the dismantling of an acquired state the tendency toward rebellion