IXL | Combine main ideas from two texts

Read the two texts.

Text 1

In 1912, pharmacist Wilbur Scoville developed a way to measure the spice level of peppers. First, he extracted capsaicin, the source of a pepper's spiciness, and mixed it with sugar water. Human testers then drank the solution and decided whether or not it still tasted spicy. More sugar water was added, and the testers sampled again. The steps were repeated until the burning sensation completely disappeared. The more sugar water required, the higher the pepper's score on the Scoville scale.

Text 2

Today, some food scientists and pepper growers use a method called high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to measure pepper spiciness. Older methods that depend on human tasting are less accurate, since people perceive spiciness differently and since repeated tastings can dull taste buds. In contrast, HPLC uses sensors and computers to measure the level of capsaicinoids—the chemicals that cause heat—from samples of pepper tissue. By relying on data instead of human senses, this method produces more consistent and objective results.

Which sentence best combines the main, or central, ideas of both texts?

While the Scoville method uses human tasters to measure the spiciness of peppers, HPLC uses technology to obtain this information with greater accuracy.

HPLC technology would be more reliable for measuring the spice levels of peppers if it could analyze the differences in the ways people perceive heat.

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Learn with an example

question

Read the two texts.

Text 1

For sailors, access to drinking water has always been key to survival. In centuries past, crews relied on clever tricks—collecting dew at dawn, or spreading canvas sails to catch the rain. Today, however, technology has changed the game. Modern ships desalinate seawater by pumping it in and forcing it through filters fine enough to remove the salt. Others harness the heat of their engines to boil seawater, collecting the pure water vapor that rises and condenses back into liquid. What was once a daily struggle for sailors is now a science of turning the sea into something drinkable.

Text 2

If you find yourself stranded in the desert, your first mission is to locate water. Start with plants: Slice open a cactus or another plant with a fleshy stem, and press the pulp to release liquid. You can also create a solar trap by tying a plastic bag over a cluster of cactus pads or other green plant parts; moisture will condense on the inside of the bag. And don't overlook the ground—digging in a dry riverbed or at the base of a shrub may uncover hidden moisture. Each method yields only small amounts of water, but combined, they can keep you alive until help arrives.

Which sentence best combines the main, or central, ideas of both texts?

People can obtain water using a variety of simple methods, from collecting morning dew to pressing liquid from fleshy plants.

Whether through advanced technology or improvised tricks, people have devised many effective ways to harvest drinking water.

key idea

Even when two texts are about the same topic, they often include different information. So, when you are trying to learn about a topic, you may want to read more than one text about it. Then you can combine the different pieces of information given in the texts.

First, find the main, or central, idea of each text. Then, think about how the two main ideas fit together. This will give you a more complete understanding of the topic.

solution

This is the main, or central, idea of Text 1:

While sailors once collected rain or dew to drink, today's ships rely on advanced technology to obtain drinkable water from the sea.

This is the main, or central, idea of Text 2:

There are many simple ways to harvest drinking water in the desert, such as digging, pressing plant pulp, and constructing improvised solar traps.

So, this is the sentence that best combines the main ideas of both texts:

Whether through advanced technology or improvised tricks, people have devised many effective ways to harvest drinking water.

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Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

A.1Determine the main idea of a passage

L.1Compare information from two texts

A.2Combine main ideas from two texts

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