Help your child ask what most of a paragraph is about, not what it mentions first.
Practice test 1 is free. No card needed.
A main idea question asks what a paragraph or whole text is mostly about, so the right option covers all of it. Children in Year 5 now meet them in the ASET on 6 March 2027.
Checked by the SelectiveReady team on 12 October 2026 · Updated 27 October 2026 · How we check facts
Independent. Not affiliated with the WA Department of Education.
It asks what a paragraph, or the whole text, is mainly about, or what the writer thinks overall. The right option is a summary, so it's wider than any one detail.
These three are ours, on one information text about tiny forests planted in cities. The first two ask about one paragraph each; the last asks for the writer's own view.
Each shows the answer and the working. For each option, ask your child: does this cover every sentence in the paragraph? Checking the sentences one by one settles it quickly.
Picture a forest the size of a tennis court, squeezed between a car park and a school oval. It sounds unlikely, but tiny forests like this are springing up in cities around the world, including in Australia.
The idea comes from a method developed by a Japanese botanist, Akira Miyawaki, in the 1970s. Instead of planting a few trees far apart, volunteers plant saplings of many different native species very close together, often three or more to every square metre. Before planting, the soil is loosened and enriched so that young roots can spread easily. Crowded together, the plants compete for sunlight and shoot upwards quickly. After two or three years of weeding and watering, the forest can usually look after itself.
Supporters say that tiny forests offer big benefits for their size. The dense leaves cool the air around them on hot days, soak up rainwater that might otherwise flood streets, and provide shelter for insects and birds that have few other places to live in a busy suburb. Because a tiny forest needs so little space, it can fit on land that would never be used for a large park.
Not everyone is convinced. Some ecologists point out that a few hundred square metres of trees cannot replace a large area of natural bushland, and that planting so densely means many saplings will die as the strongest ones take over. Others worry that tiny forests may be treated as a quick fix, drawing attention away from protecting the bush that already exists.
Even so, many communities find that the planting day itself is part of the value. Neighbours who have never spoken kneel side by side in the dirt, and children who help plant a sapling often return for years to measure how tall it has grown.
The second paragraph is mainly about
Answer: D
Answer: D
Ask what most sentences in the paragraph describe: close planting, preparing the soil, fast growth and two or three years of care. That is the method. Option B is tempting because Miyawaki is named first, but only one sentence mentions him, and nothing about his life is given. Benefits (A) and doubts (C) are later paragraphs.
What is the main idea of the fourth paragraph?
Answer: B
Answer: B
The opening sentence, 'Not everyone is convinced', tells you the paragraph is about doubts, and each sentence gives one. Option C twists a detail: the text says 'many' saplings will die, not 'most', and gives no time. Option A is the opposite of the ecologists' point.
Which sentence best sums up the writer's own view of tiny forests?
Answer: A
Answer: A
Separate the writer's voice from the views it reports. The doubts belong to 'some ecologists' and 'others'; the writer answers them with 'Even so' and ends on a positive note, which matches A. B is the critics' view, not the writer's. D overstates the last paragraph, which calls the planting day 'part of the value', not the main value.
Ask what most of the sentences are doing, then pick the option that covers them all. Size is the test, because a main idea has to hold the whole paragraph.
On paper, a short note in the margin beside each paragraph keeps the whole text in view. Rough working is fine in the question booklet, but markers never see it.
Read the paragraph and ask what most of its sentences describe. That's its main idea.
A first line like 'Not everyone is convinced' can tell you where the paragraph is going.
A main idea covers the whole paragraph. An option about one sentence is a detail, even if it's true.
Keep what the writer thinks apart from views the writer reports. A turn like 'Even so' marks the writer speaking.
Each trap matches one of the worked questions, and they're easier to see once you have read all three together. Ask your child to say why the trap option is too small or too twisted.
The first name isn't the topic: Akira Miyawaki is named early in the second paragraph, but only one sentence is about him. The paragraph is about the planting method.
A twisted detail: the text says many saplings will die, not most. Watch for an option that changes one small word.
Someone else's view: calling tiny forests 'a quick fix' is the critics' worry. The writer answers it with 'Even so' and ends on a hopeful note.
Summing up out loud is the quickest practice. Keep it short, so your child has to choose what matters.
Three worked explanations show the method. A full Reading Comprehension test, 35 questions in 35 minutes, shows whether your child can still step back for the big point when time is tight.
Practice test 1 is free, and the results by skill show whether main idea questions cost marks. For more, see our ASET reading sample questions or the guide to ASET Reading.
A quick first read helps, because main idea questions are about the whole. Keep it quick: the handbook suggests about a minute per question, so the close reading happens when your child goes back for each question.
Year 6 children in Perth metro, Bunbury and Albany sit it on 6 March 2027. Regional WA and interstate dates are on the ASET dates page.
Practice test 1 marks every answer and shows results by skill: what your child already does well and the three skills to work on next.
Practise for the real test
Practice test 1 is free. Then packs from A$109 for 12 months, or A$9 a week, per exam.