GMAT - Verbal Sample Questions
Question #2
2a. Identify the main topic of the following paragraph and explain why that is the main topic: "For years our children have learned about science, social studies, English, mathematics, and a variety of other topics in our schools. However, every year, the exact information taught in those classes changes. While basic algebra might have been taught one way ten years ago, now it is taught in a completely new way. The same goes for science and social studies as a student might be taught that a certain scientific principle or psychological condition exists, but the next year that same student might learn that the principle he or she just learned is no longer true due to new discoveries in the field."
2b. The main topic of this paragraph is that the curriculum taught in schools changes every year. It may seem at first that this paragraph is talking about what subjects children learn in school as the first sentence, which is often the introductory sentence, describes a series of subjects typically taught in our schools including science, social studies, English, and mathematics. However, this is not actually the main topic in this particular example, because the rest of the paragraph discusses changes in these subjects instead of the subjects themselves. As a result, the second sentence in the paragraph actually describes the topic of the paragraph by stating "the exact information taught in those classes changes every year."