Instruction Active
Identifying the Main Idea
What is the main idea of the excerpt?
The new chemicals come from our laboratories in an
endless stream; almost five hundred annually find their
way into actual use in the United States alone. ... Five
hundred new chemicals to which the bodies of men and
animals are required somehow to adapt each year,
chemicals totally outside the limits of biologic experience.
-Silent Spring,
Rachel Carlson, 1962
O The writer is concerned about the impact of
chemicals on humans and animals.
O The writer is concerned about the future of
America's water quality.
O The writer is concerned about the future of
America's air quality.
O The writer is concerned about the impact of litter on
the waterways.