在信息社会的今天，阅读是人们获得科学发展最新信息的重要途径。从学生毕业后的实际需要来看，他们要从浩如烟海的外语资料中获得有关信息，没有较强的英语阅读能力不行。对学生来说，要顺利完成大学英语学习，达到大纲的要求，特别是真正地学会把英语作为获取信息的工具，加强阅读训练，提高英语阅读能力是十分重要的。在阅读过程中，抓文章的主题思想，是对文中具体内容理解的关键。
主题思想(the Main Idea)是作者在文章中要表达的核心内容，也是作者自始至终要说明的问题。能否抓住一篇文章的主题思想，体现了读者总结、概括和归纳事物的能力。可以说，找出主题思想是一项十分重要的阅读技能。
一、抓主题思想，我们首先要学会识别文章中那些最根本、最具有概括力的信息。这种信息应能归纳和概括文中其他信息所具有的共性。例一：
Directions：Choose the most general sentence.
A.The hotel offers complimentary coffee from 7to 10a.m.daily.
B.There are many reasons why guests feel at home at the Glorietta Bay Inn.
C.The coin-operated laundry room has an ironing board.
D.There are a number of extra services at the Glorietta Bay Inn including baby-sitting.
A、C、D都是从不同的侧面说明旅馆的服务情况，相互间并无联系。而B却概括了A、C、D的共性的东西，即：为什么旅客住在这家旅馆里有宾至如归的感觉。因此，B符合题意，倘若在一段文章中包含了以上A、B、C、D几条信息，那么，B就是该段的中心思想。出于同样的道理，如果在一篇文章中，作者分段叙述几方面的内容，那么，这些段落所围绕和要说明的问题就是该文的中心思想。例二：
Directions：Choose the main idea of the article.(Following are the topic sentences of an article.)
1)A mounting body of evidence suggests that fighting violence with violence rarely deters a crime in progress and greatly increases the chances of changing a robbery into a violent attack on the victim....
2)One report shows that at least 100 thousand handguns are stolen from private owners each year，the vast majority during burglaries....
3)Moreover，a study of robberies in eight American cities states that in less than 4 percent of the crimes did the victim have the opportunity to use a weapon....
Which of the following best reflects the main idea of the article?
A.What happens to the victims of crime?
B.Is your family safe?
C.Should you arm yourself against crime?
二、主题思想应能恰如其分地概括文中所阐述的内容。面不能太窄，即：不足以概括全部内容;但是面也不能太宽，即：包含了文中没有阐述的内容。例三：
Directions：Read the following and choose the title that best expresses the ideas of the passage.
There is a simple economic principle used to determine prices.It is called the law of supply and demand.Supply means the amount of，or access to，certain goods.Demand represents the number of people who want those goods.If there are more goods than wanted，the price of them falls.On the other hand，if the demand for those goods is much greater than the supply， then the price rises.Of course，manufacturers prefer to sll more goods at increased price.
A.Economic Principles
B.Law of Supply and Demand
C.M ore Goods，Lower Prices
D.Fewer Goods，Higher Prices
该问题，A泛指经济规律，面过宽;C和D只是供需规则的二个单独的方面，不能包含全部，面太窄。正确的答案是B，因为这正是该短文自始至终谈论的主题