This number shows how your score compares with the scores of other test takers. For example, a total score of 100 would put you in the 39th percentile. Meaning that you scored higher than 89 out of 100 test takes, whereas a score of 50 would put you in the 26th percentile. The average TOEFL score is around 68. | Paragraph 3 The Avida program now resides at Michigan State University where it has been growing and changing for years. Paragraph 4 According to the director of the Avida project the processes undergone by the digital creatures are the same as those experienced by biological organisms. Paragraph 5 Now some biologists are maintaining that the programs in the Avida project are alive. Paragraph 6 Of course not everyone agrees that the program s creations are alive. Paragraph 7 Despite these misgivings the directors of the Avida program remain optimistic that their program even if not considered alive is leading to a greater understanding of life in all its forms. Last sentence The Avida program may provide biologists with another avenue to explore. Wc could state our main idea as follows Thô features of the Avida computer program have led some biologists to consider the program alive. Because the Avida program is mentioned in sentences from paragraphs 2 3 4 5 6 and 7 we definitely need it in our main idea. The sentences from paragraphs 2 3 4 5 6 and 7 talk about the program evolving changing and growing. Later the program is described as alive and likened to a biological organism. So we need to put this concept into our main idea. Main Idea Paying Attention to Direction Markers When finding the main idea pay close attention to direction markers. Some passages introduce an idea or a topic but they go on to discuss the opposite of it. Here s an example. Art has always occupied a special place in society. Many people consider artists to be the ultimate authorities on aesthetics the nature and expression of beauty. For much of history the practice of art was inscrutable and artists were viewed as being somewhat strange and often mad. Even the word most commonly associated with artists inspiration has its own magical overtones. Literally inspiration is the breathing in of a spirit. Artists were thought of as people who were divinely inspired to create. Of course artists .
