For the Chinese people, rice is the staple food in everyday meals. They eat it as Westerners do with bread. Rice is cooked by boiling or steaming, till it absorbs as much water as it can. There is a rich collection of rice dishes in China.
It is easy to identify a main idea that is directly expressed in the text. 1  Main ideas are often found at the beginning of paragraphs. 2  Main ideas are also found in the concluding sentences of a paragraph.
Historical Examples. 1  The main idea in all courses was to do what you had to but no more. 2  All through this their main idea has been not to trouble you. 3  Inevitably it turns to this sort of violence when the uneducated have seized on its main idea. 4  Show how the opening paragraph introduces the main idea of the story.