Question

As you read the excerpt below, identify the ideas that would be included in a summary of the passage.

Worn deep and wide by the migration of three hundred thousand people, lined by the graves of twenty thousand dead, witness of romance and tragedy, the Oregon Trail is unique in history and will always be sacred to the memories of the pioneers.

Which sentence represents the main idea and therefore must be included in a summary?

Travel along the Oregon Trail was a unique and meaningful event in American history.

There will never be another place like the Oregon Trail in our country’s history.

So many people used the Oregon Trail that it became worn down.

Pioneers believe the Oregon Trail to be sacred because 300,000 traveled it.

Answer 1

"Travel along the Oregon Trail was a unique and meaningful event in American history."

This captures the passage's main idea that the Oregon Trail is unique and sacred in historical memory; the other choices are supporting details or narrower interpretations.