The document provides guidance on summarizing texts using the MIDAS technique:
1) Identify the main idea by finding the topic sentence or using signal words.
2) Identify supporting details.
3) Disregard unimportant information and simplify what remains.
It then gives examples summarizing paragraphs about tornadoes, dust devils, hurricanes, and typhoons. While dust devils are weak, hurricanes and typhoons are large storms. Tornadoes are brief but have the fastest winds.
12. Main idea and supporting details Tornado is powerful, twisting windstorm Part of giant storm cloud Frightening Also called twister or cyclone
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15. Main idea and supporting details Dust devils, hurricanes, and typhoons have twisting winds Whirling windstorms Differ from tornadoes
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18. Main idea and supporting details Dust devils are weakest of swirling windstorms Less than 30 mph Five ft. across Last minute or two
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21. Main idea and supporting details Hurricanes and typhoons are largest Winds of 75-150 mph Several hundred miles wide Travel thousands of miles, last for days
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24. Main idea and supporting details Winds of large tornado are fastest, most dangerous winds on earth Last few minutes 300 mph
Although the facts that hurricanes are initiated over the Atlantic Ocean or eastern Pacific Ocean and typhoons initiate over the Pacific Ocean or Indian Ocean are important, they do not support the main idea that these windstorms differ from tornadoes in important ways.
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