> Whether we are talking about sentences, paragraphs, or whole books, it > has always been clear to me that defining "the main idea" is hopeless, > since it has as much or more to do with the audience as it does with ther > speaker. Consider a case in which young Jeremy, not a stellar student, > comes home and announces: "If I get A's on my nexct three French tests, I > can get a C in the course!" I hate to beat the proverbial dead horse, but I think Mom and Dad are likely to come up with a more predictable response, had Jeremy said, "Wow! I can get a C in my French course if I can ace the next three tests." And so I shall stubbornly persist in believing in the magic of placement. <grin> ==Cheerio, Reinhold ============================================================================ Dr. Reinhold Schlieper Humanities Department 500 Shadow Lakes Boulevard Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Apartment 139 Daytona Beach FL 32114 Ormond Beach FL 32174 Phone: 904-226-6664 Phone: 904-676-9392 ============================================================================