The natives of Australia were always few in number. Australia produced no grain of any sort naturally; neither wheat, oats, barley nor maize. It produced practically no edible fruit, excepting a few berries, and one or two nuts, the outer rind of which was eatable. There were no useful roots such as the potato, the turnip, or the yam, or the taro. The native animals were few and just barely eatable, the kangaroo, and the koala being the principal ones. In birds alone was the country well supplied, and they were more beautiful of plumage than useful as food. Even the fisheries were infrequent, for the coast line is unbroken by any great bays, and there is thus less sea frontage to Australia than to any other of the continents, and the rivers are few in number.
What is the main idea of this passage?
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Correct Answer: D
The correct answer is "Australia has harsh living conditions that made it hard for natives to thrive." The other answer choices are details, but they fail to summarize and capture the larger main idea of the passage. The first sentence states that there were few natives in the country, and the rest of the passage is an explanation of the harsh living conditions in Australia. The sentence "Australia has harsh living conditions that made it hard for natives to thrive" captures all of the information in the passage, so it is the best choice.