Question

In a paragraph identify two of the main ideas of this passage and explain what supporting details are given to support those main ideas? Although Andrew Carnegie became a millionaire, he did not start life as one. He was born in 1835 into a working-class family in Dunfermline, Scotland. In 1848 his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When Carnegie was 13 he got his first job in a textile mill earning $1.20 a week. How old were you when you got your first job? He then took a job in a factory tending the steam engine. Can you guess how much he was paid for that job? Carnegie earned $2 a week tending a steam engine. The next year, Carnegie worked as a messenger boy in a telegraph office for $2.50 per week. Because of his quickness and hard work, he was soon promoted to telegraph operator and was paid $5 a week. Slowly but surely, Carnegie was working his way up. In 1853, he went to work for the Pennsylvania Railroad for $35 per month as the personal telegrapher and assistant to Thomas Scott, a superintendent. Under Scott, Carnegie learned all about the railroad industry and later became a superintendent himself. Scott also taught Andrew about investing in the stock market. What do you know about the stock market? Scott explained to Carnegie that when a company performed well, it paid "dividends" out of its profits to people who owned its stock. When Carnegie received his first dividend check, he shouted, "Here's the goose that laid the golden eggs!" Do you know what he meant? This money was the first he had ever received without having worked for it himself. The golden eggs he was talking about meant that Carnegie had learned to let his money work for him.

Answer 1

The first main idea is that, despite Andrew Carengie's enormous wealth later in life, he came from humble beginnings. Evidence includes his first job earning $1.20/week at the age of 13, followed by a series of jobs in which he earned incrementally more.

The second main idea describes how Carnegie began the transition from worker to capitalist, someone who makes most of their money from returns on capital, rather than labor wages. Carnegie learned about investing and the stock market, and then realized the power of dividends. He realized he was able to get a return on his money by investing it, rather than simply earning money by working and then spending it or saving it.