The central idea is the same as the main idea. Most of the time, the main idea is mentioned in the Title. Without reading the essay, I do not know what the central/main idea is.
1) “mind if - if I..”
2) “I - I don’t..”
3) marathon - she really did!
4) “There - There’s a ghost..”
5) North pole alone - what a brave man!
6) final encore - what a performance!
7) “What - What was I..”
8) boat damaged - what bad luck!
9) On Monday night - or was it Tuesday - we went to the opera.
10) forgetting something - what is it?
Where is the passage I can’t see one :(
I think the mood in the excerpt is shocked and somber.
They people are shocked by the swiftness of the sickness. They did not anticipate the grim outcome. This is because the patient is very young and should have a stronger immune system and she has been sick for only a few days.
"who was very young"
"She had been sick only a few days. No one expected her to die."
