Select the two sentences that best state the main idea of the paragraph. Technology in the entertainment industry has created untold thousands of couch potatoes. Instead of taking a brisk walk to the newsstand for the paper, we sit at our desks and read the news online. Instead of riding our bikes downtown to meet friends at the movies, we stream the film on our laptops without getting up from our desks. Children don’t go outside and play as often as they did before the digital revolution; instead, they sit and stare at images or words on a screen. Or their fingers fly over a computer keyboard as they gossip with their friends. These habits have their advantages, but there’s no denying that they contribute to obesity.

The two sentences that best state the main idea of the paragraph are, 'Technology in the entertainment industry has created untold thousands of couch potatoes', and 'These habits have theirnadvantages, but there’s no denying that they contribute to obesity.'

Explanation:

Main idea of any paragraph is usually the message given by the author. Such ideas stem from the beginning of the paragraphs, and the concluding part of the paragraph also helps in finding the main ideas.

From the above mentioned paragraph, we can figure out that the author’s main purpose of writing the excerpt is to make readers aware of the I’ll effects of technology. The author have referred to technology addicted people as ‘couch potatoes’ which means a person who simple doesn’t exercise and spends all his time watching TV or engaging in social networking sites.

Such habits results in obesity which is the concluding line of the author. Thus, the very first line and the concluding line is the main idea of the paragraph. Everything in between these two lines are examples.