Boil down in stop & think means to do what?

Boil down in stop & think means to do what?

• A. Skim the passage
• B. List all details
• C. Reduce to the essential meaning
• D. Reread quickly

Answer: (C)

When you stop and think, boil down means to strip away the extra details and get to the heart of what is being said. It’s about capturing the main idea in a concise way—the essential meaning that the passage is conveying. That makes “reduce to the essential meaning” the best fit. Skimming the passage is about getting a quick sense of the content, not about condensing it to its core message. Listing all details focuses on every specific item, which is the opposite of condensing. Rereading quickly is just repeating the reading, not distilling the meaning.

When you stop and think, boil down means to strip away the extra details and get to the heart of what is being said. It’s about capturing the main idea in a concise way—the essential meaning that the passage is conveying. That makes “reduce to the essential meaning” the best fit.

Skimming the passage is about getting a quick sense of the content, not about condensing it to its core message. Listing all details focuses on every specific item, which is the opposite of condensing. Rereading quickly is just repeating the reading, not distilling the meaning.