Question

transforming childrens television
mister rogers neighborhood, created by fred rogers, first appeared on national
television in 1968. rogers developed the program in order to address what he perceived
as a deficiency in television programming for young children; specifically, he viewed
traditional programming as neglectful of social and emotional issues. one year after the
shows national debut, another new public television childrens program was introduced:
sesame street, the brainchild of joan ganz cooney and lloyd morrisett. like rogers,
coone and morrisett were dissatisfied with the options available for young children. they
created sesame street in order to add an educational option to childrens programming.
while sesame street was more academically focused than mister rogers neighborhood,
both programs were unusual in their tackling of complicated issues, such as divorce,
disability, and the human impact of natural disasters, which were typically ignored by
traditional childrens television shows.
what is the main, or central, idea of the passage?
fred rogers created mister rogers neighborhood in order to address social
and emotional issues with young children.
mister rogers neighborhood and sesame street were television programs
that both dealt with issues previously unaddressed in childrens
programming.
both mister rogers neighborhood and sesame street included discussion of
complicated social issues, but sesame street was more academically focused.

Explanation:

The passage first introduces Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and its creator's intention to address social and emotional issues. Then it presents Sesame Street and its aim to add an educational option. Finally, it highlights that both programs tackled complicated issues (like divorce, disability, human impact of natural disasters) which traditional children's shows ignored. The first option only focuses on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and its social - emotional aspect. The third option emphasizes the academic focus of Sesame Street but is more of a detail. The second option encompasses both shows and their commonality of dealing with previously unaddressed issues in children's programming, which is the main idea.

Answer:

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and Sesame Street were television programs that both dealt with issues previously unaddressed in children's programming.