Developing and Clarifying Topic Sentence

You can develop and clarify the topic sentence by:

- Giving examples

- Giving details

- Giving facts and statistics

 

Exemplification

A bit of theory! When you are going to give examples, use signal words or phrases

 

Signal words and phrases	Examples
Noun	example, illustration	A good example of most important fungal pathogen of both willow and poplar is Metampsora rust.
Verb, verb phrases	can be illustrated by	The first kind of chaos in education can be illustrated by several good examples.
Sentence connector (вводное слово, не является членом предложения)	for instance, for example	For example, removal of 30 % of leaves had little effect on yield.
Phrase signals (местоимение, является членом предложения)	like as, such as	While the main reason for growing SRC is to achieve financial return, other benefits such as increased biodiversity, use as a shelter or screen or as game cover may influence the timing and pattern of harvesting.

 

Task 1 Fill the blanks with signal words and phrases.

1) …. of symmetric three-dimensional objects are balls, cylinders, spheres, cones. 2) The access of corticosteroids to the brain receptors is determined by a variety of factors, …. corticosteroid-binding, globulin, steroid-metabolizing enzymes, and the mdr1Ap-glycoprotein. 3) For commercial planting of willow it is standard practice to use machines …. The Salix Maskiner “Step Planter”. 4) Environmental risk resulting from the implementation of remedial actions may also extend to possible impacts on natural resources … as surface water, groundwater, air, geological, resources or biological resources. 5) It is also important to draw a distinction between those radioelements that occur naturally and those that do not … as technetium, and the transuranics.

Task 2 Find your own exemplifications.

 

Details

A bit of theory! A detail is aparticular partof characteristic of a whole thing or a whole idea. Details are frequently used in a description.

Task 3 Analyze the paragraph below filling in the blanks in the chart that follows.

 

Border Biofules Ltd has developeda “lay flat” planting system. The lay flat system plants twin rows of 2 or 3 m long rods lying horizontally, end to end, just under the soil surface. Shoots and roots develop from the buried rod. The frequency of shoots appearing along the rod cannot be controlled but the distance between the twin rows can. Initial trials using willow planting material have been established. The lay flat principle is also being tested with poplar planting material.

 

Topic Sentence Border Biofuels have developed a “lay flat” planting system.

Details Lengths of … Manner of … Frequency … Distance …

 

Task 4 Analyze the paragraphs below and fill the charts

 

1. By the early stage of an accident, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) means the period of time during which a radioactive cloud (release) is over a particular settlement. This period may last from half an hour to several days. At this stage of the development of accident sources of exposure are as following: external exposure caused by radiations of radionuclide located in the tongue of an air release; by radiations of radionuclide fell out on the surface, and radioactive contamination of skin or clothes; internal exposure caused by inhalation of radioactive substances located in the air in a suspended state. At this stage of the accident the following protective measures are reckoned: sheltering the population in as much as possible hermetically sealed rooms, application of protective means for respiratory tract, taking preparations of stable iodine (iodine prophylaxis), evacuation (as an extreme measure) and rendering a highly skilled medical aid.

 

Topic Sentence

Details

 

2. The magnitude and nature of the E ₈ calculation invite comparison with the Human Genome Project. The human genome, which contains all the genetic information of a cell, is less than a gigabyte in size. The result of the E ₈ calculation, which contains all the information about E ₈ and its representations, is 60 gigabytes in size. This is enough to store 45 days of continuous music in MP3-format. If written out on paper, the answer would cover an area the size of Manhattan.

 

Topic Sentence

Details

 

3. Whereas environmental problems may aggravate security challenges, protective counter-measures, particularly when they are implemented cooperatively, may help to alleviate them. Cooperation over the environment, including joint management of water resources and dialogue on transboundary hazards can help to reduce international tension. Environmental cooperation in relatively low-tension areas, such as the establishment of jointly managed conservation zones (for example “peace parks”) can also raise the level of trust between states or communities, thereby contributing to overall stability. Another important area of such cooperation within the security framework is the development of legal regimes and institutions for information sharing and early warning to anticipate accidents and promote dialogue.

 

Topic Sentence

Details

 

4. Thirty years ago McEwen and co-workers demonstrated that a [³ H] corticosterone tracer administrated to adrenalectomized (ADX) rats is retained in high amounts in the hippocampus several hours later. Autoradiography showed abundant [³ H] corticosterone-labeled cell nuclei in the dentate gyrus and pyramidal cells of the hippocampus as well as in other regions of the limbic forebrain, e.g., lateral septum and amigdala. This retention pattern in limbic brain has subsequently been found in widely divergent species such as birds, dogs, and monkeys that secrete corticosterone (birds, rodents) or cortisol (dogs, primates) as the naturally occurring glucocorticoid. This suggests that the retention of corticosteroids, particularly in the hippocampus, is a trait that is conserved in evolution.

 

Topic Sentence

Details

 

 

Task 5 Write a paragraph describing in detail one of these topics

1) Greenhouse effect 2) Renewable energy resources 3) The scientists’ responsibility 4) The diminishing of natural resources 5) The multiplication of wastes 6) Genius and psychosis 7) Language and culture

 

Facts and Statistics

A fact is something that has actually happened or is happening; something known to be, or accepted as being. Statistics arecollected numbers representing facts or measurements.

Task 1 Find facts and statistics in the paragraphs

1. The early studies with tracer amounts of corticosterone had, in fact, identified mineralocorticoid rexeptors (MRs) rather than glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) in hippocampus since the tracer dose of corticosterone was too low to detect GR. This becomes apparent when binding properties of MRs and GRs were studied in cytosol, using selective GR ligands.

2. The legacy of the Chernobyl disaster - almost synonymous for the outside world with environmental problems in Eastern Europe – epitomizes the difficulties in dealing with all these problems at the same time. In the early hours of 26 April 1986 a violent explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, near the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, destroyed the reactor and started a large fire that lasted 10 days. During the explosion and the fire a huge amount of radioactivity was released into the environment, spreading over hundreds of kilometers into Belarus, Ukraine and beyond. Chernobyl affected one-fifth of Belarus territory and a quarter of its population. In the early 1990s as much as 20 % of the national budget was spent ion remediation efforts, which would result in economic meltdown even in a stable, healthy economy.

3. Planting densities have increased over the last decade. This move is supported by research carried out by Armstrong and Johns (1997) who found that the first harvest yield increased as planting densities increased from approximately 4500 stools per hectare up to 15 625 per hectare. This trend was repeated in the other willow variety and both poplar varieties tested. More recent work investigating the effect of harvest frequency and planting densities (from 8625 to 111 000 stools ha^-1 ) on yield suggests that a figure of 15 625 stools ha^-1 offers the best economic return over the lifetime of the crop.

 

Task 6 Give comments on the following table. Identify the topic.

 

In Britain, % of people
read a newspaper every day		go to the cinema every weekend
smoke		have a pet
watch TV every night		live in a house with a garden

 

Prompts:

a) Survey about British people; b) typically British; c) The way British people live.

 

Task 7 Give statistics for typical Belarusian family. Write a paragraph about the way Belarusian people live.

 

Unit 3

Paragraph Unity

A bit of theory! Unity is an important element of a good paragraph. It means that only one main idea is discussed. For example, if you paragraph is about the advantages of owning a compact car, discuss only that. Do not discuss the disadvantages. Furthermore it is a good idea for to discuss only one advantage, such as gas economy, in each paragraph. If you begin to discuss another advantage, start a new paragraph. Sometimes it is possible to discuss two or three aspects of the same idea in paragraph if they are closely related to each other. For example, you can discuss gas economy and low maintenance costs in one paragraph because they are closely related, but you shouldn’t discuss both gas economy and easier parking in one paragraph. The second part of unity is that every supporting sentence must directly explain or prove the main idea that is stated in the topic sentence. Do not include any information that does not directly support the topic sentence. The sentences that are «off the topic» are called irrelevant sentences.

 

Task 1 Study the three paragraphs. All of them discuss the same topic. Which paragraph has unity? Which paragraph discusses more than one topic? Which paragraph has irrelevant sentences?

Paragraph 1

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is still growing explosively in most parts of the world. In Central and Eastern Europe, HIV is spreading rapidly in countries that had almost no cases a few years ago. In China, there were an estimated 10,000 HIV-infected persons at the end of 1993, and this total grew ten-fold, to 100,000, by the end of 1995. In the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV/AIDS epidemic rages on. In Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, 10 percent of the women visiting postnatal clinics in urban areas are infected with HIV, and in some areas, the rate is 40 percent. Mothers can give the HIV virus to their children during pregnancy and childbirth or when breast-feeding. The virus is also transmitted through blood and blood products. For example, drug users who share needles may become infected. The main method of transmission is, of course, unprotected sex, which accounts for 75 to 85 percent of infection.

 

Paragraph 2

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is still growing explosively in most parts of the world. In Central and Eastern Europe, HIV is spreading rapidly in countries that had almost no cases a few years ago. In China, there were an estimated 10,000 HIV-infected persons at the end of 1993, and this total grew ten-fold, to 100,000, by the end of 1995. In the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV/AIDS epidemic rages on. In Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, 10 percent of the women visiting postnatal clinics in urban areas are infected with HIV, and in some areas, the rate is 40 percent. Around the world, HIV infection rates are sky-rocketing among sex-workers. In Nairobi, Kenya, 80 percent of sex workers are infected, and in Vietnam, the rate of infection climbed from 9 percent to 38 percent between 1992 and 1995. These statistics illustrate with frightening clarity that HIV/AIDS is still a major health problem in most areas of the world.

 

Paragraph 3

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is still growing explosively in most parts of the world. In Central and Eastern Europe, HIV is spreading rapidly in countries that had almost no cases a few years ago. In China, there were an estimated 10,000 HIV-infected persons at the end of 1993, and this total grew ten-fold, to 100,000, by the end of 1995. There is evidence that in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, HIV infection rates are declining, at least among males. This is a result of a combination of prevention methods. In the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV/AIDS epidemic rages on. In Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, 10 percent of the women visiting postnatal clinics in urban areas are infected with HIV, and in some areas, the rate is 40 percent. Although there is no cure for HIV/AIDS, new medicines are available that prolong the lives of people with HIV.

 

Task 2 The following short essay has not been divided into paragraphs, but it should contain six.

Read the essay and decide where each paragraph should begin.

Culture, Logic, and Rhetoric

Logic, which is the basis of rhetoric, comes from culture; it is not universal. Rhetoric, therefore, is not universal either but varies from culture to culture. The rhetorical system of one language is neither better nor worse that the rhetorical system of another language, but it is different. English logic and English rhetoric, which are based on Anglo-European cultural patterns, are linear – that is, a good English paragraph begins with a general statement of its content and then carefully develops that statement with a series of specific illustrations. A good English paragraph may also use just the reverse sequence: it may state a whole series of examples and then summarize those examples in a single statement at the end of the paragraph. In either case, however, the flow of ideas occurs in a straight line from the opening sentence to the last sentence. Furthermore, a well-structured English paragraph is never digressive. There is nothing that does not belong to the paragraph and nothing that does not support the topic sentence. A type of construction found in Arabic and Persian writing is very different. Whereas English writers use a linear sequence, Arabic and Persian writers tend to construct a paragraph in a parallel sequence using many coordinators such as and and but. In English, maturity of style is often judged by the degree of subordination rather that by the degree of coordination. Therefore, the Arabic and Persian styles of writing, with their emphasis on coordination, seem awkward and immature to an English reader. Some Asian writers, on the other hand, use an indirect approach. In this kind of writing, the topic is viewed form a variety of angles. The topic is never analysed directly; it is referred to only indirectly. Again, such a development in an English paragraph is awkward and unnecessarily vague to an English reader. Spanish rhetoric differs from English rhetoric in still another way. While the rules of English rhetoric require that every sentence in a paragraph relate directly to the central idea, a Spanish-speaking writer loves to fill a paragraph with interesting digressions. Although a Spanish paragraph may begin and end on the same topic, the writer often digresses into areas that are not directly related to the topic. Spanish rhetoric, therefore, does not follow the English rule of paragraph unity. In summery, a student who has mastered the grammar of English may still write the poor papers unless he/she has also mastered the rhetoric of English. Also, the student may have difficulty reading an essay written by the rules of English rhetoric unless he/she understands the ‘logical’ differences from those of his/her own native tongue.

 

Task 3 Decide where the paragraph should be divided into two or more paragraphs. Find the irrelevant sentences and cross them out.

 

Because the Internet makes the world a smaller place, the value of having a common language is greatly increased. The question is – which language? Because the Internet grew up in the United States, the largest percentage of its content is now in English. Bill Gates, Microsoft’s president, believes the English will remain valuable for a long time as a common language for international communication. His company spends $200 million a year translating software into other languages. He says, “Unless you read English passably well, you miss out on some of the Internet experience.” Someday, software may be available to instantly translate both written and spoken language so well that the need for any common language could decline. That day is decades away, however, because flawless machine translation is a very tough problem. Software does not crude translations already exist. It is useful if all you are trying to do is understand the general idea of something you see on your computer screen. However, if you are trying to negotiate a contract or discuss a scientific subject where details are important, machine translation is totally useless. Computer spelling checkers also exist for various languages.

 

Unit 4

Paragraph Coherence

 

A bit of theory! Coherent (speech, thoughts, ideas) means naturally or reasonably connected; easily understood. Cohesion is the act of sticking together tightly. So, a well written paragraph should be coherent. There are three ways to achieve coherence: logical, grammatical, and lexical.