Ex. 7. Read each topic sentence. Define the sentence which does not support this topic sentence, explain your choice.

1 Topic sentence: The crow (ворона) is a large black bird with some surprising characteristics.

a) Many crows actually seem to enjoy being with people.

b) Crows like to spend time communicating with one another and sometimes seem to have long and involved conversations.

c) The raven (ворон) is a relative of the crow, but the two are very different.

d) Crows also seem to feel sympathy when they see other injured (поврежденный) birds.

 

2 Topic sentence: Life in the interior of Alaska is quite challenging (требующий напряжения) in the winter.

a) In the summer, thy temperature outdoors averages a perfect 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

b) For most of the winter, interior roads are closed to all vehicles except snowmobiles.

c) Temperatures regularly dip to 40 or 50 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, making it impossible to go outside without special clothing.

d) Fresh fruit and vegetables are unavailable in the winter, even for a premium price, so maintaining a balanced diet is a challenge.

 

3 Topic sentence: To answer questions about the past, historians use different kinds of evidence (факты).

a) They explain primary sources, or firsthand written accounts of people who lived in the past.

b) They use written evidence – carvings, statues, ancient ruins, and the like – to piece together historical information.

c) In the face of evidence, historians must determine what is accurate and what is false or biased.

d) Historians also gather information from secondary sources, or accounts that have already been written about the historical events.

 

Ex. 8. The following sentences are taken in order from a paragraph that discusses three outstanding effects of a new mall just outside the city’s limits. You are to list the numbers in the order in which they are given and assign to each the test word (because) for identifying the major and minor supports. Also, you are to circle the numbers representing the minor supporting statements. If any sentence is out of unity, write ”Out of unity”.

Topic sentence: A new suburban mall (загородный торговый центр), just outside a city’s limits, has three definite effects on the urban community (жители города).

 

1 First, it has a novelty that attracts not only shoppers but also the curious.

2 People enjoy just visiting the colorful, modern shops that line the covered concourse (место для встреч).

3 Seventy stores with their great variety of merchandise (товары) are easily and quickly accessible (доступны) to all.

4 After a long day’s shopping an entire family can visit one of several restaurants or pizza shops in the mall without the frustrations of central city parking.

5 Second, a new mall siphons off (перекачивать) business from city stores.

6 Large stores like Sears and Penney’s often move from the downtown area to a new mall, luring customers with enlarged floor space and increased stocks and services.

7 A lot of shoe stores, dress shops, boutiques, and bazaars under one roof gives shoppers wider choices in shorter time, no matter what the weather.

8 Places of entertainment, such as theaters, lounges, and transient attractions, on the main concourse draw customers from afternoon and evening social hours downtown.

9 With professional planning, a stepped-up program of reconstruction, and modern landscaping, the central city in most communities could revive (оживить) customer interests.

10 Third, the mall, being located outside the city limits, deprives (лишать) the city of much-needed revenues (доходы).

11 Sizable property taxes (налоги) on the huge complex go to the county (округ) in which it is located.

 12 People who works in the stores and offices, and in related services of the mall, pay no city income tax (налог на доход).

 

Ex. 9. In this exercise only the topic sentence and the major supporting statements from an original paragraph are given; the minor supports have been deleted. Copy the topic sentence and each major statement. Then supply two minor supports for each of the major statement.

Topic sentence: In the course of a day students do far more than just attend classes.

Major support: In order to maintain (поддерживать) their health, they must exercise.

1 __________________________________________________________

2 __________________________________________________________

           

Major support: Because much of what they must learn in a course is not provided (обеспечены) in the classroom, they are required to do outside assignments in the library.

1 _______________________________________________________    

2 _______________________________________________________

 

Major support: Finally, for the education beyond books they participate in social and cultural activities.

1 __________________________________________________________

2 __________________________________________________________

           

Ex. 10. Write a topic sentence with a definite controlling idea. Underline the controlling idea. Write three major supporting statements; then write two minor supporting statements for each major support.

 

ü Another important characteristic of good writing is coherence. Coherent writing flows smoothly and ideas are arranged logically.

Strategies for Coherence:

1   Make sure you arrange your ideas in a logical order (time, space, general-to-specific, specific-to-general, and climactic).

2    Repeat key words, use appropriate pronouns, and use synonyms.

3  Use transition expressions (first, next, finally, in fact, however, although it may be true, and others) to link your ideas together smoothly.

 

Ex. 11. In the following paragraph, the topic sentence and the concluding sentence are in the correct place. However, one or more of the supporting sentences is out of order. Make the paragraph coherent by rearranging the supporting sentences in the correct order.

Coal Formation

Topic sentence: The coal we burn as fuel today began long ago as trees and other plants that grew beside water. 1 Movements of the rocks underneath then crushed some of the brown lignite coal even more and heated it, forming a hard black coal called anthracite. 2 Instead, they piled up, gradually forming a soft brown substance called peat, which was eventually buried. 3 When these plants died and fell to earth, they could not rot completely because the ground was too wet. 4 The peat was then crushed by its own weight of the rocks above it, making it harder and turning it into lignite, or brown coal. Concluding sentence: This process of coal formation from living plants took place very slowly over millions of years.

 

underneath - внизу

brown lignite coal – бурый уголь

anthracite – антрацит

pile up – накапливаться

peat – торф