3 Topic Sentences

Young boys play basketball after school

in Havana, Cuba.

OBJECTIVES • Analyze a paragraph FREEWRITE Look at the photo and write a story about one or all of the boys. Use your
• Study and write effective topic sentences imagination. Begin Every day after school,... Write five to ten sentences.
• Use commas correctly in sentences
• Identify and write complex sentences
• Write a paragraph

44    45
 ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING 1. What is the topic sentence? Write it here.

What Is a Topic Sentence?

A topic sentence states the main idea of a paragraph. It is usually found at the beginning of a 2. What do you expect to read about based on the topic sentence?
paragraph. A topic sentence has several important jobs. It:

• introduces the main idea

• limits or focuses the topic
• often tells the reader how the information will be organized in the paragraph
3. These words or expressions are very important to the organization of the paragraph.
Number them in the same order that they are in the paragraph.
ACTIVITY 1 | Analyzing a paragraph
finally first in addition for these reasons
Discuss the questions. Then read the paragraph and answer the questions that follow.

1. Can you name three benefits of exercising regularly?

4. Read the last sentence carefully. What do you think the purpose of this sentence is? Begin
2. What are three reasons that people do not exercise regularly? your answer with The purpose of this sentence is to . . .
WORDS TO KNOW Paragraph 3.1
climb: (v) to go up in good shape: (idiom) having good physical condition
improve: (v) to make better reduce: (v) to make less

ACTIVITY 2 | Recognizing good topic sentences

Read each set of sentences. Write the general topic that the sentences share. Then check (✓) the
PARAGRAPH 3.1
sentence you think is the best topic sentence. Discuss your reasons with the class.

Reasons for Exercise   Winter is a good season.

There are many excellent reasons for exercising several times each week. First,
1. General topic:   Winter weather is cold, and it snows.
people who exercise look better. Exercise is important to keep our bodies in good
shape. In addition, people who exercise have more energy. For example, a person who winter ✓
  The best season for children is winter.
exercises can walk up stairs or climb hills more easily. People who exercise have a
healthier heart, too. Finally, exercise reduces stress and helps you have a clear mind. Too   Soccer is popular for many reasons.
much stress can cause you to worry a lot, and that is not good for your health. For these 2. General topic:   For a soccer game, players need a special leather ball.
reasons, if you want to improve your health, you should exercise regularly.
  Soccer is a nice game.
  There are many people in Los Angeles.

3. General topic:   People from many different cultures live in Los Angeles.

  Los Angeles is a big city in California.

   onolingual dictionaries have only one language, but
M
bilingual dictionaries have two languages.

  
Many language students prefer bilingual dictionaries to
4. General topic:
monolingual dictionaries.

   ictionaries that have two languages, such as French and

D
An “anti-gravity” yoga class, where English, are called bilingual dictionaries.
students use silk hammocks to lift
46  UNIT 3 • Topic Sentences themselves off the floor   47
 Features of a Topic Sentence 3. Crossword puzzles are not only educational and fun, but also addictive.

A topic sentence has these important features. Expectation:

1. It has a controlling idea that limits the topic and guides the flow of the paragraph. The
controlling idea tells the reader what you will say about your topic. Here are two topic
sentences. The topic is circled and the controlling idea is underlined.
4. Recent research has shown once again that eating dark green, leafy vegetables such as
• Soccer is popular for many reasons. broccoli and cabbage may reduce the risk of some types of cancer.
Explanation:  The reader expects the paragraph to explain why soccer is popular.
Expectation:
• Many language students prefer bilingual dictionaries to monolingual dictionaries.
Explanation: The reader expects the paragraph to explain why this statement is true.

2. It is not a fact. For example, “Libraries have books” is not a good topic sentence. The 5. Although buying a house may seem like a good idea, renting an apartment has many advantages.
information in this sentence is true, but it is a fact and there is little to say about it.
Expectation:
3. It is specific. “Tea is delicious” is not a good topic sentence because the information in the
sentence is too general. If you want to write a paragraph about tea, make your topic sentence
more specific, such as “Green tea has many health benefits.”
ACTIVITY 4 |R
 ecognizing good topic sentences and
4. It is not too specific. “This dictionary contains more than 42,000 words” limits the topic too
much. There is nothing else for the writer to say, so the paragraph cannot continue.
controlling ideas
Read the three sentences. Check (✓) the best topic sentence. Underline the controlling idea in
that sentence. Be prepared to explain your selections.
ACTIVITY 3 | Recognizing controlling ideas in topic sentences
Read each topic sentence. The topic is circled. Underline the controlling idea. What WORDS TO KNOW Activity 4
information do you expect to find in the paragraph? Share your answers with a partner.
contribution: (n) what someone does to help immigrant: (n) someone who comes to live in a
make something successful different country
WORDS TO KNOW Activity 3 recognize: (v) to give attention or notice to
addictive: (adj) having qualities that make you educational: (adj) describes something that
want to do something again and again teaches or involves learning
advantage: (n) a good or desirable quality or investigator: (n) a person who tries to learn 1. I n an English class, most of the female students receive higher grades than
feature how something happened the males.
confuse: (v) to mix up mentally so one cannot  Research has shown female students like learning languages more than males do.
understand
Many students like languages very much.

1. The new test has three sections dealing with three important skills. 2. Cats are better pets than goldfish for many reasons.
Expectation: Cats and goldfish are both animals.
Cats cannot swim very well, but goldfish can.

2. The shocking crash of the airplane off the coast of Florida confused investigators. 3. The people in my office eat lunch from 11:30 to 12:30.
Expectation: Yesterday I went to work late, and my boss was of course very angry.
Yesterday was the worst day of my life.

48  UNIT 3 • Topic Sentences   49

 4. Paul Cézanne was born in France in the last century. ACTIVITY 7 | Writing topic sentences in paragraphs
 aul Cézanne, the father of modern art, made important contributions to the
P Read the paragraphs and write a topic sentence for each. Be sure to indent the first line.
history of art.
Many of the museum visitors recognized Paul Cézanne's work immediately. WORDS TO KNOW Paragraphs 3.2 to 3.4
connection: (n) an association effective: (adj) useful
5. Many Canadians speak French, and some of them speak Chinese. control: (v) to manage imagine: (v) to make a picture in your head
The current population of Canada includes immigrants from all over the world. culture: (n) the beliefs and actions of a group in sum: (connector) in conclusion
depend (on): (v) to need
 large number of new immigrants live in British Columbia, Canada, but not many
A
of them speak German.
PARAGRAPH 3.2

ACTIVITY 5 | Adding controlling ideas

These topic sentences are too general. Using the same topic, write a topic sentence with a clear
Reasons for Playing Instruments
controlling idea. Then compare your sentences with a partner’s.

1. Flowers are beautiful.

Some people learn to play a musical instrument because they want to have fun. They want
Flowers are the best gift to receive when you are feeling down. to play it with their friends or maybe in a band. Other people learn to play an instrument
OR Only four kinds of flowers grow during the short summers in Alaska. because it is part of their culture. Certain instruments are popular in some cultures, such
as the guitar in Spain or the oud1 in the Middle East. Sometimes, people even learn to play
2. Cats are nice. an instrument because they think it will make them smarter. They want to keep their mind
busy, and music is different from the work they think about all day long. In sum, there is
clearly not just one main reason that people play a musical instrument.

3. Paris is the capital of France. 1

oud: a stringed instrument that is popular in the Middle East

PARAGRAPH 3.3
4. Reading blogs is interesting.

Differences between Modern Reptiles and Dinosaurs

5. Running is a hobby.

One is size. Most modern reptiles are small. Dinosaurs were much larger than any reptile on
ACTIVITY 6 | Studying the controlling idea of a paragraph Earth now. Second, the legs of most reptiles today are on the sides of their body. However,
dinosaurs’ legs were on the bottom of their body. In this way, dinosaurs could stand up
Answer the questions.
on their back legs. Third, today’s reptiles use the environment to control their body
1. Write the topic sentence from Paragraph 3.1 here. temperature. In contrast, dinosaurs controlled their own body temperature. They did not
depend on what was around them. While reptiles and dinosaurs may seem very similar,
they are actually very different.
2. Underline the controlling idea(s) in that topic sentence.
A saltwater crocodile, the world’s
3. How is the controlling idea connected to the information in the paragraph? largest reptile

50  UNIT 3 • Topic Sentences     51

 PARAGRAPH 3.4 ACTIVITY 8 | Identifying types of sentences
Identify each sentence. Write simple, compound, or complex. Be ready to explain your answers.
A Method for Learning New Words
A hatchet 1. When I walked into the room, I was very nervous.

2.  eijing has many famous tourist attractions, such as the Imperial

B
Palace, Tian’anmen Square, and the Lama Temple.

3.  entral Park has a zoo and many other interesting places to visit, but
C
sometimes it is too cold to visit in the winter.
In the Keyword Method, language learners make a connection
between the sound of the word they are trying to learn and a word in 4.  good writer learns to create longer, more detailed sentences from
A
their first language. For example, a Japanese learner of English might simple ideas.
connect the English word hatchet with the Japanese word hachi,
5. Some families do not have the extra time that pets require.
which means “eight,” because the two words have a similar sound. In
the second step, learners make a picture in their heads to help them 6.  lthough Bolívar’s name is not as well-known outside Latin America,
A
remember the word. In this case, the learner might imagine a person many people there consider him the most important historical person.
using a hatchet to cut down eight trees. For many language learners,
the Keyword Method is effective. 7.  razil and Chile are near each other, but these two South American
B
countries are very different in geography, population, and language.

8.  ike most countries in South America, the majority of people in Chile

L
Grammar: Complex Sentences speak Spanish.
Three kinds of sentences are important for your writing: simple, compound, and complex. 9.  efore e-readers were invented, students had to carry several heavy
B
books with them each day.
• a simple sentence has one independent clause. An independent clause has one
subject-verb relationship, and it can stand alone as a sentence. 10. E-readers are wireless, so students can carry them anywhere.
People from many different cultures live in Los Angeles.
• a compound sentence has two independent clauses that can stand alone. The two clauses ACTIVITY 9 | Identifying types of complex sentences
are connected with words such as and, but, so.
Underline the dependent clause in each sentence. Write Adj if it is an adjective clause or Adv if
The weather there is hot, and it often rains. it is an adverb clause.
• a complex sentence has one independent clause and one dependent clause Each clause has
1. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
a subject-verb relationship. A dependent clause cannot stand alone. Here are two common
types of dependent clauses. 2. If your photocopies cost 21 cents, your change should be four cents.
TYPE OF DEPENDENT CLAUSE EXAMPLES OF COMPLEX SENTENCES
3. Gumbo is a thick soup that is made with shrimp and vegetables.
An adjective clause gives more information about People who exercise regularly are healthier.
a noun it follows. It begins with a relative pronoun Dictionaries that have two languages are useful. 4. Bush became president after Clinton was president for eight years.
(who/whom, that, or which).

An adverb clause begins with a connecting word, They play the guitar because they enjoy it. 5. The season that many young children enjoy a lot is summer.
such as because (reason); before, after, when (time); Before they start working, they check email.
if (condition); although (contrast). 6.  ecause they do not go to school in summer, children often like summer more
B
than other seasons.

7. Most people become angry when their computer freezes.

8. In class, we discussed problems that were common in the 1990s.

52  UNIT 3 • Topic Sentences   53

 Mechanics: Commas ACTIVITY 11 | Comma practice in a paragraph
Commas are very important in writing because they help the reader understand the writer’s Insert six commas in the paragraph where necessary. Be prepared to explain your choices.
message more easily. Some sentences are correct with no commas.

EXPLANATION EXAMPLES
WORDS TO KNOW Paragraph 3.5
Lists:
economy: (n) the production of a place therefore: (connector) as a result
A comma shows that a list has three or more things. I speak English, Spanish, and Japanese.
We do not use a comma with two things. We use and I speak English and Spanish.
instead of a comma.

Compound sentences: PARAGRAPH 3.5

A comma separates two independent clauses when
I speak three languages, but Adam speaks five.
there is a coordinating conjunction, such as and, but,
Malaysia and Thailand
so, or.

Introductory words or phrases: Because Malaysia and Thailand are next to each other we might think that these two
A comma separates the subject from:
  • prepositional phrases (In the winter of 1995, . . .) Last summer, the beach lost a lot of sand. countries share many similarities. In some ways, this is true. For example both countries
  •  sequence words (first, next, finally) First, you will need to get a pencil.
are warm all year long. Both have many miles of beautiful beaches that attract tourists. In
  • transition words or phrases (However, Therefore, Therefore, we will not complete the project.
In addition) addition the economy of both countries is growing. However there are also several clear
Adverb clauses:
Because I speak three languages, I can differences. For one, Malaysians and Thais speak completely different languages. The
When the adverb clause is at the beginning of a
communicate with many people.
sentence, use a comma after it.
I can communicate with many people because I
population of Malaysia is about 31 million while the population of Thailand is about 69
Do not use a comma if the adverb clause is at the
speak three languages. million. Thailand has a king, but Malaysia does not. Finally, Malaysia was part of Britain
end of a sentence.
Note: For more information on commas, see Capitalization and Punctuation” in the Writers Handbook. at one time but Thailand was never British. Therefore the fact that two countries are near
each other does not always mean that they are similar.
ACTIVITY 10 | Comma practice in sentences
Insert commas where necessary. Write the number of the comma rule/(s) (1, 2, 3, 4) on the line. Grilled vegetables and meat at Alor Street Food Night Market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sometimes more than one rule is possible. Food vendor
selling home-
cooked local
1. 2  razil is surrounded by Spanish-speaking countries, but most people in Brazil
B dishes at a
speak Portuguese. street market
stall, Sabah,
2. The flags of Chile France and Norway have blue white and red sections. Malaysia

3. Fortunately no one was hurt in the accident that happened yesterday.

4. Italian French Spanish and Portuguese came from Latin.

5. My friend has an e-reader and she convinced me to buy one.

6. In the summer of 1940 German soldiers entered France.

7.  ecause English came from German there are many similar words in the two
B
languages.

8. If you want to make cookies you need flour sugar oil and vanilla.

54  UNIT 3 • Topic Sentences   55

 advantage connection culture depend imagine
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
6. to have an

WORDS TO KNOW 7. a between two things

addictive (adj) culture (n) AW improve (v)
advantage (n) depend (on) (v) in good shape (idiom) 8. on your parents for a place to live
climb (v) economy (n) AW in sum (connector) AW
confuse (v) educational (adj) investigator (n) AW
9. being in a car with no driver
connection (n) effective (adj) recognize (v)
contribution (n) AW imagine (v) reduce (v)
control (v) immigrant (n) AW therefore (connector) 10. normal in my

ACTIVITY 14 | Word forms

ACTIVITY 12 | Word associations
Complete each sentence with the correct word form. Use the correct forms of the words.
Circle the word or phrase that is more closely related to the bold word on the left.
NOUN VERB ADJECTIVE ADVERB SENTENCES
1. climb go down go up
connection connect connected 1. A conjunction such as and
2. confuse get it right make a mistake two clauses.
3. depend need try 2. After you have the
4. economy food money wire to the TV, it should work.
5. effective useful useless 3. Argentina and Mexico share a historical
6. imagine speak think
.
7. improve better worse culture cultural culturally 4. Argentina and Mexico may share a language,
8. in sum long short but they differ
9. recognize know not know 5. Many different exist
10. therefore but so
around the globe.

ACTIVITY 13 | Collocations dependence depend dependent 6. Success in school

Fill in the blank with the word that most naturally completes the phrase. on many people.

climb contribution effective reduce sum effect effective effectively 7. One of the new law

is that teachers’ salaries will not increase.

1. waste
8. What are strategies

2. a to science for learning new vocabulary?

3. a tree imagination imagine imaginary 9. In winter, I I am in a

warmer place.
4. a very leader
10. Experienced teachers encourage students

5. in to use their .

56  UNIT 3 • Topic Sentences   57

 ACTIVITY 15 | Vocabulary in writing ACTIVITY 17 | Writing sentences
Choose five words from Words to Know. Write a complete sentence with each word. Use Write an original sentence using the words listed. You may change the form of the nouns
because, if, before, after, when, while, or although in two of your sentences. Remember to use (singular/plural) and verbs (tenses).
commas correctly.
1. (politician / years) One of the local politicians has been in office for 18 years.
1.

2. (a new car / because)

2.

3. (if / cancel)
3.

4. (famous / France)
4.

5. (average / price)
5.

6. (one / most difficult)

BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES

ACTIVITY 18 | Combining sentences
ACTIVITY 16 | Editing Combine the ideas into one sentence. You may change the word forms, but do not change or
omit any ideas. There may be more than one answer.
Each sentence has (x) number of errors. Find and correct them.

1. Although some politicians in this country believes that the new law will make a difference 1. A condition requires attention.
The condition is a medical condition.
in electricity costs most people think there will be no change. (2) The condition is serious.
The attention is immediate.
2. In the sum, gasoline prices will continue to rise each year, because companies want make
more money on gasoline sales. (3)

3. Although some teachers retire when they are 55 year old the normal retirement age for a
2. Canada is a country.
teacher in U.K. is 60. (3) Canada is large.
The population of Canada is very small.
4. Brazil ranks fifth in population and it is the fifth most big country in the world. (2)

5. According to the article people thought their dinner tasted better, when they did not use
social media. (2)

6. When a airplane take off the pilot and other crew are very busy. (3)
58  UNIT 3 • Topic Sentences   59
 3. The assignment is to write a paper. ACTIVITY 21 | Peer editing
The assignment is the last one.
The assignment is for our history class. Work with a partner. Read your partner’s paragraph from Activity 20. Use Peer Editing Form 3
in the Writer's Handbook. Offer positive suggestions to help your partner write a better
The class is British History.
paragraph. Consider your partner’s comments as you revise your paragraph.
The paper should explain how the War of 1812 started.

Additional Topics for Writing

Here are more ideas for writinga paragraph. When you write your paragraph, follow the
guidelines for Activity 20.
WRITING TOPIC 1: Look at the photo at the beginning of the unit. Write about a childhood memory
of playing outside. Who were you with? How did you feel?

ACTIVITY 19 | Brainstorming ideas for a paragraph TOPIC 2: Write about your daily routine. What do you do, and when? How many things do
you do in a day? What is the best part of your day or week?
Choose one of these topics. Brainstorm ideas about it and write your ideas in a list or on a diagram.
When you have finished, circle the ideas that you think are best to include in a paragraph. TOPIC 3: Write about a famous person you would like to meet. What has this person done
that is interesting to you? What would you talk about? What would you hope to
• animal communication • learning a language learn from the experience?
• international flights • smartphones
TOPIC 4: Write about two vacation destinations. Which is better? Compare the sights. What
is similar, and what is different? What are some activities you can do while in each
ACTIVITY 20 | Writing a paragraph
of these places?
Use your brainstorming notes from Activity 19 to write a paragraph. Follow these guidelines.
TOPIC 5: Write about your favorite relative. Who is this person? What qualities make this
1. Begin your paragraph with a topic sentence that has a clear controlling idea. person special? How does this person make others feel?

2. Use at least two of the vocabulary words or phrases presented in Words to Know.
3. Make sure that your paragraph has the four features as outlined in Unit 1. TEST PREP
You should spend about 25 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic:
Elephants touching, to greet each other,
Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa In your opinion, why do so many people want to learn English?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or
experience. Remember to include a topic sentence with a controlling idea. Write at least
150 words.

TIP
Be sure that your topic sentence has a logical controlling idea. Remember that your topic
sentence guides your paragraph. If the topic sentence is not clear, the reader will have difficulty
following your supporting ideas.

60  UNIT 3 • Topic Sentences   61