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A paragraph is a group of sentences that are properly related and that develop a single topic effectively.It resembles a tree in structure and in its inner relationship—the trunk corresponds to the central idea, while the branches and the roots, the subordinate details that are closely related to the topic, help to develop it.In this respect, it goes without saying that a paragraph should treat a single topic, include whatever is needed to develop the topic, and exclude everything that is not directly related to the topic.There is usually a sentence that states the central idea of the paragraph; it is called the topic sentence, usually short and to the point.The topic sentence is usually placed at the beginning of the paragraph.When learning to build good paragraphs, we begin with the topic sentence.

A paragraph is formed of a group of related sentences that are linked together to discuss one main idea.The main idea is usually in a topic sentence, which is often, but not always,the first sentence in a paragraph.All the other sentences relate to the topic sentence,providing information (including facts, details, examples, reasons, statistics, and anecdotes)to support or develop the main idea.

An essay is composed of a series of related paragraphs that are joined together to develop one central point on the basis of the writer’s viewpoint.The central point is normally stated in a thesis statement, which is located often, but not always, in the first paragraph.All the other paragraphs support and develop the central point.

In a way, an essay can be likened to an expanded paragraph.Among other things, just as an effective paragraph has its major characteristics of unity, support and coherence, so an effective essay has its essential characteristics of unity, support and coherence.

An essay has unity when the central point of the essay is clearly stated and accurately related to by all the other paragraphs.An essay has support when the central point of the essay is fully supported or effectively developed by specific information.An essay has coherence when the supporting information of the essay is logically organized and smoothly linked.

A paragraph is a group of sentences that develops one central idea.In itself it is an independent unit, but it also functions as part of a larger whole—an essay.

A paragraph may appear to be a simple construction, but underlying it is definite structure of parts and connections.A paragraph usually has three parts: topic sentence,development (supporting) sentences, and concluding sentence.

The topic sentence, presenting the topic or main idea of the paragraph, serves as the crucial part which attaches the paragraph to the whole and also defines the function of the sentences it controls and manages.Topic sentence supplies the direction; supporting sentences supply evidences, make refinements, and develop the main idea, concluding sentence gets the conclusion from the above discussion.

Let’s see the framework of a paragraph.

Studying the following example:

It is obvious that cheating has very bad effects.Firstly, scores got by cheating cannot indicate one’s weakness of knowledge and ability.So it’s difficult for the teacher to be aware of the student’s weakness so to offer some help.Secondly, cheating in exams, like flu, may encourage other students to follow suit, for some students can be awarded prizes and permitted to enter a good universities by cheating in exams.Thirdly, it is not helpful for fair competition.Some students do not work hard, but their grades are very high.Fourthly,cheating sometimes destroys students’ moral development.Many students would confess that they have cheating experiences.Nowadays, a lot of parents only care more about their children’s success than about their moral development, which stimulates students to get high scores dishonestly.It is really bad for student to build up their moral belief.Therefore,cheating in exams has a lot of disadvantages.

Topic sentence: It is obvious that cheating has very bad effects.

Supporting sentences:

1.Firstly, scores got by cheating cannot indicate one’s weakness of knowledge and ability.

2.Secondly, cheating in exams, like flu, may encourage other students to follow suit, for some students can be awarded prizes and permitted to enter a good universities by cheating in exams.

3.Thirdly, it is not helpful for fair competition.

4.Fourthly, cheating sometimes destroys students’ moral development.

Concluding sentence: Therefore, cheating in exams has a lot of disadvantages.

Discussing the structure of the following paragraphs.

We all know that cigarette smoking is a dangerous habit because it causes health problems.Doctors say it can be a direct cause of cancer of the lungs and throat and can also contribute to cancer of other organs.In addition, it can bring about other health problems such as heart and lung diseases.It is clearly identified as one of the chief causes of death in our society.

The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs.For example, in both America and England, people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time.Also, most English men will open the door for a woman or offer their seats to a woman, and so will most Americans.Promptness is important both in England and in America.That is, if a dinner invitation is for 7 o’clock, the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delay.

Life in the city is quite different from that of in the suburbs.People living in the city are constantly exposed to the hustle and bustle of urban life.But life in the suburbs is generally quiet and casual and generally more low-key than in the city.If city dwellers want to see trees and grass, they must go to one of the public parks.On the other hand, the streets of many suburban communities are lined with trees and shrubs, and each house has its own grassy yard.A person living in the city is close to many sources of entertainment, but people living in suburban areas must go into the city for entertainment.

To be successful in a job interview, the applicant should demonstrate certain personal and professional qualities.In as much as the first and often lasting impression of a person is determined by the clothes one wears, the job applicant should take care to appear well-groomed and modestly dressed, avoiding the extremes of too elaborate or too casual attire.Besides care for personal appearance, one should pay close attention to one’s manner of speaking, which should be neither showy nor too familiar but rather straightforward,grammatically accurate, and friendly.In addition, one should be prepared to talk knowledgeably about the requirements of the position for which one is applying in relation to one’s own professional experience and interests.And finally, the all impressive applicant must convey a sense of self-confidence and enthusiasm for work, factors which all interviewers value highly.The job seeker who displays these characteristics, with just a little luck, will certainly succeed in a typical personal interview.

Devote some of your leisure, I repeat, to cultivating a love of reading good books.Fortunate indeed are those who contrive to make themselves genuine book lovers.For book lovers have some noteworthy advantages over other people.They need never know lonely hours so long as they have books around them, and the better the books the more delightful the company.From good books, moreover, they draw much besides entertainment.They gain mental food such as few companions can supply.Even while resting from their labors they are,through the books they read, equipping themselves to perform those labors more efficiently.This albeit they may not be deliberately reading to improve their mind.All unconsciously the ideas they derive from the printed pages are stored up, to be worked over by the imagination for their future profit.

The sky is clear blue.Sparrows chirp in the early mornings.The fruit in the backyard are beginning to bloom.The hills are turning green, and purple and yellow wildflowers are appearing in the fields.The snow on top of Camel Mountain has all melted.It must finally be spring.

The pine, placed nearly always among scenes disordered and desolate, brings into them all possible elements of order and precision.Lowland tress may lean to this side and that,though it is but a meadow breeze that bends them, or a bank of cowslips from which their tanks lean aslope.But let storm and avalanche do their worst, and let the pine find only a ledge of vertical precipice to cling to, it will nevertheless grow straight.Thrust a rod from its last shoot down the stem; it shall point to the center of the earth as long as the tree lives.It may be well also for lowland branches to reach hither and thither for what they need, and to take all kinds of irregular shape and extension.But the pine is trained to need nothing and endure everything.It is resolvedly whole, self-contained, desiring nothing but rightness,content with restricted completion.Tall or short, it will be straight.

There are three basic kinds of materials that can be found in any good library.First, there are books on all subjects, both in English and in many other languages.These books are organized according to subject, title, and author in a central filing system called card catalog.Books can generally be checked out of the library and taken home for a period of two to four weeks.Second, there are reference materials, which include encyclopedias, dictionaries,bibliographies, atlases, etc., and which generally must be used in the library itself.Third,there are periodicals-magazines, newspapers, pamphlets-which are filed alphabetically in racks or which have been micro-filmed to conserve space.Like reference works, periodicals cannot usually be removed from the library.

James strolled in park, feeling his clothes stirred gently by the soft, sweet summer air,already warm at 8:00 a.m.He noticed that the sky was radiantly blue and completely cloudless.The bright early sunlight was making the lush grass an especially rich, warm shade of green.It was a beautiful morning for a walk.

Many people are worried about what television has done to the generation of American children who have grown up watching it.For one thing, recent studies tend to show that TV stifles creative imagination.Some teachers feel that television has taken away the child’s ability to form mental pictures in his own mind, resulting in children who cannot understand a simple story without visual illustrations.Secondly, too much TV too early tends to cause children to withdraw from real life experiences.Thus, they grow up to be passive spectators who can only respond to action, but not initiate it.The third area for concern is the serious complaint frequently made by elementary school teachers that children exhibit a low tolerance for the frustrations of learning.Because they have been conditioned to see all problems resolved in 30 or 60 minutes on TV, they are quickly discouraged by any activity that promises less than instant gratification.But perhaps the most serious result is the impact of television violence on children, who have come to regard it as an everyday thing.Not only does this increase their tolerance of violent behavior in others, but most authorities now concede that under certain conditions, some children will imitate antisocial acts that they witness on television.

There are two paragraphs in the each of the following groups, please read them carefully and decide which paragraph is better in each of the group and why.

I have an old bicycle which my father gave me for my 12th birthday.I received a lot of presents that day, but the bicycle was my favorite one.We had cake and ice cream at the party.Then we rode our bicycles to the park.Jim had an accident on his bicycle and had to see a doctor.Then it started t rain.I rode my bicycle back home and did my homework.After dinner I took my bicycle out again and rode around the neighborhood.All my friends wanted to try my new bike.It was my favorite present that day.What a busy birthday I had.

My bicycle is old, but it isn’t useless.Many of my friends and family members tell me that I should buy a new bicycle, but my old one still works well.I can ride it to the stores, to the park, and to school.It is so old that no one will steal it.Someone might steal a new bicycle, but not an old one.Last week my mother’s motorcycle had a problem, so she borrowed my bicycle to visit her friends.Sometimes a bicycle is even more useful than a motorcycle.We should not throw things away just because they are old.We should use things till they become useless.

The birds were singing early in the morning.They woke me up, and I dressed myself in my new clothes.I had bought them in a department store just the day before.They were on sale, and there were more people in the department store than I had ever seen before.I was lucky to find the clothes I wanted on sale.After breakfast, I went to school and showed off my new clothes.

I heard the first birds singing, but they didn’t wake me up.Actually, I couldn’t get to sleep that night.As the first light entered my bedroom, I saw them laid out on my chair, just waiting for me to wear.The day before I had bought these new clothes on sale at a department store.I didn’t mid all the people because I found just the clothes I wanted.I felt so excited because I could sow them off at school.

My brother’s room is the messiest room in the world! If you can open his door, you will first notice that you cannot walk easily inside his room.Old magazines and comic books are all over the floor.I don’t think that a dog would sleep in his bed because of all the dirty clothes on it.His desk looks like a garbage can.Only a pig would be happy in my brother’s room.Can you imagine a messier room than my brother’s?

I support the city governments on drunk driving.Many people complain that the new law against drunk driving is too strict, but I don’t agree.No one has the right to hurt others.Drunk drivers sometimes hit other cars and even kill other people.Laws are made to protect everyone, not only people who like to drink.Besides, you can drink and have someone else drive you home or simply take a taxi.Drunk driving is dangerous for everyone, so I support the strict new law by the city government against drunk driving.

Courage is the willingness to take a risk when the outcome is uncertain, and when the risk taken may involve harm, loss, or danger to the one taking it.The courageous person fears no one and nothing.He or she is undaunted by danger or peril.He or she will venture boldly into an uncertain situation, hardly giving a thought to the harm or consequences which may result to his or her person.

Courage is the willingness to take a risk when the outcome is uncertain, and when the risk taken may involve harm, loss, or danger to the one taking it.For example, in a Los Angeles suburb, a twelve-year-old girl ran into a burning house to rescue her baby brother,pulled him unconscious out of the burning bedroom, and dragged him down the stairs and outside to safety.This was arousing display of courage.The girl had been safe outside the flaming house when she remembered her sleeping brother.Disregarding her personal safety,she plunged into the flaming house to save him.

Choose the best concluding sentence for each of the following paragraph.

What is your favorite restaurant? Mine is Friday’s, of course.At Friday’s I can order any kind of western food I like, such as hamburger, salad, French fries, steak, and all kinds of sandwiches.The waiters and waitresses wear funny and interesting clothes, too, and their service is very good.Although Friday’s is not as cheap as McDonald’s, it is not very expensive, either.

A.Friday’s is my favorite restaurant because of its delicious food.

B.Friday’s is my favorite restaurant because they serve well.

C.To sum up, because its price is high, Friday’s is my favorite restaurant.

D.All in all, because of the good price, great service, and reasonable price, Friday’s is my favorite restaurant.

A field trip to a museum is the best way to learn about art.Last month our art teacher took us on a field trip to the Museum of Modern Art.We took a bus to the museum and spent two hours there.Looking at real paintings and sculptures is much more interesting and educational than looking at them in books.The museum also gave everyone a small book to explain the art.

A.Looking at paintings and sculptures in books give us much fun.

B.Schools arrange field trips for students.

C.Seeing real works of art in a museum is the best way to appreciate art.

D.A museum gives students a lot of information about art.

My parents and teachers always told me not to smoke, but I wanted to try it.My best friend David smokes, and one day he gave me a cigarette.“here, try this, ”he said.“You’ll like it.” At first I put the wrong end of the cigarette into my mouth, but David showed me how to do it right.The he lit it.Oh, my God! I coughed for almost an hour, and then I threw up..

A.I think I’ll listen to my parents and teachers from now on.

B.I think I need to spend time trying to learn how to smoke.

C.I think smoking is bad for our health.

D.I think my friend David needs to teach me how to smoke.

Of the four seasons in a year, summer is my favorite.In autumn, you never know what to wear.One day is hot, but the next day is cold.Winter is not only cold, but it is also the time when many people get sick.Spring brings too much rain.Summer is the time for travel,relaxation and fun.____________________________.

A.That’s why people like summer very much.

B.For me, summer is the best season of the year.

C.Summer brings us a lot of fun.

D.Spring is the best season of all.

Do you know the difference between red meat and white meat? Red meat means meats which are red in color, like beef and pork.White meat, of course, means, eats which are white in color, like chicken and duck.Seafood is usually considered white meat, too.Doctors say that white meat is better for our health than red meat, but it is all right to eat some red meat.____________________________.

A.Red meat and white meat are both the same; they are of the same kind.

B.Although white meat is better for our health than red meat, remember not to eat too much meat.

C.So, there is no difference between red meat and white meat.

D.Truly, people like both red and white meat.

Write concluding sentences for the following paragraphs according to the directions.You need to identify the topic sentence and read the passages carefully before the actual writing.

1.Alternative energy sources are becoming increasingly attractive as the energy crisis becomes more severe.Solar heating systems, which use the sun’s radiation as a source of energy, are a promising alternative energy source.Nuclear power plants are already in operation in several parts of the country.Government and private industry are even investing the possibility of capturing the power of ocean waves and tides for conversation into usable energy.(Directions: Conclude the paragraph by summarizing the main idea of it.)

2.The best place for me to forget all my worries is under a palm tree at dusk.When I am worried about a problem or just want to be alone, I will go to the beach around six in the afternoon and sit in the shade of a palm tree.The sand is a little hard to sit on, but this does not bother me.As the wind blows like a whistle, and the waves become softer as they reach the shore, the air will have a slight smell of the sea.The pelicans pass by in groups of seven before they disappear behind the horizon.Others float on the water, there is an immense silence; the sun begins to descend, and the sky changes from tones of dark blue to canary yellow and finally to deep orange.(Directions: Conclude the paragraph by showing the result of sitting on the beach.)

3.Cooking in a microwave oven has simplified my hectic life.Instead of having to wait the interminable ten minutes for my morning coffee, I can place my cup in the micro and have hot coffee in seconds.I no longer have to decide in the foggy morning what ingredients must be defrosted for the evening meal.I now come home at 5 p.m., decide what I feel like eating,and have it defrosted in a matter of minutes.The shortened cooking time means I can have full course meals that once took me hours to cook.The microwave also makes clean-up much easier because the dish I cook in is the dish I eat in.(Directions: Sum up the main points in your ending sentence.)

4.Video cassette recorders (VCRs) give more choice in television programs.Many viewers tape shows to watch later.For example, people who work during the day record daytime news programs, talk shows, movies and soap operas.Parents make collections of children’s shows to give their children “rainy day” entertainment.Sometimes a family goes out for the evening.However, their VCRs keep them from missing their favorite prime time shows.(Directions: Restate the topic sentence to conclude the paragraph.)

5.Since I began to study English, I have noticed three kinds of persistent errors in my speech; I think theses errors are also the most common mistakes made by Spanish-speaking students.The first is that I speak sentences which are similar to Spanish.For instance, I will say, “I have bought a blouse nice” in stead of “a nice blouse”.Another mistake is that I often translate directly from Spanish, forgetting the characteristic idiomatic expressions in English like “getting along with”.Some vocabulary words can’t be translated in English for eating utensils which aren’t necessarily made of silver.My final mistake in spoken English is the grammatical problem of verb endings: I will often say “She do the shopping” instead of“does” or “It is possible solve your problems” instead of “to solve”.(Directions: Conclude the paragraph by drawing an inference.)

6.Pollution has caused three major problems in the last decades.First, with the development of industry, more and more factories have been built and have sent out smoke and poisonous gases.Thus the air is polluted.The increasing number of cars adds to the air pollution.Second, farmers use chemical fertilizers to increase production and insecticide to kill insects.When rain flows with these poisonous chemicals to rivers, water is polluted.A third form of pollution, noise, is becoming more and more serious.Very loud noises can make people sick, and even drive them mad.(Directions: Conclude the paragraph by summarizing the main idea of it.)

7.There are three important findings from studies concerned with note taking.First, note taking does not interfere with listening and comprehension; in fact, it helps you listen.Second,students who study their lecture notes remember one and a half times more after six weeks than students who do not review.Third, students who take no notes, or do not study their notes, forget approximately 80 percent of the lecture by the end of two weeks.From these findings we can conclude that students who take enough notes and then study them, both directly after the lecture and several additional times before an examination, stand a good chance of remembering between 90 and 100% of the material! (Directions: Conclude the paragraph by drawing an inference.)

Decide which paragraph is better and why.

“Practice makes perfect” is really a good saying.At the beginning of our summer vocation, my friends invite me to go swimming with them.I was embarrassed to tell them that I couldn’t swim.My best friend Jill told me that she would help teach me.Every day during the vacation for an hour or two, Jill slowly taught me how to swim.Before our classes began again, I could swim one time across the swimming pool.How happy I was! I now understand the true meaning of friendship.

Now I really understand what “Practice makes perfect” means.Half a year ago, I didn’t know how to swim.To be honest, I was even afraid of going into a swimming pool.My best friend Jill told me that she would be glad to teach me how to swim.Day after day during the summer vacation, Jill spent an hour or two with me every day, showing me how to swim.At the end of the summer vacation, I could swim once across the pool.I never felt so happy in my life! Now I realize that, if you want to succeed at anything, you must practice day after day until you are successful.