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A paragraph follows a straight-line thought pattern, which is characterized by a statement of the central idea (known as “topic sentence”) at the beginning, followed by a series of supporting details that develop the central idea.It is important to understand this direct line of development in a paragraph.And it is equally important to know that the ideas in a paragraph are clearly related to each other in orderly sequence, with each sentence naturally leading to the next sentence in explaining the main idea.Compare the following two pairs of sentences:

Something kept Doris awake.

A tree was shaking in the wind.

I pulled off my shirt and pants.

In the first example, the second statement explains the reason why Doris was kept awake,thus further developing the idea in the first statement.In the second pair, however, the second sentence does not contain an idea that logically follows that in the first, and the two sentences are not coherent.

An effective paragraph not only achieves unity, but also coherence.Both are indispensable.While unity is concerned with ideas or content, coherence is concerned with the form of expression.Coherence refers to the smooth moving from one sentence to the next.If the sentences are well connected, the paragraph is coherent.Careless jumping can only create gaps, leaving the reader confused.

Coherence makes an unbroken forward movement, helping the writer to move smoothly from one sentence to another.To ensure the smooth flow of ideas within a paragraph, you can use many possibilities to achieve coherence.Some commonly used ways of organizing paragraphs are:

1.Spatial order: telling about things as they are arranged in space (top to bottom, 1eft to right, and so on), e.g.:

Carlos looked at the scene from the summit of Mt.Jolmo Lungma.In the distant north he saw Tibet.A bit closer, he saw some of the lower peaks of the Himalayan range.On the ledge about one thousand feet below him, he saw the figures of some of the men who had helped him prepare for his final climb to the top.

This paragraph begins with an object that is farthest away from a viewer and then in each sentence move gradually closer to the point where the viewer is standing.

2.Chronological order: telling about things in the time order in which they happened(first this happened, then this), e.g.:

First, pre-heat, cool, and weigh a clean, dry Pyrex test tube on a chemical balance to the nearest 0.0 1 g.Next，record the mass in the Data Table on the following page.Use a platform balance to weigh out approximately 1.5 g of C.P.grade copper (II) oxide.Then transfer it to the Pyrex tube.Now reweigh the tube and contents to the nearest 0.01 g.Do not forget to record the mass as before.

In this paragraph, the steps of the process are arranged in time sequence, that is, in the order in which they actually happen.

3.Climactic order: telling about things in their order of importance (from the least important to the most important), e.g.:

An author has many different ways to show what a character is like.Certain hand movements, ways of speaking, or styles of dress tell some things about a character.Other characters may talk about the character, or the author may even make revealing comments.How a character reacts to something done to him or her is also important.But the most important information comes from what a character says and from what a character does.

Following the topic, the writer gives some less important examples of the controlling idea “different ways”, saving the most important ways till the end of the paragraph.

4.Logical order: giving specific facts leading to a general conclusion, or stating a generalization explained by specific facts (inductive or deductive order), e.g.:

Give students a chance to grow.Do not mold them from one of a thousand patterns.Let them seek knowledge, but do not find it for them.Let them learn patience; do not force it on them.Let them take their own time to grow; do not set rigid time schedules.Most of all, do not push them against a stone wall, crushing them with knowledge gained from the experience of others.Experience cannot be taught.It must come slowly through personal search.

The specific facts that are given in the first six sentences lead inductively to a general conclusion that is stated in the closing statement.

5.The use of Pronouns

Pronouns stand for nouns that appear earlier in the sentence or in previous sentences.Using pronouns in proper places prevents monotony and promotes clarity.

English is considered an international language.It is spoken by more than 260 million people all over the world.

Professional writers begin by trying to interest readers.They never start by saying, “How can I avoid making mistakes?” They ask themselves this question instead: “How can I make people pay attention to what I am saying and take my writing seriously?” Good writers want to be correct.They know that if they use incorrect spelling, sloppy punctuation, erratic grammar, and rough syntax, they will destroy the effect of their writing—just as a pianist who hits a few wrong notes will destroy the effect of a Beethoven concerto.But professional writers never assume that correctness is enough in itself.They want to engage readers and keep them engaged.

6.The repetition of key nouns and key word groups

To repeat the important words in the previous sentences, particularly the controlling ideas in the topic sentence, helps to remind the reader of the focus.These words will remove the trouble of going back to see what you are talking about.Sometimes the word may appear in different forms.(In the following samples, the italicized words are the repetition of the key words.)

Although most people know that the success of a television show is measured by its ratings, few know exactly how shows are rated.First, a rating company installs meters in a few thousand representative homes in a particular area.When the television set in one of these homes is turned on, the meter records the day, time, and the channel.The meter then electronically sends this information to the rating company’s headquarters.A computer at the headquarters records all of the information from all the homes in the area.Finally, the computer prints a rating sheet that shows how mary homes watched each show and which shows are the most popular.

Good writers want to be correct.They know that if they use incorrect spelling, sloppy punctuation, erratic grammar, and rough syntax, they will destroy the effect of their writing—just as a pianist who hits a few wrong notes will destroy the effect of a Beethoven concerto.But professional writers never assume that correctness is enough in itself.They want to engage readers and keep them engaged.

7.Avoiding pronouns shifts

A common problem student writers have is switching to different pronouns within the same paragraph.Note that coherence is broken in the paragraph below because it contains a number of pronoun shifts.The writer switches to different personal pronouns, sometimes the second person, sometimes the third person, to refer to people in general.

You can make a lot of money selling door-to-door if you have the right personality.A person can’t get easily discouraged or he or she will have little success.If one is determined and willing to be rejected, you can do quite well.People who make money selling door-to-door realize that rejection is a big part of one’s life as a salesperson.

There are four ways to refer to people in general: you, people, a person, or me.Choose one only for your paragraph and be consistent rather than shifting from one to another.To correct the pronoun-shifting problem in the above paragraph, use “you” throughout.

8.Using transitional signals

Transitional signals are useful words or phrases for helping the reader grasp the connections in a paragraph.These connecting words or paragraphs permit easy passage from one sentence or idea to the next.Words like “first”, “next”, “for example” are like road signs,helping to point the way, to keep the direction clear.They tie ideas together in a paragraph.

Compare the following two groups and notice the difference transitional words make.

Speaking and writing are different in many ways.Speech depends on sounds.Writing uses written symbols.Speech developed about 500,000 years ago.Written language is a recent development.It was invented only about six thousand years ago.Speech is usually informal.The word choice of writing is often relatively formal.Pronunciation and accent often tell where the speaker is from.Pronunciation and accent are ignored in writing.A standard diction and spelling system prevails in the written language of most countries.Speech relies on gesture, loudness, and rise and fall of the voice.Writing lacks gesture,loudness and the rise and fall of the voice.Careful speakers and writers are aware of the differences.

Speaking and writing are different in many ways.Speech depends on sounds; writing, on the other hand, uses written symbols.Speech was developed about 500,000 years ago, but written language is a recent development, invented only about six thousand years ago.Speech is usually informal, while the word choice of writing, by contrast, is often relatively formal.Although pronunciation and accent often tell where the speaker is from, they are ignored in wiring because a standard diction and spelling system prevails in most countries.Speech relies on gesture, loudness, and the rise and fall of the voice, but writing lacks these features.Careful speakers and writers are aware of the differences．

To get the most out of his textbooks, a student should follow several steps very carefully.He should make a survey of each book to get a general idea of what the book contains.He should read for understanding and formulate questions.He should make notes of the major points of each chapter.He should test himself to be sure that he can answer questions likely to be raised in class and in examinations.He should review his notes and reread any parts of the book that are unclear to him.

To get the most out of his textbooks, a student should follow several steps very carefully.First, He should make a survey of each book to get a general idea of what the book contains.Second, He should read for understanding and formulate questions.Next, he should make notes of the major points of each chapter.After that he should test himself to be sure that he can answer questions likely to be raised in class and in examinations.Finally, he should review his notes and reread any parts of the book that are unclear to him.

Rearrange the following sentences so that the new order forms a coherent paragraph.

1.a.Then, too, my mother wanted me to stay close to my sister.

b.I argued that two years of study abroad would help me a lot at this stage of my career.

c.For one thing, my father was not well.

d.Finally my sister offered to stay at home alone during my absence.

e.I found it hard to leave my home and travel to another land.

f.This made some of my problems begin to vanish.

2.a.Then you will come to a hallway leading to the library’s music room.

b.Walking around the information desk to the left, you will pass a children’s reading room on your right.

c.The sign reads, “To the Music Room”.

d.As you enter the main door of the library, you will see the information desk directly in front of you.

d.At the end of the hallway you will see a sign.

3.a.Later, as people began to multiply and move, they began to change in physical appearance.

b.The Caucasians are identified with Europe; the Negroes, with Africa; and the Mongolians, with Asia.

c.Human beings populated a large part of the planet Earth.

d.Will all people someday belong to one group?

e.Yet, at one time, the number of people was small and probably limited to one part of the globe, like Central Asia or possibly Africa.

f.Today, however, the groups are constantly mixing and spreading to all parts of the world.

g.In fact, the number of people has grown so rapidly in recent years that we may need to find new places to settle.

h.Scientists say that originally humans may all have been the same.

i.Is it possible that our future will be like our past?

4.a.Behind the house a hill rose sharply.

b.Standing at the edge of the road, I looked up the gently winding driveway that climbed to the front of the hose.

c.I had never seen such a lovely setting for a house.

d.The hill ended in a curved peak that seemed to frame the whole scene.

e.The house stood on a level space surrounded by tall oak trees.

Some of the following paragraphs lack coherence.Identify faulty paragraphs and change the order of sentences to make them coherent.

1.While standing in front of the information desk in the library, I saw some students using the files in the reference room some distance away.About fifteen feet away from me, an old lady wearing a large red hat put on her glasses.She was studying a rare book in one of the locked display cases.Much closer to me, two students were quietly but seriously talking about a book.

2.Second, she never missed a class.Elizabeth’s classmates knew that she would win the top award in chemistry during her senior year at Columbia University.Third, she performed every required experiment in all her chemistry courses.First, she had studied chemistry during her sophomore and junior years.Fourth, she always worked hard.

3.I had a terrible morning today.In the middle of a class, I discovered I had left my physics assignments in my locket.I tripped over a curb on my way to my political science class and tore my raincoat.At the end of the class, the professor would not let us go to lunch on time.I slept so late that I did not have time to eat breakfast.I had not turned in my assignments, and he wanted to talk over this problem with me.

4.Why not start now? Use it correctly in conversation three times before tomorrow’s class.A good vocabulary, then, can give you a real sense of power and a feeling of pleasure.The word will then be yours to keep.You’ll be on your way toward making yourself a master of words.If you learn a new word every day, in a year’s time you will have 365 new sources of power and pleasure.Look up the word genial in a dictionary before you leave school this afternoon.

Write in the blank spaces the transitional words or phrases you think are needed or appropriate in the following paragraphs to help give them coherence.

1.There are reasons why I like to fish.(1)_______I enjoy the pull of a big fish at the other end of line.(2)________my enjoyment increases if the fish is in the deep waters of the lake.(3)_______I don’t like him close to shore among the weeds.(4)_______the hope of catching a big one lures me to the less-known pools and the cool waters near some underwater rock.(5)_______I like the quietness under the open sky away from the weekend campers and vacationers.I prefer the last reason.

2.To many foreigners, the American word “family” is confusing.Foreigners often hear an American say “My family is coming to visit.” In this sentence, family means grandparents and perhaps other relatives.(1)_______at other times, the same American might say, “I’m going to stay home with my family this weekend.” (2)_______he is talking about his wife and children.This is a much narrower meaning than the first one.Using family in this way makes a foreigner wonder which term really describes an American family.The answer, (3)______is that there are two meanings for the word family in the United States—a narrow one and a broad one.(4)______there is another term—immediate family—to describe something in between.

3.European universities and universities in the United States are different in many ways.(1)________, European students enroll in fewer courses each term than United States students do.(2)_________, European students seldom live at a university.(3)_______, they live at home and travel to classes.(4)_______most European courses are given by professors who lecture to their classes.(5)______, United States professors often ask their students questions or allow their students to form discussion groups.(6)_______, European professors ask students to write fewer papers than United States professors do.(7)_________, European students’ final examinations are usually oral, whereas American students take written final examinations.(8)_________, a European university is mainly a place to study.(9)_____at most United States universities, social activities take up a large part of the students’ time.

4.Some of my older relatives amaze me with their vitality.(1)______, one of my cousins is in her eighties; (2)______, she has the vitality of someone much younger and is as active and interested in what goes on around her as anyone I know.Her quick wit, (3)_______, is a match for only the sharpest, most alert of people.(4)______illustration is my aunt, who is in her nineties.(5)______she recent broke her lip and suffered a small stroke, she is(6)_______driving her car (7)______playing cut-throat bridge.(8)______my cousin, my aunt is (9)______a dynamo.(10)_______, these two ladies put some of their younger relatives to shame with their vigor.

Decide the following groups and discuss which paragraph is better in each of the group and why.

Do you know how to make a sandwich? It’s really easy.Here’s how to make one.First,of course, you need bread.Most people use two pieces, but if you are really hungry, you can make a very big sandwich with three pieces.What kind of sandwich do you like? There are thousands of sandwiches.Next, just put the food you want, like meat or vegetables, on one piece of the bread and then cover it with the other piece.You can add butter to the bread first,if you like, too.That’s all! Now you can find something you like to drink and enjoy your own sandwich.A sandwich is one of the easiest foods to make in the world.

My big brother taught me how to make a sandwich yesterday.I thought making a sandwich would be hard, but actually it’s very easy.You’ll need bread, things for the sandwich, and maybe some butter if you like it.The bread keeps the things like meat or vegetables together.You can add butter to the bread.Be sure to put the butter on the inside of the bread, of course.When you have finished, you will have a sandwich.I told you making a sandwich was easy, didn’t I? Now you can enjoy making a sandwich when you are hungry and want just a little to eat.

Everyone can protect the earth from pollution in simple but important ways.First,everyone has to go shopping, but not everyone has to use a plastic bag each time he buys something.If you don’t need a bag, don’t take one.Better yet, take your own bags with you when shopping.Second, don’t waste food.Growing food takes up a lot of land.Finally, use public transportation instead of a car or motorcycle.This reduces air pollution.These simple ways will make our planet cleaner for all.

Everyone can protect the earth from pollution in simple but important ways.Everyone has to go shopping, but not everyone has to use a plastic bag each time he buys something.If you don’t need a bag, don’t take one.Better yet, take your own bags with you when shopping.Don’t waste food.Growing food takes up a lot of land.Use public transportation instead of a car or motorcycle.This reduces air pollution.These simple ways will make our planet cleaner for all.

Last summer I went to England to study English.I arrived in London.I immediately went to the college.We started our classes.Every day we had six hours of classes.We had to watch TV and movies in English every night.We often went out to restaurants, museums, or famous spots on the weekends.I had to speak English with my Korean roommate every day.My English is much better now than it was last year.

Last summer I went to England to study English.After I arrived in London, I immediately went to the college.Then we started our classes.Every day we had six hours of classes.We also had to watch TV and movies in English every night.Besides, on the weekends, we often went out to restaurants, museums, or famous spots.In addition, I had to speak English with my Korean roommate every day.As a result, my English is much better now than it was last year.

Most people enjoy playing baseball or basketball, but my favorite sport is volleyball.In baseball, the players are far apart from one another.You can’t talk to your teammates while you play.Basketball can be a very violent game.Many people are hurt while playing basketball.Volleyball players play together like a single person.I like that feeling.I know what every one of my teammates is doing all the time.We work together like a family.Volleyball is and will always be my favorite sport.

Most people enjoy playing baseball or basketball, but my favorite sport is volleyball.In baseball, the players are far apart from one another.You can’t talk to your teammates while you play.Basketball can be a very violent game.Many people are hurt while playing basketball.On the other hand, volleyball players play together like a single person.I like that feeling.I know what every one of my teammates is doing all the time.We work together like a family.For these reasons, volleyball is and will always be my favorite sport.

Should senior high school students try to make boyfriends and girlfriends? Parents and teachers usually agree that senior school students should work hard so that they can enter good colleges and universities.When senior high school students are a little older, they are better able to keep a good relationship with others.Besides, if you really love someone, you can wait for that person until he or she finishes his or her education.Don’t be in such a hurry!True love waits for you.Senior high school students should work hard now so that they will have a more comfortable life with the one they love better.Don’t waste your time now.Get busy and study!

Senior high school students should not try to make boyfriends and girlfriends.Senior high school is a time for students to prepare for their future careers.They can have friends anytime.In senior high school, students must study hard to pass tests so that they can move ahead to more education.They do not have time to go out on dates all the time.They will have more time in college to study and make friends, even boyfriends or girlfriends, then.Besides, if two people truly love each other, they can wait until school is finished before they become serious about their relationship.In most cases, therefore, it is better to wait until after one’s education is finished before starting a love career!

Find out the problems of the following paragraphs and correct them.

Let me tell about my family.It is an average family.I have parents, an older brother, and a younger sister.This family has a dog, too.Its name is Cloud because it is all white with soft hair.My father is a teacher, and my mother is a housewife.The brother is a college student,and sister is a junior high school student.I am a first year high school student.This family does not sound important, but it is the most important thing in the world to me.

Everyone likes TV, right? Wrong! Some people do not watch TV very much or even at all.They like to read or spend time with their friends instead.You can read books or the newspaper, or you can chat with your friends in your free time.These people think that TV does not have good enough programs to watch.The also think that TV is a little stupid.You can do better things with your free time, and I think so, too.