TOPIC SENTENCE Head of Dept of Modern Languages

TOPIC SENTENCE Head of Dept. of Modern Languages associate prof. SIMAKOVA E. U.

TOPIC SENTENCE • FUNCTIONS • COMMON MISTAKES • PRACTICE

TOPIC SENTENCE FUNCTIONS A good topic sentence • states the topic of the paragraph. • identifies the controlling idea. • expresses the writer's attitude about the topic.

TOPIC SENTENCE Nuclear power is our greatest hope for solving the energy crisis. 1. What is the topic of the sentence? ___________________ 2. What is the controlling idea? ___________________

TOPIC SENTENCE Nuclear power is a great threat to the environment. 1. What is the topic of the sentence? ___________________ 2. What is the controlling idea? ___________________

Analyzing Topic Sentences • 1. Martin Luther King Jr. was an influential leader. • 2. The editorials in our school newspaper are not very objective. • 3. The clothes we wear often reflect a lot about our personality. • 4. The Japanese subway system is very efficient. • 5. Television commercials are often insulting to women.

Analyzing Topic Sentences 6. My older brother is a perfectionist. 7. The laws on child abuse should be strictly enforced. 8. Being a twin has both advantages and disadvantages. 9. The new shopping mall has brought many economic benefits to our community. 10. Golf is a difficult sport to master.

Common Mistakes is too general. The topic sentence is too narrow. lacks controlling idea.

Common Mistakes 1. Many people like to exercise. too general 2. I like to swim laps for 30 minutes every morning. – too narrow 3. The subject of this paragraph is my exercise routine. – lacks controlling idea 4. Exercising every morning has several positive effects on my health.

TOO GENERAL? TOO NARROW? LACKS C. I. ? 1. Vacations are expensive. 2. My round-trip plane to Orlando, Florida, cost over $550. 3. There are several ways to save money on a vacation to Disney World and still have a good time. 4. I am going to write about the trip I took to Disney World last summer. 5. American music reflects the native music of many immigrant groups.

TOO GENRAL? TOO NARROW? LACKS C. I. ? 6. I love music. 7. The history of American music is the subject of this paper. 8. The first published collection of Afro-American music, Slave Songs of the United States, appeared in 1867. 9. Russian is a difficult language to learn. 10. Learning how to write in a foreign language can be a frustrating experience for many students. 11. There are over 50, 000 characters in the Chinese language. 12. The topic of this essay is learning to write in a foreign language.

WRITING TOPIC SENTENCES Example: The customs associated with giving gifts vary from country to country. Whether you are a tourist, a student, or a businessperson, it is important to know the gift-giving customs of the country you are visiting. For example, if you are invited for dinner, flowers are a safe and appreciated gift throughout the world. In some places, however, you must take care not to offend. In much of Europe, red roses symbolize romance and would be inappropriate. In Austria and Germany it is considered bad luck to receive an even number of flowers. If you are in Hon Kong, gifts to avoid are clocks, which symbolize death, and scissors or knives, which indicate the end of relationship. In Japan, you can impress your hosts by paying attention to the Japanese rules for gift-giving: always wrap the gift, but not in white paper, as white symbolizes death. In addition never give four of anything, since the Japanese word for the number four is also the word for death. As in in Korea and much of Asia, do not expect your gift to be opened until after you have left. No matter where you are, you will feel more comfortable if you take the time to learn some of the local gift-giving customs.

1. ________________ Most importantly they are kept for pleasure and companionship. In fact, many people consider their pet to be part of the family. In addition to their value as loved and loving companions, pets serve practical purposes, such as protecting homes and property, destroying vermin, and even providing means of transportation. They may also serve as emotional outlets for the elderly or the childless. Recently the benefit of pet facilitated psycotherapy has been demonstrated. Finally, some people keep pets for their beauty or rarity or, in the case of birds, for their songs.

2. _____________ For instance, climate affects the kinds of clothes we wear and even colors we choose to wear. Since it affects the kinds of crops we can grow successfully, it influences our eating habits. Architecture is also affected by climate. Engineers and architects must think about climate when they make decisions about the construction, materials, design, and style of the buildings. Even our choices in transportation are determined by the climate in which we live. Climate also plays a big part in economic development. A climate that is too hot, too cold, or too dry makes farming, industry, and transportation difficult and slows down economic development.

3. ________________ Symptoms may last for one day or several days and vary greatly in severity. Chronobiologists, scientists who study the effects of time on living things, say that the seriousness of your reaction depends on several factors. One factor is the number of time zones you crossed. Your jet lag will probably be worse if you crossed several time zones. Another factor is whether you flew east to west or west to east. It is easier to adjust after an east-to west flight. Personality factors also affect how easily you adapt to the new time. For example, “night” people adapt more easily than “morning” people. Extroverts adjust more easily than introverts. Flexible people who don’t mind changes have fewer problems than inflexible people who are rigid and don’t like change. Younger people suffer less than older people. Finally, healthier people usually get over jet lag more easily than people who are sick.

4. The semi-submersible design was first developed for offshore drilling activities. Bruce Collipp of Shell is regarded as the inventor. But. Edward Robert Armstrong may have paved the way with his idea of 'seadrome' landing strips for airplanes in the late 1920 s, since his idea involved the same use of columns on ballast tanks below the surface and anchored to the ocean floor by steel cables. When oil drilling moved into offshore waters, fixed platform rigs and submersible rigs were built, but were limited to shallow waters. When demands for drilling equipment was needed in water depths greater than 100 feet in the Gulf of Mexico, the first jackup rigs were built. The first semisubmersible arrived by accident in 1961. Blue Water Drilling Company owned and operated the four column submersible drilling rig Blue Water Rig No. 1 in the Gulf of Mexico for Shell Oil Company. As the pontoons were not sufficiently buoyant to support the weight of the rig and its consumables, it was towed between locations at a draught mid way between the top of the pontoons and the underside of the deck. It was observed that the motions at this draught were very small and Blue Water Drilling and Shell jointly decided that the rig could be operated in the floating mode. The first purpose built drilling semi-submersible Ocean Driller was launched in 1963. Since then, many semi-submersibles have been purpose-designed for the drilling industry mobile offshore fleet. The industry quickly accepted the semi-submersible concept and the fleet increased rapidly to 30 units by 1972.