Ⅰ.Criteria of an Effective Paragraph 1. Unity
2. Coherence 3. Transition
Ⅱ. Steps in Writing a Paragraph Ⅲ. Ways of Developing Paragraphs 1. Development by Time 2. Development by Process 3. Development by Space
4. Development by Example or Generalization 5. Development by Comparison and Contrast 6. Development by Cause and Effect 7. Development by Classification 8. Development by Definition
9. Development by a Combination of Methods
Part Four
The Paragraph
A paragraph is a unit of thought; it is at once a unit in itself and part of a larger whole, that is, the essay.
A paragraph is like a mini-essay; it should be unified, coherent and well developed. A paragraph is unified when all the sentences in the paragraph are focused on one central thought or on a single topic; when the writer wishes to introduce a new thought or topic, he should begin a new paragraph. A paragraph is coherent when it develops naturally and smoothly, and one sentence leads logically to another. There are many ways to develop a paragraph, for example, by process, by cause and effect, by comparison and contrast, etc.
Paragraphs vary in length. In a short expository essay of about 600 words, the average paragraph may be about 100 words, or between four and eight sentences. Ultimately, the length of the paragraph depends on its topic, its position in the essay and its role in the development of the thesis statement. Paragraphs in books are usually longer than those in newspapers. A long paragraph expresses a complex idea, and a short one makes a major transition, an emphatic statement, or a summary. An experienced writer varies the length of his paragraphs to avoid monotony. Ⅰ. Effective Paragraphs 1. Unity
Unity of a paragraph is concerned with its content. If all the sentences in the paragraph lead to one central theme, the paragraph is unified. The central theme is usually summarized in what is called the topic sentence. It often appears at the beginning of the paragraph; however, it may also be found in the middle or at the end of a paragraph.
One of the central preoccupations of the arts and humanities is the observation of human beings. Painters and sculptors create images of the human form; writers tell stories or compose poems about human experience; musical artists give melodic contours to the human spirit; historians and philosophers ponder the essential qualities of human civilization and nature. And in our own lives, in our own ways, we spend a great deal of our energy and attention on our fellow creatures, being in families and other kinds of relationships, observing people with curiosity and interest in the course of the day, thinking about and forming our own character - deciding what kind of person we wish to be - as we grow. - Don Knefel
We now have, as a result of modern means of communication, hundreds of thousands of words flung at us daily. We are constantly being talked at, by teachers, preachers, salesmen, public officials, and motion-picture sound tracks. The cries of advertisers pursue us into our very homes, thanks to the radio - and in some houses the radio is never turned off from morning to night. Daily the newsboy brings us, in large cities, from thirty to fifty enormous pages of print, and almost three times that amount on Sunday. We go out and get more words at bookstores and libraries. Words fill our lives.
In the first paragraph the first sentence is the topic sentence, whereas in the second paragraph, it is the last sentence.
Sometimes, the topic sentence is not stated explicitly but is implied. In the following paragraph, all the details contribute to one theme - what the room looks like. Though without a topic sentence, the paragraph is unified.
The room is located on the fifth floor of the high building. One third of its total floor space is taken up by a double bed. Facing it, in the corner behind the door, stands a cupboard loaded with pots, bowls, dishes, bottles, and bags of rice and flour. A desk completely fills the gap between the bed and the wall with the window. Behind the desk is a chair, the only one in the room; and it almost touches the boxes and trunks piled against the wall on the opposite side. - Student 2. Coherence
Coherence of a paragraph is concerned with its form, or its organization. The sentences in a paragraph should be arranged in a clear, logical order, and the transitions should be smooth and natural. As a result, the reader finds it easy to follow the writer's train of thought and understand what he is talking about.
There is some feeling nowadays that reading is not as necessary as it once was. Radio and especially television have taken over many of the functions once served by print, just as photography has taken over functions once served by painting and other graphic arts. Admittedly, television serves some of these functions extremely well; the visual communication of news events, for example, has enormous impact. The ability of radio to give us information while we are engaged in doing other things - for instance, driving a car - is remarkable, and a great saving of time. But it may be seriously questioned whether the advent of modern communications media has much enhanced our understanding of the world in which we live. - Mortimer J. Adler
This paragraph is coherent. The writer begins with a statement, and then he goes on to explain what have made some people feel that \"reading is not as necessary as it once was\" - radio and television have almost replaced the functions of the printed matter. What follows further explains how watching the television and listening to the radio serve some of the functions of reading. But the writer doubts whether the appearance of modern communications media has really promoted our understanding of the world, which he expresses in the last sentence, the topic sentence of the paragraph. 3. Transition
Coherence may not be perfect even if the writer arranges his sentences in a clear, logical order. He has to use good transitions so that one sentence runs smoothly to another.
The following ways may help the writer to produce a fluent paragraph: A. Using parallel structures;
B. Repeating words or word groups;
C. Using pronouns to refer to nouns in preceding sentences;
D. Being consistent in the person and number of nouns and pronouns, and the tense of verbs.
In the following paragraph, note how the writer makes use of all these ways to achieve coherence.
Americans are queer people: they can't play. Americans rush to work as soon as they grow up. They want their work as soon as they wake. It is a stimulant - the only one they are not afraid of. They used to open their offices at ten o'clock; then at nine; then at eight; then at seven. Now they never shut them. Every business in America is turning into an open-all-day-and-night business. They eat all night, dance all night, build buildings all night, make a noise all night. They can't play. They try to, but can't.
They turn football into a fight, baseball into a lawsuit, and yachting into machinery. They can't play. The little children can't play; they use mechanical toys instead - toy cranes, hoisting toy loads, toy machinery spreading a toy industrial depression of infantile dullness. The grownup people can't play; they use a mechanical gymnasium and a clockwork horse. They can't laugh; they hire a comedian and watch him laugh. - Stephen Leacock
E. Using transitional expressions
1) Connectives and transitional phrases for spatial development:
above across from adjacent to also up under
before me below beyond further down around
here in the distance nearby next to close to near to
on the left on the right opposite to on top of beneath over
2) Connectives and transitional phrases for chronological development:
first,second,etc. in the meantime at the same time after an interval0 presently somewhat later
soon then next now later finally
eventually thereupon thereafter after afterward at last
3) Connectives and transitional phrases for analytical development:
first,second,etc. but finally also another yet once such then thus
now as a result at last consequently for example for instance in addition in this case otherwise in closing
for this purpose furthermore moreover likewise next on the contrary in summary on the other hand in conclusion therefore
4) Connectives and transitional phrases for comparisons:
another equally important besides in fact similarly
furthermore too, also then in addition to just as...so
moreover at the same time accordingly like, likewise in the same way
5) Connectives and transitional phrases for contrasts:
on the contrary on the ohter hand despite yet,but unlike
not only...but also years ago...today the former...the latter the first...whereas the second on the one hand...on the other
different from/in contrast to in spite of whereas nevertheless here...there this...that then...now some...others once...now
Ⅱ. Ways of Developing Paragraphs 1. Planning a Paragraph
Paragraphs need to be planned. First, think of the topic or theme or main idea, and express it in a complete sentence (topic sentence). Then think of the details or examples or facts that may be used to support or explain the main idea. Arrange them in logical order, and you have a rough plan of the paragraph.
An outline may be helpful to beginners. Suppose you are to write a paragraph on philately, and your topic sentence is \"Philately is an interesting hobbyhe following points:
(1) There are beautiful pictures on postage stamps; (2) There are portraits of historical figures on them;
(3) It is always a delight to get a stamp I have never seen before; (4) I can learn something by looking at the stamps I have collected.
On reading the four points again, you may find that the last point had better be made the first. Now you can begin to write. Here is a paragraph developed from the above outline:
Philately is an interesting hobby. Every time I open my albums and look at the stamps I've collected over the years, I learn something new. On many of them are printed drawings or pictures of rare birds, animals, trees or flowers. Under a magnifying glass they look very beautiful, and they help to increase my knowledge of nature. On other stamps there are portraits of historical figures, such as Qu Yuan and Dr. Sun Yatsen, George Washington and Chester W. Nimits. Whenever I see an unfamiliar name, I will try to find some information about the person by consulting an encyclopaedia. In this way I have come to know something about quite a few people who are famous for one reason or another. Some of my friends and relatives who know I am interested in stamps often show me used envelopes. If I see a stamp which I have never seen before or I haven't got yet, I will ask them to give it to me, and it seems that they are always kind enough to oblige me. It is always a delight to add a new stamp to my collection, and the more stamps I have, the more interested I am in philately. - Student
In this paragraph a statement is given first and it is followed by some explanations. The statement expresses the effect and the rest of the paragraph explains the causes. This is one of the many possible methods for developing a paragraph. 2. Development by Time
In telling a story or recounting an event, the easiest and clearest way is to describe things in order of time: earlier things are mentioned before later things, the first thing first and the last thing last. This method is also called chronological sequencing. James Murray was born in Scotland in 1873, the son of a village tailor. He went to a parish school, but he left at 14 and he educated himself with pertinacity. He loved knowledge and he loved to impart it. He became a schoolmaster; he learned language after language and was alive to geology, archeology and phonetics, as well as to local politics. He had to leave Scotland because of the illness of his first wife, and he became a bank clerk in London. By sheer energy of scholarship, and without benefit of any university education, he made himself indispensable to the other remarkable
philologists of his day. He returned to school-teaching and lived a 72-hour day for the rest of his life. For the invitation to edit what became the O.E.D. was one that he could not refuse. At first he combined it with his school work; later he moved to Oxford and dedicated himself to building the best sort of monument - best in that it was not a monument to himself, and best in that it was not a monument to something dead but rather to something living: the English language. - Christopher Ricks
My heart gave a leap when I heard the announcement that our train would soon arrive at its destination - Beijing. Like other passengers, I began to collect my things and put my mug, towel, atlas, apples, and other things into my bag. To the tune of a beautiful song the train pulled into the station and gently stopped by a platform. I walked out of the train and was carried forward by the stream of people into an underground passage and then into a big hall. As I stepped out of the station, I was dazzled by the bright autumn skies of Beijing. Though I had been on the train for more than thirty hours and spent an sleepless night, I didn't feel tired at all, and I believed my days in Beijing would be as sunny as the skies. - Student
These two paragraphs, one telling the story of a person's life, the other describing an event that took place in a few minutes, follow a chronological arrangement, and it is easy for the reader to understand what is told in them. 3. Development by Process
When you have to explain how something is done, you usually follow a chronological sequence and give a step-by-step description. As the steps must occur one after another, the exact order in which they are carried out is most important. In giving instructions, imperative sentences and sentences with the indefinite pronoun you as the subject are often used. The present tense should be used if the instructions are still applicable.
Once you encounter a person who has stopped breathing, you should begin immediately to do mouth-to-mouth breathing. First, place the victim on his back and remove any foreign matter from his mouth with your fingers. Then tilt his head backwards, so that his chin is pointing up. Next, pull his mouth open and his jaw forward, pinch his nostrils shut to prevent the air which you blow into his mouth from escaping through his nose. Then place your mouth tightly over the victim's. Blow into his mouth until you see his chest rise. Then turn your head to the side and listen for the outrush of air which indicates an air exchange. Repeat the process.... - A handbook
It is necessary for a person to know how to post a parcel, since almost everyone has relatives and friends living far away and he may like to send them something. Different objects are packed in different ways. Things like bottles of medicine and watches should be put into wooden boxes to avoid breakage. After you have packed the objects, put down your address and that of the addressee on the wrapping. Give the parcel to the postal clerk for him to check. He will then give you a form to fill in. Having filled in the form, you give it together with the parcel to the clerk. He will weigh the parcel and tell you how much you should pay. You pay the money and get a receipt. Be sure to keep your receipt until you are sure that the addressee has received the parcel. If anything wrong should happen to your parcel, you can show the receipt to the clerk and ask to be reimbursed. - Student
4. Development by Space
Before we begin to describe a place, whether it is a large country or a small room, we have to decide on the order in which to name the different parts or details. For this we should find out the space relationships between them and arrange our description accordingly. It would only confuse the reader to mention them in a haphazard way. In the middle of the rectangular-shaped courtyard stood three magnolia trees, all in full bloom. A little girl was hopping among them, now gazing at a bud, now collecting fallen petals. Under one of the trees stood her parents, who, while keeping an eye on her, were examining the milkwhite blossoms with great interest and admiration. In front of another tree a young couple, fresh and bright as the flowers, were posing for a picture. At one end of the courtyard a group of youngsters had gathered behind an artist painting a flourishing limb, which looked so charming and real that a boy stooped to sniff at a half-open flower. At the opposite end a few elderly men and women stood admiring the leafless flowering trees and the people looking at them.
- Student
Here the writer starts from the trees in the middle of the courtyard, or the centre of the scene. Then he describes the people under and around the trees (the girl, her parents and the young couple), and after that the people farther from the trees at both ends of the courtyard (the artist and the youngsters behind him, and the elderly men and women). In short, he moves his camera from the center to the surrounding areas. Mr. Cook, a renowned American historian, arranges the books on his bookshelves in a unique way. In the upper right hand corner, there are books about the development of the early colonies in New England and the War of Independence. Right under them can be found books on the slave trade, the plantation system and the
growth of the southern states. The left side of the shelf contains hundreds of books concerning subjects of the Westward Movement, Indian culture, the cowboys' contributions to American society and the Gold Rush in California. From the description above, one can see that Mr. Cook regards his bookshelves as a map of the U.S. and arranges his history books accordingly. It is odd, but it is convenient. - Student
This paragraph, which describes the arrangement of books, is simple and clear. The positions of the books are described in order that is easy to follow: first from the upper right to the lower right, and then to the left. 5. Development by Example or Generalization
Supporting a topic sentence with examples or illustrations makes a general statement specific and easy to understand. An illustration is a case, a specimen, an instance. Vivid illustrations light up abstract ideas and make them clear, interesting, memorable, or convincing.
Illustrations may be a single example or a series of examples.
This term several useful and interesting courses have been offered. An Introduction to European Culture, for instance, gives us a lot of background knowledge of the history of European philosophy, literature, and arts. From time to time we see slide shows of famous paintings and hear tapes of famous pieces of music, and they make the lectures all the more interesting. American Society and Culture is another course that attracts a large audience. The teacher, who visited the United States not long ago, discusses new trends and changes in American life as well as American history and traditions. We like these and other courses very much, because they help us not only to improve our English but also to broaden our vision. - Student
In this paragraph there are two examples that explain why certain courses are \"useful and interesting\" as is said in the first sentence.
The following paragraph develops its controlling sentence with a series of facts involving well-known people. These enable the writer to make the abstract key idea, \"persistent investigation,\" concrete. They also add dramatic qualities that make the information interesting. You may notice that it is not always necessary to say \"for example\" or \"for instance\" when an example is given.
Knowledge often results only after persistent investigation. Albert Einstein, after a lengthy examination of the characteristics of matter and energy, formulated his famous Theory of Relativity, which now acts as a basis for further research in nuclear physics. Using plaster casts of footprints, fingerprints, and stray strands of hair, a detective pertinaciously pursues the criminal. After years of work Annie Jump Cannon
perfected the classification of the spectra of some 350,000 stars. Investigations into the causes of polio have provided us with the means for prevention and cure of this dreaded disease only after many years of research. As students, we too are determined in our investigation to find, retain, and contribute to the store of human knowledge. - Earl Rudolph
The following paragraph, which is mainly descriptive, contains many details. It starts with a topic sentence. Then details are given to back up the opening statement. This is the general-to-specific pattern.
My little niece, a ten-month-old baby, is the most lovely child I have even seen. Her face is like a red apple and her eyes are like bright stars. When you carry her in your arms, she likes to put her arms around your neck. All the grownups in the family love her very much and often try to make her smile. But quite often it is she who makes us laugh. Once I winked at her and she smiled. When I did it again, she watched me attentively. Then she tried to imitate. While we closed one eye to wink, she had to close both eyes at the same time, and then quickly opened them again. And that was her way to wink. We all burst into laughter. When we looked at her again, she was staring at us, puzzled, as if she was asking: \"What are you laughing at?\" - Student
Another possible arrangement of details (or examples) in a paragraph is from the specific to the general. The details are mentioned first, and the general statement, which may be the topic sentence, comes at the end of the paragraph, summarizing the main idea of the paragraph.
Whether you do or do not open a gift in the presence of the giver; whether you should or should not turn the plate over to look at the maker's symbol on the back; whether you put your coat on before or after you leave the host's house; whether you eat as quietly or as noisily as possible; whether you carry on a conversation during a meal; whether you walk in front of or behind a seated person; whether it is a friendly or an offensive gesture to put your hand on the arm of the person with whom you are talking - these and a thousand other questions are matters of cultural definition. None of them is inherently right or wrong, and none is good or bad manners except as a society defines it so. - Ina Corinne Brown
Details or examples are usually arranged in climactic order: the least important comes first, followed by others in order of increasing importance.
It was a typical Russian winter. The first snowstorm had turned everything white. The wind was howling, swirling and tumbling over a vast land of ice and snow, freezing and destroying whatever stood in its way. A ragged, misshapen army was staggering and struggling desperately for survival, cold, hungry and decreasing in size every day. The year was 1812. The army was the remnants of Napoleon's expeditionary force which was withdrawing from Russia after receiving its worst defeat. The war with Russia turned out to be a fiasco for Napoleon and had a devastating effect on his career. - Student
Such a climactic sequence is followed in paragraphs developed not only by details or examples but also by comparison and contrast, by cause and effect, etc. 6. Development by Comparison and Contrast
The method of comparison and contrast is often used. We compare the present and the past of China, the cultures of the East and the West, Chinese and English. By comparing and contrasting we may get a clearer picture of things.
Strictly speaking, a comparison points out the similarities between two or more persons or things of the same class, while a contrast, the differences between them. In practice, however, comparison and contrast often appear together, because people generally compare two things that are similar in certain ways and different in others. There are two major ways of organizing paragraphs of comparison and contrast. One way is to examine one thing thoroughly and then examine the other. In this way, the aspects examined in the two things should be identical and in the same order. This method is called block comparison or block contrast. The other way is to examine two things at the same time, discussing them point by point. This method is called alternating comparison or alternating contrast.
The following paragraph is a good example of alternating comparison.
The same qualities that make people good house guests make them good hospital patients. Good house guests can expect a reasonable amount of service and effort on their behalf, and hospital patients can also. Guests have to adjust to what is for them a change, and certainly hospital patients must do the same. No one appreciates a complaining, unpleasant, unappreciative house guest, and the hospital staff is no exception. House guests who expect vast changes to be made for their benefit are not popular for long. Certainly nurses and other personnel with their routines feel the same way about patients in their care. Just as house guests must make adjustments to enjoy their visits, so patients must make adjustments to make their stays reasonably pleasant and satisfying under the circumstances. - Robert Friedman
Alternating contrast is used when you want to point out several differences between two things or people without discussing them in great detail. You merely point out a special feature of one item and then state how the other item differs from it in that aspect. The following paragraph is an example of this method.
The television western of several years ago differs greatly from the western of today. Ten years ago, for example, the swindler or bank robber in a western could be identified not by the crimes he committed so much as by the color of the clothing he wore - which was black. Today the television western reveals the villain by mannerisms and personality. At one time, every western had a superhuman, invincible \"good guy\" with whom the viewers could identify because he too lived out on the farm. Currently, the central figures of the west are average people who may live on a middleclass street in any part of the country. They are characters like the bus drivers, mailclerks and accountants who live next door to you in suburbia. At night they come in off the horses to ride the television range. They become persons who respect others, drink and smoke only just a bit, and are able not only to outshoot the \"bad guy\also to outsmart him with good common sense. - Ron Sengal
Block comparison is suitable when the writer wants to treat points of similarity in depth. In this way each point is drawn out and its relationship to another point is made clear. This type of comparison is often used when the points of similarity discussed are not many but complex, and require much explanation.
Here is a paragraph that first points out all of the characteristics that the writer wants to name about Ulysses S. Grant, and then mentions all the parallel items in the life of Robert E. Lee.
Although Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee were fierce adversaries during the Civil War, their lives, both military and nonmilitary, had a great deal in common. Grant descended from a family whose members participated in the American Revolution. He received his commission of second lieutenant from West Point and served in the Spanish-American War. He was later summoned by President Lincoln to assume command of the Union Forces during the Civil War. After the Civil War, Grant suffered financial problems and was forced to declare bankruptcy. Lee also descended from a family which engaged in the American Revolution. He, too, received his commission from West Point and later fought in Mexico during the Spanish-American War. His fame as a military strategist during the Civil War, when he was the commander of the Confederate armies, is well known. Although it is not always pointed out by historians, he, like Grant, had financial difficulties after the Civil War and was compelled to declare bankruptcy. By securing a post as president of Washington College, he was able to avoid additional poverty. - Gordon Sacris
The method used in the above paragraph can also be applied to a paragraph of contrast.
There is an essential difference between a news story, as understood by a newspaperman or a wire-service writer, and the newsmagazine story. The chief purpose of the conventional news story is to tell what happened. It starts with the most important information and continues into increasingly inconsequential details, not only because the reader may not read beyond the first paragraph but because an editor working on galley proofs a few minutes before press time likes to be able to cut freely from the end of the story. A news magazine is very different. It is written to be read consecutively from beginning to end, and each of its stories is designed, following the critical theories of Edgar Allen Poe, to create one emotional effect. The news, what happened that week, may be told in the beginning, the middle, or the end; for the purpose is not to throw information at the reader but to seduce him into reading the whole story, and into accepting the dramatic (and often political) point being made. - Otto Friedrich
There is a special form of comparison - analogy. Analogy is tracing a striking likeness between unlike things.
Electricity is transferred from one place to another in much the same manner as water. A water pipe performs the same function as a length of wire. The pipe carries water to its point of use in the same manner as wire carries electricity to its point of use. A blown fuse results from the same thing as a burst water pipe. Both give out due to extreme pressure applied to the walls of the carrier. A switch is to electricity what a faucet is to water. Both of them control the flow of the substance. Since electricity and water have some common properties, understanding the job of the plumber will help understanding the work of the electrician. - John Brower
Analogies are especially helpful in explaining abstract ideas, for they relate ideas that cannot be experienced through the senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, or taste, to a sense experience, thus making the ideas easy to understand.
Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death ... The best way to overcome it - so at least it seems to me - is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river - small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man
who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue.... - Bertrand Russell
Here Bertrand Russell draws an analogy between a person's life and a river, which are entirely different things. He is trying to explain something difficult to understand - an individual human existence - in terms of something familiar - a river, and the analogy makes his explanation interesting and impressive. 7. Development by Cause and Effect
In our daily conversation, questions with why are often asked and answered. This shows that causal analysis is very common; it is something we are familiar with.
Sound reasoning or logic is naturally the most important quality of any causal analysis. But it is not always easy to explain causes and effects clearly and logically. One reason for this is that an effect may have many causes and a cause may have many effects. So we must be thorough in our discussion and careful in our selection of details.
There are two basic ways of organizing paragraphs developed by cause and effect. The first method is to state an effect and devote the rest of the paragraph to examining the causes. For example, the topic sentence is: \"In the past few years, higher education has become less important to young people than it was previously.\" This is an effect. It should be followed by a discussion of the causes of this effect, such as the pressure of fierce competition, better opportunities in the job market, much of the knowledge taught in universities and colleges being out-dated, and so forth.
The second method is to state a cause and then mention or predict the effects. Suppose the topic sentence is: \"More and more fertile land in China is taken up by new buildings.\" In the rest of the paragraph the effects of this development should be mentioned, such as the reduction of the grain output, increasing environmental problems, too many peasants moving into the cities, etc.
One might wonder why, after the Norman Conquest, French did not become the national language, replacing English entirely. The reason is that the Conquest was not a national migration, as the earlier Anglo-Saxon invasion had been. Great numbers of Normans came to England, but they came as rulers and landlords. French became the language of the court, the language of the nobility, the language of polite society, the language of literature. But it did not replace English as the language of the people. There must always have been hundreds of towns and villages in which French was never heard except when visitors of high station passed through. - Paul Roberts
In this paragraph, the opening sentence raises the question of why the Norman Conquest did not, as might have been expected, make England a French-speaking
country. This sentence states an effect or result of the Conquest. The sentences that follow develop the controlling idea by explaining the causes.
This surge of demand for oil will soon begin to send shock waves through the American economy and transportation system. The impact of these tremors can already be anticipated: to the consumer they signal the end of a long love affair with the car, and to Detroit they offer an early warning that its 1985 growth aims are dangerously unrealistic. Unless we exercise foresight and devise growth-limits policies for the auto industry, events will thrust us into a crisis that will lead to a substantial erosion of domestic oil supply as well as the independence it provides us with, and a level of petroleum imports that could cost as much as $20 to $30 billion per year. Moreover, we would still be depleting our remaining oil reserves at an unacceptable rate, and scrambling for petroleum substitutes, with enormous potential damage to the environment. - Stewart Udall
In this paragraph, the topic sentence states a cause, and then the writer predicts what effects the surge of demand for oil will bring to American society. 8. Development by Classification
To classify is to sort things into categories according to their characteristics. We classify many things: trees, rivers, cities, companies, college students. We group things according to their similarities and differences. If we classify rivers, we separate them into wide ones, narrow ones, long ones, short ones, deep ones, shallow ones. Apples may be classified according to size, place of origin, color, price, or quality. Essential to a good classification is parallelism. If we classify types of sports, we may speak of track and field events, swimming, ball games, gymnastics, etc. If we classified sports into jumping, ball games, running, floor exercise and backstroke, we would violate parallelism, for ball games should be considered a general category, while jumping and running are subcategories of the track and field events; gymnastics is a general category, and floor exercise a particular form of it. In short, in a good classification the parts must be parallel, and they should add up to the whole subject. In the following paragraph, the author divides book owners into three main types and then describes each of them.
There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers - unread, untouched. (This deluded individual owns woodpulp and ink, not books.) The second has a great many books - a few of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. (This person would probably like to make books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance.) The third has a few books or many - every one of them dog-eared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. (This man owns books.)
- Mortimer J. Adler
Now let's study two more paragraphs:
According to Xiao Li, the fifteen students of his class fall into three groups. Seven of them work hard and study well. They always get good marks in examinations and are often praised by the teachers. Li calls them \"good students.\" The monitor, the secretary of the Youth League branch, and the captain of the class volleyball team, are quick in finding out what their fellow students are interested in or what they should do as a collective. They always organize proper activities at the proper time, so Li calls them \"good organizers.\" Four other students are very kind to their classmates, always ready to lend them a helping hand. They help to clean the classroom and the corridor even when they are not on duty. Li says that they are \"good fellows.\" \"What about yourself?\" someone asks him. \"I'm a group by myself - a good observer.\" - Student
Every educated person has at least two ways of speaking his mother tongue. The first is that which he employs in his family, among his familiar friends, and on ordinary occasions. The second is that which he uses in discoursing on more complicated subjects, and in addressing persons with whom he is less intimately acquainted. It is, in short, the language which he employs when he is 'on his dignity,' as he puts on evening dress when he is going to dine. - J. B. Greenough and G. L. Kittredge
The writer of the first paragraph is trying to be humorous. His way of classifying his classmates, though unscientific, is suited to his purpose. The second writer discusses two ways of speaking one's mother tongue, The phrase \"at least\" implies that there may be other ways.
9. Development by Definition
Sometimes, to avoid confusion or misunderstanding, we have to define a word, term, or concept which is unfamiliar to most readers or open to various interpretations.
There are three basic ways to define a word or term: to give a synonym, to use a sentence (often with an attributive clause), and to write a paragraph or even an essay. We are using the first method when we say, for instance, \"To mend means to repair,\" or \"A fellow is a man or a boy.\" Ink may be defined in a sentence: \"Ink is colored water which we use for writing.\" But a synonym or a sentence cannot give a satisfactory definition of an abstract term whose meaning is complex. We have to write a paragraph or an essay with examples or negative examples (what the term does not mean), with analogies or comparisons, with classification or cause-and-effect analysis.
When we give a definition, we should observe certain principles.
First, we should avoid circular definitions. \"Democracy is the democratic process\" and \"An astronomer is one who studies astronomy\" are circular definitions. When words are defined in terms of themselves, no one's understanding is improved.
Second, we should avoid long lists of synonyms if the term to be defined is an abstract one. When a paragraph begins with \"By imagination, I mean the power to form mental images of objects, the power to form new ideas, the gift of employing images in writing, and the tendency to attribute reality to unreal things, situations and states,\" the reader knows the writer is picking up words and expressions from a dictionary, indiscriminately blasting a load of abstract terms at the reader in the hope that one will hit.
Third, we should avoid loaded definitions. Loaded definitions do not explain terms but make an immediate appeal for emotional approval. A definition like \"By state enterprise I mean high cost and poor efficiency\" is loaded with pejorative emotional connotation. Conversely, \"By state enterprise I mean one of the great blessings of democratic planning\" is loaded with favorable emotional connotation. Such judgements can be vigorous conclusions to a discussion, but they lead to argument, not clarification, when offered as definitions.
The following paragraphs are good examples of clear and objective defition.
A \"liberated woman\" is simply a woman who controls her own life, rather than allowing it to be controlled by other people, traditions, or expectations. A \"liberated woman\" can be found pursuing any line of work, including housework, or no work at all. She may or may not be married; she may or may not have borne children. She may belong to any race; she may have attained any age. She may be poor or wealthy, educated or illiterate. She need have only one trait in common with her \"liberated sisters\": she makes her own choices, whether they be the colors on her walls or the advanced degrees she seeks. She acts of her own volition, responsible to herself, and not out of fear of what her mother, lover, or neighbor might say. - Klarner W. Harp
A kachina doll is a small, carved, wooden, humanlike representation of the supernatural beings worshiped by the Hopi Indians. Kachinas are not gods: as their name denotes, Ka for respect and china for spirit, they are respected spirits of the dead, of mineral, plant, bird, animal, and human entities. Kachinas are not gods, but rather they are intermediaries or messengers to the gods. In the polytheistic Hopi society, all plants and animals, as well as some inanimate things, have spirits which the Hopi visualize in human form. When a Hopi goes to gather yucca roots to use as shampoo, he prays to the spirit of the first plant he finds and passes it by gathering the second one. When he goes hunting, he prays to the spirit of the game and apologizes for having to take its life. Thus the spirits of men, animals, and plants are the kachinas most often carved into kachina dolls. - LaDean McConahay
10. Development by a Combination of Methods
We have discussed quite a few methods for developing paragraphs. Sometimes only one of them is used in a paragraph, but often two or three of them are used in the same paragraph. Writers may find it necessary to use a combination of methods in order to present their ideas in an impressive and convincing manner.
Kin-tay often told Kizzy stories about himself. He said that he had been near his village in Africa, chopping wood to make a drum, when he had been set upon by four men, overwhelmed, and kidnapped into slavery. When Kizzy grew up and became a mother, she told her son these stories, and he in turn would tell his children. His granddaughter became my grandmother, and she pumped that saga into me as if it were plasma, until I knew by rote the story of the African, and the subsequent generational wending of our family through cotton and tobacco plantations into the Civil War and then freedom. - Alex Haley
Two methods are clearly seen in this paragraph: development by time and development by cause and effect.
The Eastern religious movements [in the United States] are made up almost exclusively of white, educated, middle- and upper-middle-class young people. Most have at least begun college, although some have dropped out after a year or two. Men and women seem to participate in fairly equal numbers, but men control the leadership groups. There is no predominance of any particular regional background, although more of the devotees seem to come from urban than from rural areas, probably because the movements are generally based in cities. - Harvey Cox
This paragraph is mainly developed by means of detail: sentences 2-4 give some details explaining the first sentence, which is a general statement. At the same time, there is classification in the paragraph. The devotees are composed of young people studying at college and those who have dropped out, men and women, people from cities and people from rural areas.
Exercises
Ⅰ. Unity
1. Identify the topic sentence in each of the following paragraphs.
(1) The forest is a sanitary agent. It is constantly eliminating impurities from the earth and the air. Trees check, sweep, and filter from the air quantities of filthy, germ-laden dust. Their leaves absorb poisonous gases from the air. Roots assist in drainage, and absorb impurities from the soil. Roots give off acids, and these acids, together with the acids released by the fallen, decaying leaves, have a sterilizing effect upon the soil. Trees help to keep the earth sweet and clean, and water which comes from a forested watershed is likely to be pure. Many unsanitary areas have been redeemed and rendered healthy by tree planting.
(2) She was an old woman and lived on a farm near the town in which I lived. All country and small-town people have seen such old women, but no one knows much about them. Such an old woman comes into town driving an old worn-out horse or she comes afoot carrying a basket. She may own a few hens and have eggs to sell. She brings them in a basket and takes them to a grocer. There she trades them in. She gets some salt pork and some beans. Then she gets a pound or two of sugar and some flour. Afterwards she goes to the butcher's and asks for some dog-meat. She never visits with any one, and as soon as she gets what she wants she starts for home.
(3) The need for humane studies, both in themselves and for scientists and professional men, is greater than it ever was. In international affairs and in a world where we have already reached the point where we can annihilate ourselves, the problem that we face will certainly not be solved by better and better weapons in the hands of opposing armed nations. They will be solved by a better understanding of men, by a public educated and enlightened enough to support that diplomacy. Until that solution appears, our governments must continue to arm and to develop weapons against the idiotic possibility of war, but our only hope of a long-term peace comes not from better weapons, but from humane agreement between men and nations. 2. Supply a topic sentence for each of the following paragraphs:
(1) ... It is the road which determines the sites of many cities and the growth and nourishment of all. It is the road which controls the development of strategies and fixes the sites of battles. It is the road that gives its frame-work to all economic development. It is the road which is the channel of all trade, and, what is more important, of all ideas. In its most humble function it is a necessary guide without which progress from place to place would be a ceaseless experiment; it is a sustenance without which organised society would be impossible, thus the road moves and controls all history.
(2) ... A dog will follow his master anywhere, but a cat keeps to the house it is used to: and even when the house changes hands, the cat will remain there, so long as it is kindly treated by the new owners. A cat does not seem to be capable of the personal devotion often shown by a dog. It thinks most of its own comfort, and its love is only cupboard love.
(3) ... Only last year I witnessed what might have been a fatal accident on the Beijing-Chengde Road. I was motoring up from Beijing; and as I neared Chengde, I came upon the wreckage of two cars on the road. The smash had been caused by a car coming down, which swept round a sharp corner at eighty kilometres an hour and crashed into a car coming up. Happily no one was killed; but several were badly injured, and the two cars were wrecked. To drive at such a speed down a twisting mountain road is simply courting disaster.
(4) ... Red, for example, is the color of fire, heat, blood and life. People say red is an exciting and active color. They associate red with a strong feeling like anger. Red is also used for signs of danger, such as stop signs and fire engines. Orange is the bright, warm color of leaves in autumn. People say orange is a lively color. They associate orange with happiness. Yellow is the color of sunlight. People say it is a cheerful color. They associate yellow, too, with happiness. Green is the cool color of grass in spring. People say it is a refreshing color. Ⅱ. Coherence
1. Read the following paragraph carefully. Then (1) underline the controlling idea; (2) cross out the sentences that do not help to develop the controlling idea; and (3) point out the transitions.
Once people were very much afraid of ghosts. Their fear led them to develop elaborate rituals to ward off encounters with the dead. For example, since primitive people believed that ghosts could capture their spirit at funerals, they carried wooden images of themselves in the hope that the ghosts would be fooled into carrying off the images. Images have been popular with people from primitive times until today. Once people believed that taking a picture of someone would rob the person of his or her soul. It is possible, too, that the tradition of sitting up with the dead comes from a belief that ghosts escape in the night. Certainly the ritual of laying tombstones is derived from a superstition about the dead. People once believed that stones piled on top of a grave would keep the dead person's ghost from escaping and haunting the living. Eventually the number of stones diminished until only one stone, the tombstone, was left as a reminder of the ancient superstition.
2. Listed below are a controlling idea and nine sentences that develop the controlling idea. Renumber the sentences to arrange them in what you think is the best order; then compose a paragraph, using the controlling idea as your first sentence. The controlling idea:
Since I began living in an apartment and going to school, my biggest problem has been the housework.
(1) Cooking my food is a bigger problem. (2) The worst problem is doing my laundry.
(3) Cleaning the apartment is not too bad; although it takes time away from my studies; at least when I finish the apartment looks nice.
(4) Sometimes the food is burned, sometimes it is not cooked enough, and sometimes I have not measured correctly, so the food tastes terrible.
(5) Shopping for my food is more difficult because I don't know the English names of many foods, and often I have to spend extra time asking for help.
(6) The laundromat is far from my apartment, and I waste much valuable time. (7) I have never had to cook before, and usually the results are discouraging.
(8) Mostly I am embarrassed as I sit in the laundromat with all the women, and so I wait until all my clothes are dirty before I do this horrible task.
(9) I also have trouble with the complicated instructions, so occasionally I end up with pink socks or a shirt that is too small.
Ⅲ. Transition
1. Study the following paragraphs, and point out the transitional expressions used. (1) As far back as I can remember, I have often come close to serious injury or death. When I was six years old, I narrowly escaped death for the first time. I was then ill with some minor respiratory ailment for which the simplest cure was sulfa. The doctor, having no knowledge that I was allergic to the drug, prescribed sulfa tablets. Shortly after giving me a pill, my mother returned from work to find me gasping for breath. She called the doctor who hurried back to my home. He saved my life by administering oxygen. Not long after that incident, I swallowed a chicken bone which became lodged in my throat. I was rushed to the hospital emergency ward in time to save my life. When I was eleven, I was bitten by a dog. As I look back, I recalled that the wound was not as painful as the series of shots which followed. Now, having all these narrow escapes behind me, I consider myself fortunate to be alive today.
(2) There can be little question that one of the turning points in the twentieth century was the great stock market crash of 1929. There are many reasons for the crash, including the fact that many people had bought stocks \"on margin,\" that is, by paying only a fraction of the real cost in the hope that the stocks would go up and they would make a profit, whereas many of them went down and they couldn't cover their losses. Why did the stocks go down? One reason was simple panic: people got scared, and began to sell. Because many sold, prices went down. This caused others to sell, and as a result prices went down still further. In a few months paper profits melted away like
ice in July, fortunes were lost, and purchasing power dropped sharply. Because people stopped buying, business generally collapsed, causing more failures and fewer markets, so that factories slowed down or closed down, more jobs were lost, and the great depression was under way.
2. Choose from the following transitional expressions and put them in the blanks in the paragraphs.
(1) for example; in fact; also; furthermore; not only ... but also ...; in addition Teachers of foreign languages should be extremely well-qualified in order to carry out their duties properly. ______, a teacher should possess a minimum of a graduate degree from a certified education school or institute if he is to teach high school or below. Besides the academic degree, teachers should not consider teaching only as an occupation for earning money; they should also be interested in teaching. It was ______ necessary that teachers be knowledgeable in their major fields, ______ they should ______ be skillful as well. ______, the language teacher must know the target language well enough to be imitated by his students. Proficiency in the target language includes four skills: understanding, speaking, reading, and writing. A teacher should ______ know the linguistic facts of the language of the students in order to understand the problems they will have in learning the target language. ______ the teacher must be familiar with audio-lingual techniques. Knowing all this will help the students to learn correctly and quickly. (2) then; if; when; because; even though; first
For many centuries Javanese culture has been influenced by Animism and Hinduism. ______ new religions are growing among the people - the Moslem, Catholic, and Protestant religions - many people feel that traditional ceremonies are an obligation for a Javanese. ______ they don't fulfill their obligation, they believe that bad luck will come to them or to their family. ______ my fiance and I decided to marry, my family encouraged us to have a traditional Javanese wedding ceremony, and we agreed. ______ a traditional Javanese wedding is so complicated, it needs plenty of time for preparation. ______ we had to decide how many people would be invited from outside of the housing complex: my friends from work, my husband's friends, my parents' friends from church and from other communities. People from the housing complex are automatically invited. ______, June is a popular month for weddings, we had difficulty finding a rental hall which would hold 800 people... 3. Draw arrows to show what the pronouns in italics refer to:
(1) The nobles of Persia, in the bosom of luxury and despotism, preserved a strong sense of personal gallantry and national honour. From the age of seven years they were taught to speak the truth, to shoot with the bow, and to ride; and it was universally agreed that in the last two of these arts they had achieved a more than
common proficiency. The most distinguished youths were educated under the monarch's eye, practised their exercises in the gate of his palace, and were severely trained in the habits of temperance and obedience in their long and laborious parties of hunting.
(2) Ferdinand and Isabella, informed of the return and discoveries of their admiral, awaited him at Barcelona with honour and munificence worthy of the greatness of his services. The nobility came from all the provinces to meet him. He made a triumphal entry as a prince of future kingdoms. The Indians brought over as a living proof of the existence of new races in these newly-discovered lands, marched at the head of the procession, their bodies painted with divers colors, and adorned with gold necklaces and pearls. Ferdinand and Isabella received Columbus on their throne, shaded from the sun by a golden canopy. They rose up before him, as though he had been an inspired messenger. They then made him sit on a level with themselves, and listened to the circumstantial account of his voyage. At the end of his recital which habitual eloquence had colored with his exuberant imagination, the king and queen, moved to tears, fell on their knees and repeated the Te Deum, a thanksgiving for the greatest conquest the Almighty had yet vouchsafed to sovereigns. Ⅳ. Chronological Order
1. Study the following expressions often used in describing chronological relations: now; nowadays
when; before; after; while; during between ______ and ______ in _____ (year) since _____
later; earlier; formerly; etc.
at the turn of the century (decade) etc. in the first half of the century, etc. in the 1900's, etc.
at birth; in childhood; in infancy; in adolescence; as an adult; in adulthood; in old age; at death
simultaneously; simultaneous with; at the same time as; the former; the latter previous; previously; prior to first; second; etc.
in the first place; in the second place, etc.; to begin with next; then; subsequently; in the next place
in conclusion; finally; lastly; in the end
2. Combine the pairs of sentences using one of the following words. In some cases the verb form has to be changed. after; while; before; when
(1) Don't talk. She is singing.
(2) This form of crime ceased. The law was passed.
(3) The man fell asleep in the auditorium. The lecturer spoke about avoiding boring topics.
(4) Tom was leaving the room. He brought some water to his sister. (5) The train departed. We reached the station. (6) She fell down. She was getting off the bus. 3. Put the following words in the blanks. when; while; as; before; after
Frank was definitely not expecting any visitors to his room that afternoon and indeed he had just begun to snooze in the mild afternoon sunshine ______ someone tapped lightly on the door. ______ Frank could respond to the knock, the handle turned and two children sidled in. ______ the first, a slightly gipsy-looking child wandered over to the window, the other leaned over Frank's desk and placed a large box on the top. There was a short silence, and _____ both children edged towards the door. They said nothing, not a word, and Frank too failed to find his voice; they had gone ______ he could protest. He looked uneasily at the box. 4. Arrange the sentences in logical order: Paragraph 1
A. The monks looked through the books of the monastery, and these revealed that there bad been a Father Anselm there a hundred years before.
B. The monk went back to the monastery and found there a doorkeeper whom he did not know and who did not know him.
C. The monk had never heard a lark before, and he stood there entranced until the bird and its song had become part of the heavens.
D. Other monks came, and they were all strangers to the monk. E. A monk had wandered into the fields and a lark began to sing.
F. The monk told other monks he was Father Anselm, but that was no help. G. Time had been blotted out while the monk listened to the lark. Paragraph 2
A. Secure in its island home, the dodo had lost the power of flight since there were no enemies to fly from.
B. The goats ate the undergrowth which provided the dodo with cover; dogs and cats hunted and harried the old birds; while pigs grunted their way round the island, eating the eggs and young, and the rats followed behind to finish the feast.
C. Man discovered the dodo's paradise in about 1507, and with him came his enemies: dogs, cats, pigs, rats and goats.
D. The dodo, the ponderous waddling pigeon, inhabited the island of Mauritius. E. The dodo surveyed these new arrivals with an air of innocent interest. F. By 1681, the fat, ungainly and harmless pigeon was extinct. G. Then the slaughter began.
5. Write paragraphs using the following as the topic sentences. (1) I remember the day when I came to this university. (2) ... was an important day in my life.
(3) Of all the courses offered in Chinese/English, I like ... best. (4) If I could choose again, I would major in... (5) I would like to work in ... after I graduate. Ⅴ. Process
1. Study the following phrases often used in writing process descriptions: occur before at this point become until at the same time happen while by means of grow as through the use of take place once be carried out then change into as soon as
2. Study the following sentences and put them together to form a paragraph. The paragraph should give a precise description of what is involved in the marking of examination papers in foreign language examinations in Britain.
(1) Problem papers are marked and returned to the chief examiner for remarking.
(2) It is not customary in Britain to be informed of an examination result sooner than about two months from the time the examination was taken.
(3) After the paper has been completed by the candidate, it is collected in by the invigilator.
(4) The papers are marked initially by a single examiner, working with clear, predetermined marking guidelines.
(5) In order to sample the marking the chief examiner selects a percentage of the papers from all examiners and marks them himself, or has them marked by a second marker.
(6) The papers are then sent by recorded delivery to the chief examiner, who redistributes them for marking.
(7) The invigilator bundles the papers together and places them, counted and labelled, in an envelope.
3. Write a paragraph using the points listed below and linking them with expressions often used in process description.
Topic sentence: Mother makes loaves of bread in the traditional way.
mix flour / knead it into dough in a big bowl / set the dough in front of the fire to \"rise\" / divide the \"risen\" dough up into four parts / put the parts into bread tins / \"prog\" the top of the loaves in an interesting pattern with a kitchen fork / leave them in front of the fire for a while longer / put them into the oven
4. Write paragraphs to describe precisely how the following things are done: (1) How people are admitted to hospital. (2) How to make jiao-zi.
(3) How to borrow a book from the library. (4) How to prepare a New Year's Eve party.
(5) How to take a train at the Beijing Railway Station. Ⅵ. Space
1. Study the following expressions for describing spacial relationships: where
in which; to which; from which; etc.
under; over; inside; beside; on top of; etc. along; through; as far as; etc.
north; northern; south; southern; etc. to the left; to the right; to the north; etc. at the back; in front; in the middle; etc. adjacent parallel rectangle
corresponding to parallel to semicircle distance perpendicular to slope midpoint plane space interior opposite surface diagonal overlapping vertical edge pyramid horizontal limit exterior intersection
2. Write a description of Tiananmen Square using the following expressions: the Golden Water Bridge the cloud pillar the reviewing stand
the Monument to the People's Heroes the marble basrelief
\"The People's Heroes Are Immortal\" Chairman Mao Memorial Hall the Museum of Chinese History the Great Hall of the People
3. Here is the plan of a small garden on campus: 图：
____________________ | | H | E |
|__F_| [B] |_____//| |______\\ \\____//_| | G |_C__| G [D] |
|_____|_A__|________| A: Gate B: Pavilion C: Path D: Pond
E: Flower bed F: Wood G: Lawns
H: Stone benches
Write a description of the garden, making sure that you give the reader a clear idea of what is in the garden, where things are in relation to each other, and what the garden is like generally. 4. Here is a bedroom:
图：有一张床，床上有棉被，叠得很整齐，靠窗的位置有一张书桌，书桌旁有一个衣柜，房中间位置有一张长的沙发。另外还有一个摆设柜，里面摆放着茶几等工艺品。在靠床的墙壁上挂了一张山水画。 Write a description of it.
5. Write a paragraph using the following details. Before you write, arrange the details to achieve space order. You may want to draw a diagram before you start writing. Decide where you are standing.
(1) The Botanical Garden is large.
(2) Most of the flat ground is taken up by peach trees, apple trees and pear trees. (3) An attractive path cuts straight through the garden.
(4) A river runs beside the path.
(5) On both sides of the river are flowering shrubs. (6) A small hill stands on one side of the river.
(7) There are a lot of pine trees on the slope of the hill.
(8) Near the hill, tucked into a corner, there is a children's playground with swings, seesaws and model vehicles.
(9) One of the pleasant features of the park is that it is entirely surrounded by trees. 6. Write a paragraph to describe each of the following places: (1) a street you know well (2) your home village
(3) your favorite reading room in the school library Ⅶ. Example and Generalization
1. Study the following expressions for making generalizations and giving specific details:
for example for instance for one thing to illustrate in one instance in other words as follows
let me illustrate let me cite as proof
in substantiation to substantiate as an illustration in one instance in this instance as an example
take ______ for example consider ______ for example in practice
according to statistics
according to statistical evidence generally generally speaking on the whole
all every never always
2. In a well-written paragraph of detail and example, all the facts support the topic sentence. Pick out the irrelevant material in the following: (1) The topic sentence:
I'm fascinated by my grandmother. Supporting evidence:
A. My grandmother is about 90 this year.
B. She was born into a well-to-do urban family.
C. She seems never to require the services of a doctor. D. She has an abiding interest in collecting postcards. E. She does not have much sense of humor.
F. She believes in everything: festivals, news, TV ads, success, and all the gods. G. She likes to eat fruit. H. She hates dogs.
I. She likes the color of a strawberry.
J. She takes a walk in the garden every day. (2) The topic sentence:
Male chauvinsm is evident in TV commercial advertisements. Supporting evidence:
A. Commercials are new in China compared to those in developed countries. B. Television sets, like air-conditioners, are seen as luxury goods in China.
C. There are two female images in Chinese TV commercials: traditional women busy with household chores and \"modern women\" who believe that pleasure is the most important thing in life.
D. In TV ads, \"modern women\" usually invite their boyfriend to buy them presents. E. A Chinese saying has it that when a man gets to the top, all his family members and relatives get there with him.
F. One sees in a TV ad a young man in nicely-pressed Western-style clothes sitting on a couch reading a newspaper, while his beautiful wife pulls off his socks.
G. Chinese men have got nicknames, like \"qiguanyan\" (henpecked husbands) or \"mofan zhangfu\" (model husbands).
H. Men in commercials are confident, career-oriented and energetic. A table of delicious food prepared by their wives is always waiting for them. I. Chinese commercials are providing a stage for women.
J. \"Modern women\" appear wise in commercials because they know how to depend on men but evade conventional duties.
3. On the basis of the following information, make a generalization about: a) Japanese workers; B) Beijing's environment.
(1) A. Japanese workers like work better than anything else.
B. In 1985, Japanese workers worked an everage of 2168 hours a year. By comparison, people in Britain worked 1952 hours, in the U.S., 1924, in West Germany, 1659 and in France, 1643.
C. Many Japanese workers feel that if they take a week off, they will lose touch with the business and fall behind other people.
D. It is considered bad form in many offices in Japan to leave before the boss. So workers will continue to work until their boss finally puts on his jacket and heads out the door.
(2) A. Dust storms used to make havoc of Beijing for an average of 20 days a year. Now the number of such awful days stands at around 10 annually.
B. The volume of falling dust and suspended particles in the air in the capital declined 19 and 12 percent respectively over the last five years.
C. Over 70 per cent of the farm land around Beijing now enjoys protection given by the various forms of tree belts.
D. The speed of the wind over the farmland is 30 to 40 per cent slower, humidity has risen 5 to 15 per cent, and grain output is generally 10 to 20 per cent higher.
E. Grain output in the same area increased by over one-fifth after the fields were surrounded by trees.
F. Great efforts have been made in the past ten years to plant trees and build a forest network around Beijing.
G. Trees are planted in an area larger than the 33,000 hectares around the Miyun Reservoir.
4. Paragraph writing exercises:
(1) Do you think you are an optimist or a pessimist?
Write a paragraph relating an occasion when you behaved like an optimist or like a pessimist.
(2) Write a paragraph to describe one day in the life of a person who has one outstanding characteristic:
a teacher who is meticulous a roommate who is considerate
a student who is nervous before an examination a girl (boy) who is lazy
a classmate who is hardworking
(3) Write about a) a person whom you admire b) a place that impressed you
(4) Write a paragraph using the \"facts-generalization\" pattern. Here are some suggested topics:
a) People in Beijing eat well and dress fashionably. b) It is useful to learn a second foreign language.
c) TV and the VCR are increasingly replacing the cinema. d) My home town is undergoing rapid modernization. Ⅷ. Comparison and Contrast
1. Study the following expressions often used in making comparison and contrast: To Compare:
similar to at the same rate as similarly as
like, alike just as
likewise in like manner
correspond to in the same way
correspondingly to have ______ in common resemble common characteristics, etc. resemblance to be parallel in ______ almost the same as both To Contrast:
differ from unlike however in contrast to otherwise in opposition to still on the contrary
nevertheless on the opposite side even so on the other hand a larger (smaller) but percentage than
less than different from more than although faster than, etc. while
2. Read the following sentences and indicate if they are sentences of COMPARISON or CONTRAST.
(1) Though both are forms of humor, comedy is different from satire. (2) In 2000 the world will surely be different from what it is today.
(3) Fashions in furniture change just as clothing fashions do. (4) Buying a car requires as much skill as selling one.
(5) Badmintion is as important a sport in Indonesia as football is in the United States. (6) There is more hard work in writing than in physical labor. (7) Ballet is a more exhausting art than gymnastics.
(8) \"Friendship,\" like \"love,\" is often discussed but seldom understood.
3. Write statements of contrast to fit the following patterns (you may need a word or a phrase to complete the sentence).
(1) TV and newspapers are ______ in many ways even though their aims may be the same.
(2) Sound travels ______ through ______ than through ______.
(3) Before 1880 many people died of smallpox; ______ the percentage of deaths from smallpox is small today.
(4) Some children grow ______ than other children because of nutritional differences. (5) ______ to living on the farm, living in the city is an intense struggle to survive in a concrete wasteland.
(6) Per capita earnings in Japan ______ those in South Korea.
4. Write statements of comparison to fit the following patterns (you may need a word or a phrase to complete the sentence).
(1) The development of transportation and the development of communications ______ in many ways.
(2) Anshan in the Northeast of China and Panzhihua in the Southwest are ______ steel centers.
(3) Despite centuries of change, human beings and their primitive ancestors have many traits ______.
(4) ______ badminton ______ table tennis requires a large playing area.
(5) Although the last days of the Roman Empire may at first appear very different from those of the United States today, there are ominous ______.
5. Make use of the following information and write paragraphs of comparison and contrast.
(1) Topic sentence: Raising houseplants involves nearly as much care and knowledge as raising children. Houseplants:
A. Raising houseplants involves much care and knowledge. B. Plants are sentsitive to their environment.
C. A plant will grow faster and be much healthier if it is raised in an environment of tender, loving care.
D. The owner of houseplants must be willing to provide the best possible care for his plants.
E. The owner of houseplants must know which of his plants need direct sunlight and which need to be kept in shady places.
F. The owner of houseplants must know how much water each plant requires for the best growth and appearance. Children:
A: Raising a child involves much care and knowledge. B: Children are sensitive to their environment.
C. Parents must have a basic knowledge of their children's needs in order to provide what is necessary for their best physical and mental development.
D. A child will be happier and healthier if his parents love and nurture him.
E. A child needs time and energy from his parents to play with him, to talk to him, and to care for him.
(2) Topic sentence: The works of both Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner contain a richness of meaningful substance and other qualities which help maintain these authors' places among America's greatest writers. Their writing styles, however, are remarkably different. Hemingway:
A. His sentences are usually short, simple, and straightforward. B. His sentences are remarkably lucid.
C. He doesn't overwhelm the reader with long, \"purplish\" words nor with complicated sentence structure.
D. Much of what he expresses is conveyed by understatement. Faulkner:
A. His writing is much more involved.
B. He uses an elaborate stream-of-consciousness technique to reveal the psychological conflicts within his characters. C. His sentences are often long and complex.
D. Sometimes he carries his reader through several time periods within the same sentence.
6. Write a paragraph on each of the following topics: (1) a song from your parents' youth and one from today (2) the radio audience and the television audience (3) the Summer Palace and the Purple Bamboo Park
(4) two of your friends
(5) the \"McDonald\" fastfood restaurant and a Chinese restaurant Ⅸ. Cause and Effect
1. Study the following expressions for discussing cause and effect: so consequently thus therefore
accordingly because of for this reason owing to as a result since hence due to because
as a result of as the result of so that result in so ______ that the effect of thanks to the consequence of out of
have an effect on owe ______ to the reason for the cause of It follows that
now that seeing that for fear that
such ______ that so as _______ to
make ______ possible
make it possible / impossible for ______ to ______
2. Decide whether the following sentences express CAUSE and EFFECT or things that happened in CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
(1) Peter and Mark went to the park yesterday. They had barbecue there. (2) Footsteps echoed down the empty path towards Mary, and she was afraid. (3) John has a Vitamin C deficiency. He has a skin disease. (4) Bob was very sleepy. He sat nodding in his car.
(5) There are a loud knock at the door downstairs. The knock woke me out of a sound sleep.
(6) Susan did not feel well. She did not turn up.
3. Study the following information. In the blank before each sentence, write C if it is a statement of CAUSE or E if it is a statement of EFFECT. (1) Topic: Music in the United States
______ A Popular music showed a definite change in the 1950s - a movement away from the big band sound that had appealed to those growing up in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.
______ B Teenagers became more affluent and thus had the money to buy records by performers like Elvis Presley and Ray Charles.
______ C The black population finally had the money in the 1950s to support the singers and musicians they had preferred for years.
______ D A large proportion of the adult white population that had been poor during the depression began to rebel against the sophisticated lyrics and sounds of the big band musicians.
______ E The new affluence of groups of people who had previously had little money to spend on entertainment paved the way for the emergence of gospel, blues, and rock music.
(2) Topic: Tornados
______ A Tornados are formed when warm, moist air spreads northward, meeting with cold air flowing from the north and west above it.
______ B The meeting of cold and warm air starts the characteristic circular motion. ______ C The circular motion quickly builds up and becomes forceful enough to tear buildings apart and uproot trees.
______ D Not only are tornados able to move huge objects but they also occasionally do odd things, such as stripping a chicken of its feathers quickly. (3) Topic: Drunk drivers
______ A Excessive amounts of alcohol cause one to lose one's sense of responsibility.
______ B Excessive amounts of alcohol slow reaction time and seriously impair depth perception.
______ C The inebriated driver is unable to make quick logical decisions and is often responsible for accidents causing serious injuries or death. ______ D Drunk drivers are dangerous.
______ E Drunk drivers pose a serious threat to themselves as well as to others. 4. Choose one of the topics below and write a paragraph.
CAUSES OF (1) your headaches and depressions
(2) the improvement of transportation in Beijing (or your hometown)
(3) the success of a person you know well (4) the failure of a TV program
EFFECTS OF (1) low wages for teachers (2) multiple-choice exams
(3) college students doing part-time jobs (4) one child per family
(5) the sharp increase in entrance fees to parks and museums in Beijing Ⅹ. Classification
1. Study the following expressions for classification: main kinds of unimportant major kinds of insignificant basic kinds similar fundamental dissimilar significant contradictory important opposing
primary, secondary opposite minor contrasting clearly distinguishable easily distinguished
incontestable differences incontestable similarities classify divide
kinds types attributes
methods sources characteristics parts regions factors divisions origins eras categories bases times classes qualities aspects classifications
mutually exclusive according to ______ with respect to ______
______ falls into ______ categories
______ can be divided into ______ classes
2. Study the following words and divide them into groups, giving a name to each of the groups.
brother jump strong green garden weak house lawyer healthy soldier forest sing
city village intelligent beautiful biology thoughtful sleep difficult
3. In the blank before each of the following sentences, write G if it is a statement of GENERALIZATION or C if it is a statement of CLASSIFICATION.
______ (1) Democracy is a state of mind.
______ (2) Some sports require as high a degree of eye-mind-hand coordination as brain surgery.
______ (3) Gamblers fall into several classes, depending upon what their stakes are. ______ (4) Students should not be allowed to smoke in the classroom.
______ (5) Many aspects of the American character can be attributed to the American frontier.
______ (6) United States history as reflected by the concentration of people in cities can be divided into two clearly distinguishable periods.
______ (7) A number of foreign countries were directly involved in U.S. territorial expansion.
______ (8) A wild stallion is powerful and fierce.
______ (9) Everyone has three kinds of \"friends\" he wants to forget. 4. Add items to the following lists:
(1). College students can be classified according to the following standards: A) academic achievement
B) attitude toward politics, friendship, and so forth C) _____ D) _____ E) _____ F) _____ G) _____ H) _____
(2). Means of transportation can be classified according to the following standards: A) speed B) size C) _____ D) _____ E) _____ F) _____ G) _____
H) _____ I) _____
(3). Vegetables can be classified according to the following standards: A) those that can (can't) to eaten raw B) color C) _____ D) _____ E) _____ F) _____ G) _____ H) _____
5. Write paragraphs of classification by expanding the following outlines. (1) Topic: My Classmates Among them are:
A) logical and critical thinkers B) attentive readers
C) careful and lucid writers D) responsible campus citizens E) sympathetic roommates (2) Topic: My Roommates Among them are: A) considerate ones B) messy and lazy ones C) bossy ones D) loners
6. Write a paragraph of classification on each of the following topics: (1) the parks you have been to (2) the books you like to read (3) the movies you have seen (4) your clothes
(5) the sports you enjoy Ⅺ. Definition
1. Study the following expressions for definition:
to define to explain
in definition in explanation
in other words by ______ is meant to clarify to paraphrase in clarification form aspect
species characteristic class method device property type condition kind attribute category
2. Study the following definitions. Decide which are good ones and which are inadequate.
(1) Famine is extreme scarcity of food in a region.
(2) Gambling is a way to make money without working. (3) A loom is a machine for weaving cloth. (4) A proof is a particular piece of evidence.
(5) To enlighten is to give knowledge, and to free from ignorance, misunderstanding, or false beliefs.
(6) Neutrality is a state between war and peace. (7) A hospital is a place where a doctor works.
(8) A sentry is a soldier posted to guard and to keep watch. (9) A sear is a mark remaining on the surface of skin. (10) To walk is to move each foot forward in turn.
3. Define the following from your own experience or observation in the form of paragraphs.
(1) the Chinese saying \"show off one's skill with an ax before Lu Ban\". (2) \"Master Dongguo\" (3) superstition (4) optimism
(5) male chauvinism (6) feminism
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