EACH OF THE FOLLOWING TOPIC SENTENCES CAN BE DEVELOPED INT...
EXERCISE 1. Each of the following topic sentences can be developed into a para-
graph with reasons. Three reasons are given. Which should you mention first? Last?
Put an F in the space before your first reason and an L before your last. Be prepared to
defend your answers.
Sample:TOPIC SENTENCE
: Our mayor deserves to be reelected.
______ 1. He has speeded up street repairs.
___L__ 2. He has helped the city achieve the highest level of employment in the
state.
___F__ 3. He has eliminated wasteful spending and government inefficiency.
1.
TOPIC SENTENCE
: TV news programs are worth watching.
______ 1. You can see and hear the people in the news.
______ 2. You get weather reports.
______ 3. You get up-to-the-minute news.
2.
TOPIC SENTENCE
: Benjamin Franklin was a remarkable person.
______ 1. He invented the lightning rod.
______ 2. He persuaded France to come to our aid, enabling us to win our indepen-
dence.
______ 3. He was the finest American writer of his time, as well as a practical sci-
entist.
3.
TOPIC SENTENCE
: The fire at Ace Supermarket has hurt the people of our neigh-
borhood.
______ 1. Since Ace burned down, shoppers have been paying more elsewhere but
not getting the same quality.
______ 2. Ace used to offer the best merchandise at the lowest prices.
______ 3. Ace’s dairy and meat products were of the highest quality.
4.
TOPIC SENTENCE
: I have decided to give up my paper route.
______ 1. I am pressed for time now that I am on the basketball team.
______ 2. Some of my customers are slow in paying.
______ 3. Delivering newspapers is not as much fun as it used to be.
5.
TOPIC SENTENCE
: The disadvantages of motor vehicles are serious.
______ 1. They are a major cause of air pollution, endangering the nation’s health.
______ 2. They destroy billions of dollars of property annually.
______ 3. They kill thousands of people (43,000 in 2002) a year on our roads and
highways.
Now you should try writing your own paragraph with reasons. Choose one of the fol-
lowing topic sentences and develop it. If you wish, you may use a topic sentence of your
own.
Suggestion: Jot down your reasons and arrange them in the most effective order before
writing your paragraph.
A model paragraph follows, together with explanatory comments, to help you write
your own paragraph in Exercise 2.
Suggested Topic Sentences
1. Our community needs a new athletic field (or more parking facilities, or some
other improvement).
2. The computer (or the airplane, the automobile, television, etc.) is one of the mira-
cles of modern living.
3. Unemployment is a serious problem.
4. Spring (or summer, fall, or winter) is the season I enjoy most.
5. A calculator is useful to own.
6. The death penalty should (or should not) be abolished.
7. Smoking is harmful to your health.
8. It is (or is not yet) time that we elected a woman to be our country’s president.
Model Paragraph
1
Fall is the season I enjoy most.
2
It is a pleasure to be outdoors in the
fall because there are few mosquitoes and the weather is mild.
3
The color-
ful autumn leaves make the outdoors more beautiful.
4
When I finish classes
on a fall day, I can’t wait to get out on the hockey field or just take my time
walking home with friends.
5
I always feel better and have more energy in
the fall than in any other season.
6