英语阅读第十一讲－.docVIP

Reading Skill: Understanding Paragraphs A paragraph can be defined as a group of related sentences about a single topic. In order to read paragraphs in the most efficient manner, a reader must be familiar with the structure/organization of a paragraph, that is, its four essential elements. Topic: the one thing the entire paragraph is about Main idea: a direct statement or an implied idea about the topic Details: the proof, support, explanation, reason or examples that explain or support the main idea Signal words: words or phrases that provide clues about either the organization or content of a paragraph Identifying the topic The topic of a paragraph is the subject of the whole paragraph. It is the one thing that the whole paragraph is about. To identify the topic of a paragraph, ask youself this question: “who or what is the paragraph about?” your answer to this question will be the topic of the paragraph. Usually, the topic of a paragraph can be expressed in two or three words, which are, in most cases, the nouns repeated in the paragraph. Now try this technique to identify the topic of the paragraph. e.g. Persuasion is one of the most common reasons for pubic speaking. For example, the political speaker who makes a campaign speech tries to persuade you to his point of view. Also, the salesman in his daily encounters speaks to persuade. However, there are other important reasons for speaking that should not be overlooked. Speaking to entertain, for example, or to give directions is also important. Furthermore, speaking to impart information, as the college lecturer does, is another reason. Finding the main idea Besides presenting a topic, every paragraph must make some statement or express an idea about the topic. This idea, usually a general idea, is called the main idea. Then the entire paragraph explains, deve