Topic sentence
What is a topic sentence? A topic sentence (a signal to the reader)
Introduces a paragraph and tells us clearly what the main idea of the paragraph is.
Consists of the topic and the controlling idea.
Has subjects and a verb.
Should not be too general or specific
Examples
Frozen food is easy to prepare
Moving away from home for the first time can be a stressful experience for university students
Having a car is not a necessity for me
The Canaries attract tourists all year round because of their mild climate
Driving in Madrid requires nerves of steel
Exercise 1: which is the best topic sentence
1. The new hybrid cars are popular because of their fuel economy. BTS
2. Hybrid cars are more economical to operate than gasoline-powered cars. I
3. Hybrid cars have good fuel economy because a computer under the bonnet
decides to run the electricity motor, the small gasoline engine, or the two
together. TS
4. The new hybrid cars are very popular. TG
Exercise 2:
1. Not to mention mad cow disease. I
2. In some large ocean fish, there are high levels of mercury. TS
3. Food safety is an important issue. TG
4. It is hard to know what foods are safe to eat nowadays. BTS
Exercise 3
1. For example, Stonehenge in Britain, built 3500 years ago to track the movement of the
sun. I
2. Ice age people recorded the appearance of the new moons by making scratches in
animal bones. TS
3. The history of astronomy is interesting. TG
4. Ancient people observed and recorded lunar and solar events in different ways. BTS
Exercise 4: write a topic sentence
Cell phones: Cell phones have changed our life in several ways.
