Understanding Paragraphs and their Topics

Our today’s lecture is about paragraphs and their topics.

What’s a paragraph?
1- A paragraph is a group of sentences. 2- All sentences in a paragraph are about one topic.

EXAMPLES

1- It is easy to make a good cup of tea. The first people to grow coffee beans
lived in the Middle East. Most of the oranges for juice grow in Florida. That is
how people in other parts of the world learned about rice. Cover the pot and
wait a few minutes.
Is it a Paragraph? Yes ____________ No _____________

2- A doctor’s job is not easy. Doctors often spend many hours with patients.
There are usually more patients waiting. So doctors do not have much free
time during the day. They often have to work all night in the hospital, too.
Is it a Paragraph? Yes _______________ No _____________

Choosing the Best Topic

In this part of today’s lecture you are going to learn about “how to find the best
topic for a paragraph”. We will also discuss “Too Specific” and “Too General”
topics.

1. Mexico City is a popular place for tourists. Every year thousands of people go
to Mexico City. They visit the old and beautiful buildings. In Mexico City’s
museums, they learn about the history of Mexico. In the restaurants, they
enjoy the spicy and delicious Mexican food.

Choose the topic from the following options:

a. Mexican food __________________

b. Mexico __________________
c. Mexico City __________________
 Classroom Activities
Read the following paragraphs and circle the topic. Then write “too specific” or
“too general”

1- Mexico City is growing quickly. In, 1970, the city had about 9 million people.
Now it has over 17 million people. All these people are causing problems for
the city. There are not enough jobs. Also, there is not enough housing. Large
families have to live together in small homes. Many homes do not have
water. They also do not have bathrooms or electricity. The Mexican
government is worried about all these problems. It is working hard to make
life batter in the city.
a. Mexican government ________________
b. Large cities ________________
c. Mexico City’s problems ________________
2- Why is Mexico City growing so fast? Where are all these people coming
from? They are coming to the city from the country. Life is hard on the farms
in Mexico. Most people on farms have to live a very simple life. They have no
extra money for modern things. People think life in the city must be batter.
So they leave there farms and move to Mexico City.
a. Why people are moving to Mexico City. ______________
b. How Mexicans live in the city. ______________
c. Life in Mexico today. ______________

3- All around the world, large cities have the same problems. One of them is air
pollution. Mexico City has bad air. It is dirty and unhealthy. Cars are one
reason for dirty air. Many Mexicans now own cars and drive in the city. The
factories in the area also cause air pollution. These factories put a lot of
smoke into the air. It is not easy to clean up the air in a large city. The
government has to make new laws, and everyone has to help.
a. Air pollution. _____________________
b. Mexico City’s air pollution. _____________________
c. How factories cause air pollution? _____________________
4- In the United States, there are many ads on TV about kinds of soap. The ads
show soap for washing clothes. They also show soap specially for washing
dishes. Some ads show soap only for washing floors. Other ads are about
soap for washing cars. TV ads show soap for washing people, too. Often the
ads tell about special soap for washing your hair. Other soap is just for taking
care of little babies. American TV seems very interested in cleaning.
a. Soap in the United States. _____________________
b. Soap for washing in the house. _____________________
c. Ads for soap on American TV. _____________________
5- The evening news on TV is popular with many people in the United States.
They like to find out what is happening. On TV they can see real people and
places. They believe it is easier than reading the newspaper. Many people
think TV makes the news seem more real. They also think the news on TV is
more interesting. The TV news reporters sometimes tell funny stories and
even tell jokes. This makes the news about wars and crimes seem less
terrible.
a. News programs have funny stories. __________________
b. Americans like TV news. __________________
c. TV news. __________________

6- In the United States there are two kinds of TV stations. One kind is
commercial, and the other kind is public. Most of the TV stations in the
United States are commercial. That is, they are business, and they show ads
to make money. Public TV stations are not business and do not show any
ads. They get money from the government and from some large companies.
They also get some money from the people who watch their programs.

a. The two kinds of TV stations in the United States. __________

b. Public TV stations. ________________
c. TV in the United States. ________________