2. From Topics to Main Ideas and Topic Sentences
In a textbook, the author will often place the topic sentence as the first sentence in a paragraph, but what if the topic sentence requires some background information? If this is the case, the author will begin the paragraph with an introductory sentence. Some paragraphs need more than one introductory sentence to give background information before introducing the topic sentence that is placed in the middle or at the end of the paragraph. (Note: The topic is the subject, person, place, or event that is the focus of the paragraph, and the topic sentence sums up the main idea about the topic.)
Of the following, which one is a topic sentence that sums up the main idea of the three sentences?
A.Men often like to tell longer jokes to groups.
B.Women, on the other hand, often prefer to tell shorter jokes to just a few people.
C.tudies show that men and women do not tell jokes in exactly the same way.
