GE105 Activity 3 on Topic Sentences 1

GE105 Writing I: Academic Literacies

Spring Semester 2013

Week 3

Instructor: Sophia Katsochi

Student:

ACTIVITY 3 on Choosing Topic Sentences

TASK: Read the following main body paragraphs. Select the most matching topic sentence.

Make sure there is coherence between the topic sentence selected and the following paragraph

support. Boldface or color your choice.

1.__________________________________________________________. Perhaps his most

famous story is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This story is about a young girl named

Alice who stumbles upon a fantastic world full of interesting characters and strange

occurrences. Carroll based his Alice character on his friend’s daughter Alice, to whom he

frequently enjoyed telling stories.

a. Lewis Carroll often accompanied his fantasy stories with illustrations that he drew himself.

b. Lewis Carroll’s stories are famous the world over and have been translated into many

languages.

c. Lewis Carroll adored children, which is evident to anyone who has read one of his timeless

classics.

d. Although Lewis Carroll wrote his stories in the 1800s, they still appeal to children and

adults today.

GE105 Activity 3 on Topic Sentences 2

2. __________________________________________________________. A Galapagos

tortoise can weigh up to 500 pounds. It can be large enough to carry a person on its back.

When Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos 160 years ago, he wrote about riding on the back

of a giant tortoise. There is actually a slim chance that this same tortoise is still alive because

these animals can live until the age of 100 to 150, and sometimes even longer. It has been said

that the tortoise given by the explorer Captain Cook to the Queen of Tonga in the 1770s lived

until 1966.

a. Lonesome George is the name of a famous giant tortoise which is lonesome because he

does not have a mate.

b. Giant tortoises are found in only two parts of the world, the Galapagos Islands and the

country of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

c. The remote Galapagos Islands are famous for a number of incredible animals that live

there.

d. The giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands are famous for how large they grow and how

long they live.

3. __________________________________________________________. My family and I

walked through several rooms, looking at models of different animals. Most of it I

remembered from the last time I had been there. Then we came to a room I had never been in

before. It was filled with fascinating statues and drawings. I could tell they were ancient.

When I read the information about the exhibit, I learned that the statues were from a place

called Easter Island, and that they had been carved more than 500 years ago.

a. A museum is filled with different rooms.

GE105 Activity 3 on Topic Sentences 3

b. I enjoy looking at statues carved by ancient peoples.

c. Last week, I had a really great time at the museum.

d. Normally when I go to the museum, I visit the gift shop.

4. _________________________________________________________. Once a kingdom

independent of foreign control, Madagascar was made a colony by the French in 1886.

Madagascar once again achieved its independence on June 26, 1960. Madagascar is a poor

country with under funded health and education systems. Many people in the country suffer

from chronic malnutrition. Madagascar is growing at a rate of 3 percent annually.

Environmentally speaking, Madagascar has recently been experiencing a drastic loss of forest

cover, which has contributed to severe soil erosion. Farming, fishing, and forestry form the

core of Madagascar’s economy. French and Malagasy are the official languages of

Madagascar.

a. When I was a little boy, I lived with my family on the island of Madagascar.

b. There is a species of lemur living on the island of Madagascar that does not exist anywhere

else in the world.

c. Located in the Indian Ocean, Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island.

d. Madagascar is just one of the magnificent island paradises you will visit when you take a

trip on our special cruise yacht.