英语阅读第十一讲-

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

1.

I

dentifying 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.

2.

F

inding 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,

develops

and

supports this main idea. Sometimes you can

find

the

main

idea

in

a

topic

sentence

directly stated by the author. In most

cases,

the topic sentence is put at the beginning of

a paragraph, but sometimes in the middle or

in the end. For the paragraph without a topic

sentence you have to identify the main idea

by

asking

“

what

is

the

author

trying

to

express about the topic?

”

Your answer to this

will be the main idea of the paragraph.

Now

turn

to

the

above

example

to

identify

the main idea.

3.

R

ecognizing supporting details

In a paragraph, the supporting details are the

proofs,

explanations,

facts,

reasons

or

examples

that

explain

or

support

the

paragraph

?

s

main

idea.

Once

the

topic

and

the

main

idea

have

been

identified,

it

is

relatively simple to recognize the supporting

details. Recognizing the types of details will

help

the

reader

understand

how

the

author

develops and connects his or her ideas.

A

．

Types of details

?

Illustration-Example

Idea

explained

is

through

the

use

of

illustrations

or

examples.

That

is,

the

writer

uses

illustrations

or

examples

to

explain

or

support

the

main

idea

of

a

paragraph.

?

Facts and Statistics

The writer includes

facts and statistics

that

further explain the main idea.

?

Reasons

The main idea of a paragraph is explained

by

giving reasons

.

?

Description

Descriptive

details

are

facts

that

are

intended

to

help

you

to

visualize

the

person, object, or event being described.

B

．

Identifying the key supporting details

In a paragraph, a writer includes details to

explain

or

support

the

main

idea

of

the

paragraph. However, not all details are equally

important. To read efficiently, a reader should

know

how

to

identify

the

most

or

key

supporting details.

The

key

supporting

details

are

those

statements

that

directly

prove

or

explain

the

main

idea.

To

find

the

key

supporting

details

in

a

paragraph,

ask

yourself

this

question:

“

What

are

the

main

facts

the

author

uses

to

prove or explain the main idea?

”

Ex.

Directions:

Each

of

the

following

statements could function as the topic sentence

of

a

paragraph.

After

each

statement

are

sentences containing details that may relate to

the

main

idea

statement.

Choose

those

with

details that can be considered primary support

for the main idea statement.

Example

:

Topic

sentence

:

In

April

1986,

a

tragic

accident

occurred

at

a

nuclear

power

plant

at

Chernobyl.

[t

?

i

?

'n

?

:bil]

切尔诺贝利（乌克兰的一座城市）

Supporting Details:

a.

An

explosion

ripped

through

one

of

Chernobyl

?

s

four

reactors

and

radiation

entered the atmosphere.

b.

The

plant

burned

for

two

weeks

because

technicians

were

unable

to

plug

the

leak

caused by the explosion.

c.

America

had

had

its

own

nuclear

scare

when

a

meltdown

occurred

at

Pennsylvania

?

s Three Mile Island.

d.

Immediately

following

the

explosion

at

Chernobyl, thirty-one people died; several

weeks

later,

135,000

people

were