Name : Rahmadina Novia

Nim : 2011213015
Class : IKM A3

Exercise 1
Guide practice for eight paragraphs follow. They are for practice in using
paragraph patterns in finding main ideas and supporting ideas (details).

1. How do the laws help us in every part of our lives? They help us live
together peacefully. Here are three examples. One,they take care of each
persons’s right, for example, the laws make sure we are free to write, say,
or read anything we wish. Two, they help people live together in a
society, for example, the laws say people cannot steal from one another.
Three, they help work out fights, for example, the laws are used to clear
up the argument when one person says another one owes money he or she
won’t pay.

1. What is the paragraph pattern?

Answer : questions-answer

2. What is the main idea (topic sentence)?

Answer : the laws help us in every part of our lives.

3. Where is the topic sentence placed in the paragraph?

Answer : first in the paragraph.

4. How many supporting ideas (details) does the writer use?

Answer : three supporting ideas.

2. The earth is always changing. One way it changes is by erosion. Some

erosion is caused by the weather. For example, the wind causes erosion.
In a desert, the wind blows the sand around. Rain also causes erosion. It
washes away earth and even changes the shape of some rocks. Another
kind of erosion is caused by rivers. When a river goes through a
mountain, it cuts into the mountain. After a long time, the mountain is
lower and the land is flatter.

1. What is the paragraph?

Answer : topic-discussion

2. What is the main idea (topic sentence)?

 Answer : Erosi is one of the causes of changes in Earth's.

3. Where is the topic sentence placed in the paragraph?

Answer : first in the paragraph.

4. How namy supporting ideas (details) does the writer use?

Answer : eight supporting ideas.

3. Mt. Vesuvius in Italy and Mt St. Helens in the United Sated are both
famous mountains. They are both volcanoes. A valcano is a mountain that
is open at the top. Smoke and hot air come out of the hole. Sometimes
very hot rock also comes out of the mountain. That can mean trouble for
people nearby. This is what happened with Mt.Vesuvius and Mt St.
Helens. Hot rock poured out of Mt.Vesuvius and covered the town of
Pompeii in 79AD. Everyone in the town was killed. The Mt St. Helens
valcano did not kill many people. There were no cities close to the
mountain. But the hot rock killed a large part of the forest. And a lot of
dirt fell on cities many miles away.

1. What is the paragraph pattern?

Answer : topic-discussion

2. What is the main idea (topic sentence)?

Answer : Mt. Vesuvius in Italy and Mount St. Helens in the United
States is a famous volcano.

3. Where is the topic sentence placed in the paragraph?

Answer : first in the paragraph.

4. How many supporting ideas (details) does the writer use?

Answer : elevent supporting ideas.

4. Scientists know a lot about the earth. For example, they understand
how mountains are made and what a volcano is. But they do not know
when a volcano will send hot rock into the air. They may know about the
outside of the earth. But they still are not sure about the inside, and
scientist are not sure about how the earth was made. They have many
different ideas about this. There are still many difficult questions for
scientists who study the earth.
1. What is the paragraph pattern?
Answer : topic-discussion

2. What is the main idea (topic sentence)?

Answer : scientists may know about the outer parts of the earth, but
they do not know about the inside

3. Where is the topic sentence placed in the paragraph?

Answer : within the paragraph.

4. How many supporting ideas (details) does the writer use?

Answer : five supporting ideas

5. Before the 1600s people were interested in chemicals. But they did not
study them like modern chemists. These early chemists were called
alchemists. Their kind of chemistry was called alchemy. They had some
strange ideas. For example, they believed they could make gold. They
though they could mix together the right things and have gold. For
hundreds of year alchemists tried to do this, of course, no one ever made
gold this way

1. What is the paragraph pattern?

Answer : topic-discussion

2. What is the main idea (topic sentence)?

Answer : Before the 1600s people were interested in chemicals.

3. Where is the topic sentence placed in the paragraph?

Answer : first in the paragraph.

4. How many supporting ideas (details) does the writer use?

Answer : seven supporting ideas.

6. Antonie Lavoisier is important in the his story of modern chemistry. In

the 1700s, he began to use a new way to study chemicals. Before
Lavoisier, scientists just looked at something and thought about it. Nut
Lavoisier did experiments. He studied the size and weight of many
different things. He found out something else. For example, when water
boils, it become steam. This was a very important idea for the future of
chemistry.

1. What is the paragraph pattern?

Answer : topic-discussion

2. What is the main idea (topic sentence)?

Answer : Antonie Lavoisier is important in the his story of modern
chemistry.

3. Where is the topic sentence placed in the paragraph?

Answer : first in the paragraph.

4. How many supporting ideas (details) does the writer use?

Answer : seven supporting ideas.

7. Lavoisier is best know as a chemist. He learned some every important

facts about chemistry. And he gave names to many chemicals. These are
the same names we used today. Some of Lavoisier’s other ideas were
important, too. He used science to improve farming. He also worked on a
way to improve France’s banks and government. He helped to make the
taxes and money the same all over France. Lavoisier was a great man in
many ways.

1. What is the paragraph pattern?

Answer : topic-discussion

2. What is the main idea (topic sentence)?

Answer : Lavoisier is best know as a chemist.

3. Where is the topic sentence placed in the paragraph?

Answer : first in the paragraph.

4. How many supporting ideas (details) does the writer use?

Answer : eight supporting ideas.

8. The earth is a very complex object, made up of many layers. What we

are familiar with is only the upper surface of the ‘skin’ or crust. This crust
is altogether rather more than 100 km deep. The outher crust, of a depth
of approximately 8 km, is made mostly of very hard rock, a kind of
granite. This make up the continents or major land massas. Below it is a
much thicker layer. The inner crust, also made of a hard but different kind
of rock, basalt. Beneath this lies the upper mantle. A semi-fluid layer
about 600 km deep. Where temperatures reach 1500 C. The lower mantle
is more rigid, because of the great pressures at those depths. It extends a
further 2900 km towards the centre of the earth and has a temperature
twice that of the layer immediately above it. Within the mantle is the core
this again is devided into two layers. The outer and the inner. The former
consists of molten nicked and iron and has a temperature of 3900 C. The
latter, of the same constituents is however relatively solid again because
of the great pressure at those depths. The temperature of the inner core is
about 900 C higher than that of the outher core and its diameter is
appoximately 4300 km.

1. What is the paragraph pattern?

Answer : topic-discussion

2. What is the main idea (topic sentence)?

Answer : The earth is a very complex object, made up of many layers.

3. Where is the topic sentence placed in the paragraph?

Answer : first in the paragraph.

4. How many supporting ideas (details) does the writer use?

Answer : sixteen supporting ideas.

Exercise 2
Read the text below and identify the main idea of each paragraph by
underlining it.

The history of chemistry

The early scientific study of chemistry, known as alchemy, grew

up in the first few centuries A.D. at Alexandria in Egypt. There two
important things came together: one was the practical knowledge of the
Egyptian workers in metals, pottery and dyes; the other was the learning
of the earlier Greek Philosophers, such as Hippocrates and Aristotle. At
the same time alchemy was much influenced by ideas from the East about
magic and astrology – foretelling the future from the stars.
Greek philosophers regarded debate about the nature of matter as
superior to experiment, and some held that all matter was made up of the
same four ‘elements’ – earth, fire, air, and water. Many people therefore
thought that if these elements could be rearranged, one substance could
be changed into another. For instance, a base metal could perhaps be
turned into gold. The chief aim of the alchemists was to find a way of
doing this.
Alchemy came under Arab influence when the armies of Islam
conquered Egypt during the seventh century. The Arabs carried its study
into Western Europe when they advance into Spain. Many Arabic words
are still used in chemistry – ‘alkali’, ‘alcohol’ and even ‘alchemy’ itself,
which means ‘the art of Egypt’. The greatest Arab alchemist was Jabir
Ibnu Hayyan, possibly the same person as Geber, author of two
important books on alchemy know from the Latin translations of the
thirteenth century. Jabir claimed that mercury and sulphur were
‘elements’ like the four Greek ones. He said that all metals were
composed of mercury and sulphur in different proportions. To change a
base metal into gold required the proportions to be changed by the action
of a mysterious substance which came to be called ‘the philosopher’s
stone’. Alchemist searched in vain for this substance for several hundred
years.
Alchemy was studied widely in Europe during the twelfth and
following centuries, and attracted the attention of many learned men.
Thought they were doomed to fail in their attempts to make gold, their
work led to the growth of a great deal of new chemical knowledge and of
methods of making experiments. Many of the later European alchemists,
however, were complete frauds who prayed upon trusting people by all
sorts of trick, and the subject fell into disrepute. By the first half of the
sixteenth century, the aim of the alchemists had changed from the making
of gold to the making of medicines. In particular they sought a fanciful
substance called ‘the elixir of life’, a powerful medicine which was to
cure all ills, and which some people thought would turn out to be the
same substance, as the philosopher’s stone. This phase of chemistry
lasted till about 1700.

Exercise 3
Underline the main ideas and circle the supporting details as you read the
paragraphs below. Then write them in note form in the space provided.

1. There are two main groups of whale – toothed and toothless. The
former includes the dolphin, the porpoise and the killer and sperm
whales; the latter the grey, humpback, right and blue whales. Some
toothed species, like the killer, feed on other large mammals such as
the porpoise, while others – e.g. the sperm whale – eat smaller forms
of marine life. The mouth of the toothless whale is adapted to form a
kind of sieve in which tiny marine animals are caught by a filtering
process.

Main idea : There are two main groups of whale – toothed and toothless.

Supporting details :

a. The former includes the dolphin, the porpoise and the killer and sperm
whales; the latter the grey, humpback, right and blue whales.
b. Some toothed species, like the killer, feed on other large mammals
such as the porpoise, while others – e.g. the sperm whale – eat smaller
forms of marine life.

2. In recent years the number of oil spills has been increasing. These
spills, some of which have occurred directly at the site of extraction
and other during transportation, have had an adverse effect on marine
organisms. Because of the importance of these organisms in the life
cycle, research has been carried out in order to identify more
accurately the reactions of these organisms to oil. A recent study has
revealed that it is essential to understand that there is not one, but
rather at least four possible ways in which oil can affect an organism.
First as a result of an organism’s ingestion of oil, direct lethal toxicity,
that is, death by poisoning, can occur. However, in cases where the
effect is less extreme, sub-lethal toxicity occurs. While cellular and
 physiological processes are involved in both cases, in the latter the
organism continues to survive.

Second, in some cases, oil forms a covering on the organism. This

covering, referred to as coating , can result in something, that is, death
of organism due to lack of air. In instances where the effect of coating
are less severe, interference whit movement and loss of isolative
properties of feathers or fur may occur. The third effect of oil on
marine organisms is the physical and chemical environment brought
about by oil spills in a change in the species composition of a region.

Main idea : A recent study has revealed that it is essential to

understand that there is not one, but rather at least four possible ways
in which oil can affect an organism.

Supporting details :

a. First as a result of an organism’s ingestion of oil, direct lethal

toxicity, that is, death by poisoning, can occur.

b. Second, in some cases, oil forms a covering on the organism.

c. In instances where the effect of coating are less severe, interference

whit movement and loss of isolative properties of feathers or fur
may occur.

d. The third effect of oil on marine organisms is the physical and

chemical environment brought about by oil spills in a change in the
species composition of a region.

3. The actual cause of the quake itself is the rupturing or breaking of

rocks at or below the earth’s surface. This is produced by pressure
which scientists believe may be due to a number of reason, two of
which are the expansion and contraction of earth’s crust and
continental drift.

Main idea : The actual cause of the quake itself is the rupturing or
breaking of rocks at or below the earth’s surface.

Supporting details :
 a. This is produced by pressure which scientists believe may be due
to a number of reason, two of which are the expansion and
contraction of earth’s crust and continental drift.

4. In order to minimize the damage and to alleviate some of the suffering

resulting from earthquakes, scientists are working on ways to facilitate
accurate prediction. Two of the instruments presently in use to achieve
this goal are seismologists can accurately indicate the exact time,
location and size of an earthquake. The latter, as the name suggests,
are used to record any changes in the tilt of the land.

Main idea : In order to minimize the damage and to alleviate some of

the suffering resulting from earthquakes, scientists are working on
ways to facilitate accurate prediction.

Supporting details :

a. Two of the instruments presently in use to achieve this goal are

seismologists can accurately indicate the exact time, location and
size of an earthquake.
b. The latter, as the name suggests, are used to record any changes in
the tilt of the land.

5. Clearly a replacement for these natural sources of energy is required.

Several possible alternatives have been suggested, such as solar,
geothermal and nuclear energy. Solar energy has the obvious
advantage that the sun is an inexhaustible and abundant source which
is free of both pollution and radioactivity. A lot of research is
currently directed at discovering ways of harnessing solar power
cheaply and efficiently, and of storing solar energy in reasonably
small spaces. Geothermal energy, which involves stored underground
reservoirs of steam is also pollution-free. Nuclear fission, a process
whereby an uranium nucleus absorbs a neutron, is not the reaction
cause the nucleus to spilt into lighter element, producing a large
amount of heat. The by-products of this reaction are dangerously
radioactive.

Main idea : Clearly a replacement for these natural sources of energy

is required.
Supporting details :

a. Several possible alternatives have been suggested, such as solar,

geothermal and nuclear energy.

b. A lot of research is currently directed at discovering ways of

harnessing solar power cheaply and efficiently, and of storing solar
energy in reasonably small spaces.

c. Geothermal energy, which involves stored underground reservoirs

of steam is also pollution-free.

d. Nuclear fission, a process whereby an uranium nucleus absorbs a

neutron, is not the reaction cause the nucleus to spilt into lighter
element, producing a large amount of heat.