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':::>' ReadIng ComprehensIon Skills

Recognizing the topic of a paragraph

When you read a paragraph you should always ask yourself, "What is this about?" That
question will lead you to the topic of the paragraph.

Example a:
What is this paragraph about?
People have always been interested in bees. This interest may have begun with
the honey bees make. In fact, archaeologists have found evidence that people have
been eating honey for many thousands of years. In the more recent past, people were
interested in the way bees made honey. They admired the way bees seemed to work
so hard. Some languages even developed expressions about people working like bees.
In English, for example, we talk about a "busy bee." Now scientists have a new reason
to be interested in bees. They have discovered that bees are able to communicate with
each other. Research has revealed some surprising facts about this, but there are still
many mysteries.

Make a check after the best topic. Write "too specific" or "too general" after the other topics.

a. Expressions about bees in the English language

b. Thestoryof bees
c. People'sinterest in bees
Explanation: The best topic is c, people's interest in bees. It tells best what the paragraph is
about. Choice a, expressions about bees in the English language is too specific. This idea is
only a part of the paragraph. Choice b, the story ofbees is too general. It includes many
possible ideas that are not in the paragraph.

Exampleb:

What is this paragraph about?

Communication is also possible among bees through their sense of smell. A group
of bees, called a colony, uses smell to protect itself from other bees. This is possible
because all the bees in a colony have a common smell. This smell acts like a chemical
signal. It warns the group of bees when a bee from a different colony is near. This
way, bees from outside cannot enter and disturb a hive (the bee colony's home). If an
outsider does try to enter, the bees of that colony will smell it and attack it.

Make a check after the best topic. Write "too specific or "too general" after the other topiCS.

a. The chemical signals of bees

b. How bees live
c. How bees communicate through smell
Explanation: Thebest topiC is c, how bees communicate through smell. Choice a is too spedfic.
Choice b is too general.

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>- Read each paragraph. Working with another student, decide which topic ;s the best. Make a
check after that topic. Write "too specific" or "too general" after the other topics.

Elephants
1. Elephants are the largest land animals in the world. Whales are the largest sea ani­
mals. These two huge animals may, in fact, be related. Biologists now believe that the
ancestors of elephants once lived in the sea. There is plenty of evidence to support
this idea. For example, the shape of an elephant's head is similar to a whale's. Also,
elephants are excellent swimmers. Some have chosen to swim for food to islands up to
300 miles from shore. Like the whale, the elephant, too, uses sounds to show anger or
for other kinds of communication. Finally, in certain ways, female elephants behave
much like female whales. When an elephant or a whale baby is born, a female friend
stays nearby to help the mother.
a. How elephants are good swimmers
b. The largest animals in the world
c. How elephants and whales are alike
2. The elephant's trunk is not just a large nose or upper lip. It's an essential and
unique feature that serves many purposes for this animal. For one, it is used to make
many kinds of sounds. With its trunk, the elephant can communicate anger, fear, or
happiness. The trunk is also used as if it were a kind of hand. At the end of the trunk
are two muscles shaped like fingers. These muscles can pick up food and water and
carry them to the elephant's mouth. Elephants use their trunks to take dust baths, too,
throwing the dust over their backs. If an elephant's trunk is seriously injured, the ele­
phant may die. Without its trunk, it has great difficulty getting enough to eat.
a. The elephant's trunk
b. The elephant's body
c. The elephant's dust baths
3. The intelligence of the elephant is widely known. We say, "the elephant never for­
gets," in honor of its excellent memory. Elephants are also surprisingly good at solving
problems. An Indian farmer who kept elephants discovered this fact, to his misfortune.
He had noticed that his elephants were eating his bananas at night. No fence could
keep out the elephants, of course, so he decided to tie bells on them. Then he would
hear them when they came to eat the bananas and he could chase them away. A few
mornings later, however, the bananas were all gone, though he had heard nothing at
night. When he checked the elephants he found that they had played a trick on him.
They had filled the bells with mud so they would not make any noise!
a. Facts about elephants
b. How elephants get bananas
c. The intelligence of elephants

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