Reading Comprehension Skill

Recognizing Functions
of Sentences
SITUJUH NAZARA

ENGLISH STUDI PROGRAM

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING
CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY OF INDONESIA
JAKARTA, 2011
YOU HAVE LEARNT in chapter I
• Introductory Sentences
▫ general sentence(s) that open paragraph(s) 
▫ precede the topic sentence
▫ provide background about the topic or main idea
▫ are not developed throughout the paragraph
• Topic Sentences
▫ states or suggests the main idea (or topic) of a
passage.
▫ contain both (1) a topic and (2) a controlling idea.
Contents
1. Supporting Sentences Explain the Topic
Sentence
2. Supporting Sentences Suggest the Main Idea
3. Supporting Sentences Describe the Topic
4. Transitional Sentence
5. Emphatic Sentences
6. Concluding Sentence
Supporting Sentences Explain the Topic
Sentence

• To prevent any misinterpretation or

misunderstanding, most writers carefully
provide their topic sentence with appropriate
supporting sentences
• Supporting sentences can be in the forms of
definitions, reasons, statistical data, or
quotations from studies.
 example
[1] The people in the United States speak the same
language as the people in Great Britain. [2] However,
American English is different from British English in many
ways. [3] First, some sounds of American English are different
from those of British English. [4] For example, most
Americans pronounce the “r” in the word “car” but most
Britons do not. [5] Most Americans pronounce the word
“dictionary” like this: “’dik-shun-, ary,“ but the British
pronounce it like this: “’dik-shun-ry.“ [6] Some spellings are
also different. [7] People in Britain write “colour” and “centre,”
but people in the United States write “color” and “center.” [8]
Finally, some words are different. [9] People in the United
States use “gasoline” in their cars, but people in Britain use
“petrol.” [10] Gasoline and petrol are the same thing, but the
Americans and the British use different words for it. 
 example
[1] The people in the United States speak the
same language as the people in Great Britain. [2]
However, American English is different from
British English in many ways. [3] First, some
sounds of American English are different from
those of British English. [4] For example, most
Americans pronounce the “r” in the word “car”
but most Britons do not. [5] Most Americans [1] introductions
pronounce the word “dictionary” like this: “’dik-
shun-, ary,“ but the British pronounce it like this: [2] topic sentence
“’dik-shun-ry.“ [6] Some spellings are also
different. [7] People in Britain write “colour” and [3], [6], [8] Major Supporting Details

“centre,” but people in the United States write

“color” and “center.” [8] Finally, some words are
different. [9] People in the United States use
“gasoline” in their cars, but people in Britain use
“petrol.” [10] Gasoline and petrol are the same
thing, but the Americans and the British use
different words for it. 
[4], [5], [7], [9], [10] minor supporting
details
[4], [5] Minor Supporting Details for [3]
[7] Minor Supporting Detail for [6]
[9], [10] Minor Supporting Details for [8]
 MI/TS
MI/TS [2]
[2]
American
American English
English is
is different
different from
from British
British Eng.
Eng. in
in many
many ways
ways

[Major Supp. Sentences 3] [Major Supp. Sentences 6] [Major Supp. Sentences 8]

Difference
[Major Supp.in sounds 3]
Sentences Difference
[Major Supp.inSentences
spellings 6] Difference
[Major in words 8]
Supp. Sentences
Difference in sounds Difference in spellings Difference in words

(car)
(car) ’dik-shun-,
’dik-shun-, ary
ary (Am.)
(Am.) Vs
Vs
/r/
/r/ (Am.)
(Am.) Vs
Vs /Ø
/Ø // (Br.)
(Br.) ’dik-shun-ry
’dik-shun-ry (Br.)
(Br.)
“color” and “center

“colour”
Vs
“color” and
and“center
Vs
“centre
gasoline
Vs
gasoline
petrol
Vs
“colour” and “centre petrol
 Create diagram!
[1] Prolonged unemployment can create
serious psychological problems that, in the long
run, actually contribute to continued joblessness.
[2] In a society that stresses the relationship
between productive work and personal value, it is
easy enough to equate long-term unemployment
with personal worthlessness. [3] That is, in fact,
precisely what many unemployed men and women
begin to do. [4] Out of a job for a year or more,
they begin to see themselves as worthless human
beings, without any value to their society. [5] In
what amounts to a vicious cycle, their sense of
personal worthlessness further diminishes their
chances of gaining employment. [6] Sometimes
they stop looking for work altogether, sure in their
despair that no one would hire them. [7] Or else
they go on interviews, but they present themselves
in such a defeated and hopeless way that the
interviewer cannot help but be unimpressed and
reject their application
Supporting Sentences Suggest the Main
Idea

1. A paragraph implicitly
introduce main idea

2. Supporting Sentences
suggest the main idea

3. Infer the main idea

 example
1. When Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke, people
listened.
2. Poor people, rich people, white people,
black people, people from other countries-
they all listened.
3. Many people helped him work, march, sing,
and pray for justice.
4. He asked people not to fight with each
other.
5. He suggested peaceful ways to solve
problems.
6. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a special talent
for leadership.

Main Idea: Martin Luther King, Jr.

was an influential leader
Supporting Sentences Describe the Topic

• Some paragraphs merely describe a topic

• There is no one general sentence that sums up
the main idea.
• Nor do the supporting sentences combine to
suggest main idea.
 example
1. A comet is a chunk of matter made up of
frozen particles and gases.
2. The main body of a comet is usually about
one mile in diameter.
3. We think of a comet as an object with a
long “tail.”
4. But this tail is present only part of the time.
5. While the comet is far out in space, it has
no tail.
6. When it approaches the sun, the heat melts
the frozen material and releases the gases.
T
7. hese form the comet’s long tail we see so
often. This tail may be thousands of miles
long

Topic:
Comet
Transitional Sentence
• The word ‘transition’ is derived from the Latin
‘trans’ meaning “across”.
• Sentences link ideas or facts together
• Help to see the relationship between different
ideas presented in different paragraphs or
different points presented in different sentences
of a particular paragraph, and, in turn, enable
you to follow the author’s train of thoughts.
 example
In 1922, Lord Carnavron and Howard Carter made
a discovery that shocked and delighted the entire
world of archaeology: they found the fabulous tomb of
King Tutankhamen. Two rooms of the tomb had been
attacked by grave robbers, but the third room had
been left untouched for thousand of years. The room
contained not only the mummy of the eighteen-year-
old king but also hundreds of priceless objects that
provided valuable information about the ancient
Egyptian culture.
Unfortunately the story does not end with the
discovery. Following the opening of the tomb, stories
of the “curse of the Pharaohs” began to circulate, and
many believed that the curse was beginning its awful
work. Lord Carnarvon died suddenly, and for some
that was proof enough. But even more amazing, as the
time went on more than twenty people connected with
the tomb died under mysterious circumstances.

Transitional Unfortunately the story does

Sentences not end with the discovery
Emphatic Sentences
• Repetition or reiteration to emphasize certain
important points
• An repeated sentence (emphatic sentence) is
usually the main idea
• To make sure that the main idea will be
remembered
• It frequently appears at the end of a paragraph
 example
Topic Perhaps one of the greatest
Sentence hoaxes in the history of
archaeology was the discovery of
the Piltdown man. In 1912,
Charles Dawson claimed that he
found the missing link between
humans and apes; he had
discovered the skull of a creature
that appeared to be half man and
half ape. Scholars the world over
were delighted with his find and
convinced that it was truly the
missing link. It wasn’t until forty-
one years later that modern
research revealed the truth: the
skull consisted of a recent human
skull and the jawbone of a female
orangutan. The scientific world
Emphatic had been fooled, and it had taken
sentence
almost half a century to discover
it. 
Concluding Sentence
• do not support the main idea
• to bring the paragraph to an end by describing
some real or potential conclusion or outcome of
a situation discussed in the paragraph
• summarize current research or thinking on an
event or happening referred to in the paragraph.
 example
With a huge white horn planted firmly in the
middle of its head, the rhinoceros is a very comical-
looking animal, but there is nothing comical about
what presently appears to be its unhappy fate.
Pursued by poachers who sell rhino horns for profit,
the animals are rapidly being destroyed in what is a
senseless slaughter. Laws to stop the poaching have
been enacted in parts of Africa where the animals
are found, but so far they have not been very
successful. In fact, only a few small-scale poachers
have been arrested. Large-scale poaching rings,
responsible for much of the slaughter, remain
intact. Free of significant interference, they
continue to kill the animals in order to make their
horns into fancy daggers or useless aphrodisiacs. If
something is not done to control poachers,
rhinoceros will probably become extinct in
a very short time.

If something is not done to control

Conluding poachers, rhinoceros will probably
Sentences become extinct in a very short time
Any Questions
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