EFL Learners’ Perception and Production of Topic Sentences in Writing
Dear participants,
The purpose of the test is to understand EFL learners’ perception and
production of topic sentences in English writing. Hence, your time and
cooperation are highly appreciated.
Thank you! 
Task 1 Topic sentence identification：
Choosing the most appropriate topic sentence for each paragraph.
1. ( ) (A) The Chinese writing system is the only existing system that consists of
only picture words.
(B) The Chinese writing system is developed from ancient picture writing.
(C) In learning the Chinese writing system, we have to draw pictures for
words.
(D) The Chinese writing system is difficult to learn, especially picture
writing.
______________________. At the very beginning, the picture words resembled
closely the objects they were referring to. Examples are the words eye, mouth, human,
mountain, sun, and moon. Over time, the words have changed in form; the picture
signs became characters. The Chinese character for moon, for instance, first took the
shape of a crescent moon before developing to its present form, and the word sun
today no longer shows heat radiating from a sun. Etymology is very interesting,
especially when talking about Chinese writing system. It makes us feel mysterious
and vivid imagination about the origin, changing processes of Chinese character and
its culture.
2. ( ) (A) Conservation is perhaps the greatest challenge people have to face.
(B) The world has many environmental problems.
(C) Human resource is no less important than natural resources.
(D) The greatest challenge that people now face is overpopulation.
_________________________. The world’s population is growing faster than the
supplies of food, drinking water, housing, and other necessities of life. We must plan
now so that people of our generation and those of future generations will have the
resources they need. People are a resource, too. If people lack food, housing, health
care, and the chance to become productive members of society, there is great
suffering, and human resources are wasted. Every country in the world is very
concerned about the thorny issue; hence, each country puts as much as efforts to
salvage the troublesome and precarious problem which is related to all living
creatures in the world.
3. (
) (A) When washing a dog, you should proceed from his head to his tail.
(B) A few steps should be taken when choosing right soap for your dog.
(C) Washing your dog is not an easy task, and it should be done by
professionals.
(D) To wash your dog properly, you should follow several steps with care.
_____________________ First, you should make sure that your dog knows nothing,
in advance, of your plan to wash him. After preparing his tub of lukewarm water,
about the temperature of 36 to 37 degree Celsius, you should plunge him into it
tenderly but firmly. Then, keeping his head above water, you should soap his whole
body. Work the soap throughout his hair and skin until it lathers his body. After your
dog is completely covered with soap, be sure to rinse him thoroughly and be sure that
no soap or any detergent is left on the dog’s body, or it may cause dermatitis on dogs.
At last, after you wash your dog, you should use hair dryer or towels to dry your dog
immediately so that your dog won’t have cold.
4. (
) (A) People sometimes disagree about restoring historical treasures.
(B) As works of art age and collect dust, they need to restore from time to
time.
(C) Michelangelo was considered one of the greatest sculptors in the
Renaissance.
(D) The appearance of the statue of David changed after restoration.
______________________. Some restorations are moderate, the statue of David
being a case in point. After the accumulated streaks and grime were removed, he was
revealed to the public. Only experts could notice that the dirty irregulaties were no
longer there. But some restorations are more dramatic. The Michelangelo’s work in
the Sistine Chapel resulted in a noticeable difference. Although some critics maintain
that the frescoes are now less authentic most think the restoration was for the better.
Restoration, honestly speaking, will impair the beauty and original looks of works of
art. However, it is better that doing moderate restorations to maintain the precious
crafts.
5. (
) (A) Confronting too many unpleasant truths can be unmanageable.
(B) Rationalization is one of the most common defense mechanisms.
(C) Defense mechanisms are always undesirable.
(D) It is difficult to realize defense mechanisms in ourselves.
_____________________ Even the ancient Greeks understood defense mechanisms.
In the Greek fable of the fox and the grapes, a fox who cannot reach the topmost
grapes on a vine tells himself that they were probably sour anyway. The fox was using
rationalization to protect his self-image. Likewise, people often think up a logical but
untrue explanation that protects the unrealistic picture we hold of ourselves. Why do
people would do rationalization? “Sour grapes”, as mentioned above, is a typical
example of rationalization. Because people could not get the things they want, so they
blame that the things are bad. This way, people will keep balance of their minds. By
using this way, deliberately emphasizing or neglecting some truths, so that people
could get the comfortable explanations; that is “rationalization.”
6. (
) (A) Outdoor activities often make up for loss of time when we devote to
work all week long.
(B) Physical recreation may help us learn how to compete with colleagues.
(C) Physical recreation affords us the opportunities to strengthen our bodies
and to satisfy our competitive nature.
(D) To join a sport team, we need to learn a lot of skills and sports
knowledge.
_______________________. The activities range from participation in strenuous
sports such as running in marathon races, playing basketball, or playing a couple of
sets of tennis, to slow-paced events like jogging, or a round of golf. In addition, we
can choose whether we want to enjoy these activities as part of a group, for example,
a bowling team, or in solitary pursuits, like spending a quiet afternoon of fishing.
Physical pastimes provide welcome and necessary breaks in our often sedentary lives,
and alert us to our physical condition. In other words, physical recreation not only can
bolster our bodies, but also can bring the pleasure which is provided from doing
exercises.
7. ( ) (A) Educating your children well is very important, and punishment, of course,
is a must while children violate the principles.
(B) People use different approaches when it comes to educating their children.
(C) Parents should encourage their children, for example, giving them some
rewards while they do good jobs.
(D) Spoil children will cause a big trouble if parents do not pay much
attention about it.
___________________. Some believe that positive stimuli are more effective
encouragements to learning; consequently, they reward their children for their good
grads. Others still hold on to the more traditional methods of punishing and scolding.
In this essay I will summarize the benefits and problems of each approach and I will
argue in favor of an eclectic approach. Owing to my own experiences in learning tell
me that rewards and punishments are indispensable parts of the stimuli to learning;
the two approaches complement each other. Rewards given by my parents and
teachers did boost my learning greatly, but I could never really progress were it not
for those punishments I have received since my grade school years. Hence, I favor an
approach that combines both positive and negative stimuli.
8. (
) (A) Water shortage is an alarm of global warming owing to three evidences.
(B) Water shortage becomes an unavoidable issue in 2004.
(C) Undoubtedly, the government should protect the quality of water
resources.
(D) Water is a necessity of life, for while human beings can survive for
weeks without food; a mere day without water creates a life
threatening situation.
___________________. It is important, therefore, that we carefully protect the quality
of our water resources. However, in order to do so, we must understand the natural
processes that control the amount and distribution of water on earth. The science
called hydrology provides us with insight into what is known as the water cycle
without which the earth’s natural gravitational forces would cause all of stagnate,
making life, as we currently know it, impossible. Instead, thanks to the
complementary processes of transpiration and precipitation, water cycles continuously
through the environment. Despite of this, clean water is the one that is disappearing at
an alarming rate and it stands in dire need of protection.
9. (
)
(A) Women’s fashions tend to change more rapidly and radically than
men’s.
(B) Women are crazy for skirts, no matter what styles they are, women love
skirt!
(C) Women in skirts are symbols of fashion, gentle, and beauty.
(D) Women prefer different kinds of clothing at different times in three
ways.
___________________. In the early 1990s, all women wore their skirts down to the
ankle. Today, skirt length varies from floor-length to ten inches above the knee.
Women’s shoes have also gone through all sorts of changes in the last seventy years.
For example, boots for women were very common around the turn of the century.
Then, for years, they were not considered fashionable. Today they’re back in style
again in all colors, lengths, and materials. In fact, today’s woman can wear all types of
clothes – even slacks and shorts-on almost any occasion. While all of these changes
were taking place in women’s fashions, men’s clothing remained pretty much the
same until a couple of years ago. And, in fact, and slacks - though bright colors,
patterns, and a variety in cut are now more common.
10. (
) (A) Men drive better than women, indeed.
(B) Women are really poor drivers.
(C) Three tips that you can get easily through learn driving.
(D) Becoming a professional driver needs a lot of training.
___________________. Once, I was driving up to tan intersection, the car in
front of me stopped short. I slammed on my brakes and narrowly avoided a collision.
Since the light was green, I honked my horn in an attempt to get the lady to move. As
she started to roll slowly forward, the light changed to yellow. She immediately put on
her brakes and stopped in the middle of the intersection. I stopped a short distance
behind her to enable her to back up. The next thing I knew, the lady’s care was
moving backwards toward mine at about 60 miles per hour. Before I even had time to
honk my horn again, she slammed into my care, giving me a painful whiplash injury.
(Descriptive Composition)
11. (
) (A) My parents share several interests the same.
(B) My parents share many personalities.
(C) My parents look and behave like each other.
(D) My father and mother love each other very much, so they get together
happily no matter what they do.
___________________. Both of my parents have brown hair and brown eyes
and both have low voices and gentle personalities. They both like nature and the
outdoors and are found of walking, gardening, and swimming. They are both
interested in reading and music; they never get tired of listening to grand opera. Most
of the time they are in agreement on bringing up their children. They both believe in
giving their children love and responsibility and neither one believes in punishing a
child physically. There is a saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” I think my
parents fit it very much, and they are also best prove of it. (Descriptive Composition)
12. (
) (A) Increasing your vocabulary can help you in a number of ways.
(B) Vocabulary is the fundamental unit of a paragraph.
(C) If you fond of reading, you can build up your vocabulary.
(D) For build up your vocabulary, you should read enormous books at first.
___________________. You will discover that knowing synonyms, for example, will
decrease the amount of repetition in your compositions and make them more
enjoyable to read. And if a teacher enjoys reading your paper, he may even give you a
better grade. Also, an increased vocabulary will make your own reading more
enjoyable. You will find it is much easier to follow the ideas in your history textbook
or the newspaper when you do not have to continually run to the dictionary to look up
unknown words. If you are not always stumbling over unfamiliar words, you will
become more eager to read and not as discouraged when you do come across an
unknown word. As a result, you will read faster and more intelligently, become more
knowledgeable, and hence better informed about the world around you. Strange as it
may seem, vocabulary study can make you a better person.
13. (
) (A) Smoking in school is not worth the risk of getting caught.
(B) It is shame that was caught smoking in the restroom.
(C) Smoking in schools is forbidden nowadays.
(D) Smoking is neither a good habit nor a cool behavior for everyone.
___________________. One day I was smoking in the boy’s restroom when a
teacher walked in. He said that he smelled smoke in the room and wondered whether
anyone had been smoking. I furtively crushed my cigarette underfoot and was about
to walk out when I noticed that the top of my cigarette pack was sticking out of my
shirt pocket. He noticed them at about the same time and asked me what was in my
pocket, so I told him. Then he took me down to the principal’s office where I was
given a three-day suspension. It was really a shameful and “unforgettable” experience
of my life, and that did give me a lesson. It was just like the saying goes “Penny wise
and pound foolish.” (Descriptive Composition)
14. (
) (A) We know that having baby is “sweet burden”.
(B) Whether young people want to have a baby or not will affect fertility of
a country.
(C) When young people get married, they wonder when to have children.
(D) Breeding a child is very difficult nowadays, no matter in Western or
East country.
___________________. Some couples choose to have their first birth early in
their marriage; others spend the early years of marriage finishing their education or
establishing their career. In this essay I will summarize some of the major advantages
of each choice and I will argue in favor of having children later in life. The major
advantage of having children early in life is that the mother is less likely to have
medical problems with pregnancy and childbirth. Statistically, women who conceive
after age thirty five often suffer from some physical disorder and they run a higher
risk of bearing a child with a birth defect. Secondly, younger parents have more
physical energy to cope with such things as midnight feeding and diaper changes. On
the other hand, having children later in life has advantages, too. At this time the
parents are likely to be better established in their career. Being more mature and
financially secure, the parents can offer better child care to their children.
15. (
) (A) Gene has nothing to do with the sleep time that a person needs.
(B) Due to gene, each person has different his or her sleeping habits.
(C) A team of U.S. researchers believe they have discovered the gene that
determines how much sleep a person needs.
(D) Gene will affect one’s sleeping; it may be good or devastating.
___________________. Conducted at the University of Utah, the research may
eventually show why some people can still function perfectly well with much less
sleep. On average, adults need eight to nine hours of sleep per day. Some people,
however, function fine on merely four to six hours of sleep. These U.S. researchers
state that they have found the gene, which controls the sleep time that everyone needs;
and, moreover, the gene can tell why some people are always brilliant with six hours
sleep, while some people are lethargic – always yawning and falling a sleep. Though
this finding is now doing further research, we all really expect it can unveil the
mysterious covering of sleep, or even have some medical contribution to human
beings.
Task 2 Topic sentence production:
Write a topic sentence for each paragraph.
1. __________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
Going to a two-year college can save up to ten thousand dollars in tuition fees. All
the course credits that are accumulated can be transferred to a four-year university.
Moreover, if the college is nearby, there are no room and board costs. It seems
that going to a two-year college have many advantages than going to four-year
colleges, and the numbers students who tend to choose two-year college education
are increasing rapidly in recent years. There are two features that two-year
colleges attract students: one is that students can spend less money to study in
college, and the other is that students can spend less time to finish the college
education and get the master degree. That’s why two-year colleges become a
craze for students.
2. __________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
In summer, you can swim and do many other water sports. If you don’t like water
sports, you can play beach games with friends or relax on the warm sand.
Besides, you may never think of going to beach in “winter”, but its fun and beauty
won’t disappoint you and beyond your imagination. In winter, beaches are less
crowded, so they are good places for solitary walks. Also, on a clear winter night,
nothing is more fun than sitting with a group of friends around a big bonfire,
talking, laughing, and singing. Therefore, no matter in summer or in winter, going
to the beach is a terrific choice for leisure time. Are you ready to embrace the
beautiful scenes and have fun in beaches?
3. __________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
For most beginning speakers, even a moment of silence can seem like an eternity.
As you gain more confidence, however, you will discover how useful the pause
can be. It can signal the end of a thought unit, give an idea time to sink in, and
lend dramatic impact to a statement. “The right word may be effective,” said Mark
Twain, “but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” Why are
rightly timed pauses so important in a speech? The function of pause is to make
you keep a good pace in your speech, and make you and the audiences think about
the contents you are delivering. And most important, to make yourself and the
audiences relax for a short while.
4. __________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
Librarians (or your friends) who lend you books expect you keep them clean, and
you should. If you decide that I am right about the usefulness of marking books,
you will have to buy them. Many of the world’s great books are available today,
in reprint editions, at less than ten dollars. In other words, you can purchase some
books which you really like in reprint editions with fewer dollars, and you can
mark lines which you really love and feel important in books. That’s really good
news for book lovers. For them, there is nothing better than owning books they
love and mark lines for their own books wherever and whatever they like.
5. __________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
In some countries, most notably in Asia, there is a high degree of loyalty to one
company. However, in most European countries and the United States, loyalty to
one’s employer is not highly valued; instead it is considered more rational and
reasonable for an employee to change jobs whenever it is warranted to achieve the
optimal overall career. Both of these positions have advantages and disadvantages.
In cultures that value loyalty to the employer, a kink of family relationship seems
to develop between employer and employee. It is a reciprocal arrangement which
the employer is concerned with assisting the employee to develop to his/her full
potential and the employee is concerned about optimizing the welfare of the
company. The negative aspect to absolute loyalty to one company is that an
employee may stay in one job that he/she outgrow and may miss out on
opportunities to develop in new directions. From the employer’s point of view, the
employee may be burdened with employees whose skills no longer match the
needs of the company.