or support the topic sentence of the paragraph in which they appear. Cross out the irrelevant sentences and write the numbers of those sentences in the spaces provided.
Playing on the Browns
1
For the past three summers, I have played first base on a Softball team known as the Browns. 2We play a long schedule, including playoffs, and everybody takes the games pretty seriously. In that respect, we're no different from any other of the thousand or so teams in our city. 4But in one respect, we are different. 5In an all-male league, we have a woman on the team — me. 6Thus I've had a chance to observe something about human nature by seeing how the men have treated me. 7Some have been disbelieving; some have been patronizing; and, fortunately, some have simply accepted me.
One new team in the league was particularly flabbergasted to see me start the game at first base. 9Nobody on the Comets had commented one way or the other when he saw me warming up, but playing in the actual game was another story. 10The Comets' first-base coach leaned over to me with a disbelieving grin and said, \mean, you're starting, and those three guys are on the bench?\11I nodded and he shrugged, still amazed. 12He probably thought I was the manager's wife. 13When I came up to bat, the Comet pitcher smiled and called to his outfielders to move way in on me. Now, I don't have a lot of power, but I'm not exactly feeble. I used to work out on the exercise machines at a local health club until it closed, and now I lift weights at home a couple of times a week. I wiped the smirks off their faces with a line drive double over the left fielder's head.
The number of the irrelevant sentence: ___________________.
17
16
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15
8
3
The next game, we played another new team, the Argyles, and their attitude
was patronizing. 18The Argyles had seen me take batting practice, so they didn't do
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anything so rash as to draw their outfield way in. They had respect for my ability as a player. 20However, they tried to annoy me with phony concern. 21For example, a redheaded Argyle got on base in the first inning and said to me, \careful, Hon. 22When you have your foot on the bag, somebody might step on it. 23You can get hurt in this game.\24I was mad, but I have worked out several mental techniques to control my anger because it interferes with my playing ability. 25Well, this delicate little girl survived the season without injury, which is more than I can say for some of the \
The number of the irrelevant sentence: ________.
26
Happily, most of the teams in the league have accepted me, just as the Browns did. The men on the Browns coached and criticized me (and occasionally cursed me) just like anyone else. Because I'm a religious person, I don't approve of cursing, but I don't say anything about it to my teammates. 29They are not amazed when I get a hit or stretch for a wide throw. 30My average this year was higher than the averages of several of my teammates, yet none of them acted resentful or threatened. 31On
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several occasions I was taken out late in a game for a pinch runner, but other slow players on the team were also lifted at times for pinch runners. Every woman should have a team like the Browns!
The number of the irrelevant sentence: __________.
33
32
Because I really had problems only with the new teams, I've concluded that it's
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when people are faced with an unfamiliar situation that they react defensively. 0nce a rival team has gotten used to seeing me on the field, I'm no big deal. 35Still, I suspect that the Browns secretly feel we're a little special. 36After all, we won the championship with a woman on the team.
2. Revising Essays for Support
Exercise:
Both of the essays below lack supporting details at certain key points. In each essay, identify the spots where details are needed.
1
Formula for Happiness
2
Everyone has his or her own formula for happiness. As we go through life, we
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discover the activities that make us feel best. I've already discovered three keys to happiness. I depend on karate, music, and self-hypnosis.
Karate helps me feel good physically. Before taking karate lessons, I was tired most of the time, my muscles felt like foam rubber, and I was twenty pounds overweight. 7After three months of these lessons, I saw an improvement in my physical condition. 8Also, my endurance has increased. 9At the end of my workday, I used to drag myself home to eat and watch television all night. 10Now, I have enough energy to play with my children, shop, or see a movie. 11Karate has made me feel healthy, strong, and happy.
The spot where supporting details are needed occurs after sentence _______.
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6
Singing with a chorus has helped me achieve emotional well-being by expressing
my feelings. 13In situations where other people would reveal their feelings, I would remain quiet. 14Since joining the chorus, however, I have an outlet for joy, anger, or sadness. 15When I sing, I pour my emotions into the music and don't have to feel shy. 16
For this reason, I most enjoy singing certain kinds of music, since they demand real depth of feeling.
The first spot where supporting details are needed occurs after sentence _______. The second spot occurs after sentence ___________.
Self-hypnosis gives me peace of mind. 18This is a total relaxation technique, which I learned several years ago. 19Essentially I breathe deeply and concentrate on relaxing all my muscles. 20I then repeat a key suggestion to myself. 21Through
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17
self-hypnosis, I have gained control over several bad habits that have long been haunting me. I have also learned to reduce the stress that goes along with my secretarial job. 23Now I can handle the boss's demands or unexpected work without feeling tense.
The first spot where supporting details are needed occurs after sentence _____. The second spot occurs after sentence _____.
24
22
In short, my physical, emotional, and mental well-being have been greatly
increased through karate, music, and self-hypnosis. 25These activities have become important elements in my formula for happiness.
Problems of a Foreign Student
1
About ten months ago I decided to leave my native country and come to the United States to study. 2When I got here, I suddenly turned into someone labeled \student.\ 3A foreign student, I discovered, has problems. 4Whether from Japan, like me, or from some other country, a foreign student has to work twice as hard as Americans do to succeed in college.
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First of all, there is the language problem. American students have the advantage of comprehending English without working at it. But even they complain that some professors talk too fast, mumble, or use big words. As a result, they can't take notes fast enough to keep up, or they misunderstand what was said. Now consider my situation. 10I'm trying to cope with a language that is probably one of the hardest in the world to learn. 11Dozens of English slang phrases—\around,\\\into\— were totally new to me. 12Other language problems gave me trouble, too.
The spot where supporting details are needed occurs after sentence ______.
13
Another problem I face has to do with being a stranger to American culture.
14
9
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For instance, the academic world is much different in Japan. In the United States, instructors seem to treat students as equals. 16Many classes are informal, and the relationship between instructor and student is friendly; in fact, students call some instructors by their first names. 17In Japan, however, the instructor-student relationship is different. 18Lectures, too, are more formal, and students show respect by listening quietly and paying attention at all times. 19This more casual atmosphere occasionally makes me feel uncomfortable in class.
The spot where supporting details are needed occurs after sentence ______.
20
15
Perhaps the most difficult problem I face is social. American students may
21
have some trouble making new friends or may feel lonely at times. 22However, they usually manage to find other people with the same background, interests, or goals. 23
It is twice as hard to make friends, though, if a person has trouble making the small
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talk that can lead to a relationship. 24I find it difficult to become friends with other students because I don't understand some aspects of American life. would rather talk to someone who is familiar with these things.
The spot where supporting details are needed occurs after sentence ______.
26
25
Students
Despite all the handicaps that I, as a foreign student, have to overcome, I
wouldn't give up this chance to go to school in the United States. 27Each day, the problems seem a little bit less overwhelming. 28Like a little child who is finally learning to read, write, and make sense of things, I am starting to enjoy my experience of discovering a brand-new world.
3. Revising Essays for Coherence
Exercise:
Both of the essays that follow could be revised to improve their coherence. Answer the questions about coherence that come after each essay.
Noise Pollution
1
Natural sounds — waves, wind, birdsong —a re so soothing that companies sell
recordings of them to anxious people seeking a relaxing atmosphere at home or in the car. One reason why \sounds\are big business is the fact that ordinary citizens, especially city dwellers, are bombarded by noise pollution. 3On the way to work, on the job, and on the way home, the typical urban resident must cope with a continuing barrage of unpleasant sounds.
The noise level in an office can be unbearable. 5From nine to five o'clock, phones and fax machines ring, computer keyboards chatter, intercoms buzz, and copy machines thump back and forth. 6Every time the receptionists can't find people, they
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resort to a nerve-shattering public address system. And because the managers worry about the employees morale, they graciously provide the endless droning of canned music. This effectively eliminates any possibility of a moment-of blessed silence.
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8
42
Traveling home from work provides no relief from the noisiness of the office. The ordinary sounds of blaring taxi horns and rumbling buses are occasionally
9
punctuated by the ear-piercing screech of car brakes. 11Taking a shortcut through the park will bring the weary worker face to face with chanting religious cults, freelance musicians, screaming children, and barking dogs. 12None of these sounds can compare with the large radios many park visitors carry. Each radio blasts out something different, from heavy-metal rock to baseball, at decibel levels so strong that they make eardrums throb in pain. lf there are birds singing or wind in the trees, the harried commuter will never hear them.
Even a trip to work at 6 or 7 a.m. isn't quiet. 16 No matter which route a worker takes, there is bound to be a noisy construction site somewhere along the way. 17Hard hats will shout from third-story windows to warn their coworkers below before
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15
14
13
heaving debris out and sending it crashing to earth. 18Huge front-end loaders will crunch into these piles of rubble and back up, their warning signals letting out loud, jarring beeps. 19Air hammers begin an earsplitting chorus of rat-a-tat-tat sounds
20
guaranteed to shatter sanity as well as concrete. Before reaching the office, the worker is already completely frazzled.
21
Noise pollution is as dangerous as any other kind of pollution. 22The endless
pressure of noise probably triggers countless nervous breakdowns, vicious arguments, and bouts of depression. 23And imagine the world problems we could solve, if only the noise stopped long enough to let us think.
1. In \Pollution,\what is the number of the sentence to which the transition word Also
could be added in paragraph 2? 2. In the last sentence of paragraph 2, to what does the pronoun This refer?
3. What is the number of the sentence to which the transition word But could be added in paragraph 3?
4. What is the number of the sentence to which the transition word Then could be added in paragraph 4?
5. What is the number of the sentence to which the transition word Meanwhile could be added in paragraph 4? 6. What word is used as a synonym for debris in paragraph 4? 7. How many times is the key word sounds used in the essay?
8. The time order of the three supporting paragraphs is confused. What is the number of the supporting paragraph that should come first? Second? Third?
Weight Loss The big fraternity party turned out to be the low point of my first year at college. 2I was in heaven until I discovered that my date with handsome Greg, the fraternity vice president, was a hoax: He had used me to win the \date\
3
contest. I ran sobbing back to the dorm, wanting to resign from the human race. 4
Then I realized that it was time to stop kidding myself about my weight. 5Within the next two years, I lost forty-two pounds and turned my life around, losing weight gave me self-confidence socially, emotionally, and professionally.
I am more outgoing socially. 8Just being able to abandon dark colors, baggy sweaters, and tent dresses in favor of bright colors, T-shirts, and designer jeans made me feel better in social situations. 9I am able to do more things. 10I once turned down an invitation for a great camping trip with my best friend's family, making up excuses about sun poisoning and allergies. 11Really, I was too embarrassed to tell them that I couldn't fit into the bathroom in their Winnebago. I made up for it last summer when I was one of the organizers of a college backpacking trip through the Rockies.
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12
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6
1
Most important, losing weight helped me seek new professional goals. When I
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was obese, I organized my whole life around my weight, as if it were a defect I could do nothing about. 15With my good grades, I could have chosen almost any major the college offered, but I had limited my goal to teaching kindergarten because I felt
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