Name__________________________________________Date______________________
English Basics
Volume 4, Number 29, May 8, 2000
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Paragraphs are groups of sentences having a common topic or main idea. Every sentence in a paragraph should support the theme of that paragraph. When a writer wants to use a sentence that doesn’t meet that requirement, it’s time to start another paragraph.
Which one of the two sentences that follow each paragraph belongs in that paragraph?
1. Ryan is very athletic for a three year old. He can run faster than most kids twice his age. He throws and catches a basketball with ease. He is an accomplished tennis player and golfer. _______________________________
a. Ryan can even roller skate backwards on one foot.
b. Ryan can even read second grade level books.
2. Don’t be so quick to buy an SUV. They are more expensive than many equally comfortable automobiles. ___________ ____________________ They consume fuel faster than you can say, “Fill ‘er up!” These trucks are clearly not for everyone.
a. They tend to be much safer in collisions than other vehicles.
b. They are less stable and harder to control in emergency situations.
3. Yes, I confess, I’m a beef addict! I can’t drive past a Burger King without stopping in for a Whopper. I have filled my freezer with steaks and roasts and mountains of ground beef. No steer is safe if I’m in his neighborhood. ______________ _________________
a. I am very unhappy if I can’t eat mushrooms with my beef!
b. The Cattleman’s Beef Association should make me its poster boy!
4. The penguin is another bird that cannot fly. Its “wings” are flippers that 
carry it through the water instead of the air. _______________________________
a. Swimming is the penguin’s version of flight.
b. An ostrich is no better at flying than a penguin.
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