Checking the Topic

Exercise 1.3. Each of the following passages is followed by a sentence that states a topic. If the stated topic is correct, go to the next passage. If it’s not correct, write the topic.

Example:

The Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood was a school of artists formed about 1848. The Pre-Raphaelites’ ideal was absolute fidelity to nature. For a time this school of thought greatly influenced art developments throughout Europe. However, within a decade the movement had disbanded.

The main topic of the passage is “the disbanding of the pre-Raphaelite movement.”

As the main topic of the passage is not the disbanding of the pre-Raphaelite movement, you should write the topic “the pre-Raphaelite movement” only.

1. The Aztecs of Mexico were probably the first people to domesticate the turkey. After Hermán Cortés conqured Mexico in 1521, he returned to Spain with specimens of the large bird. Its popularity spread throughout Europe. Later, domestic turkeys returned to the Western Hemisphere when the Pilgrims brought them from England.

The main topic of this passage is “the Aztecs of Mexico.”

2. When the meteor collides with the Earth’s atmosphere, the resulting Friction causes the meteor to heat up and partially vaporize. Its entrance is seen as a brief flash of light and a luminous vapor trail that lasts for a few seconds. A meteor that reaches the Earth’s surface is called a meteorite. Meteorites are extremely valuable to scientists because they are samples of actual cosmic material.

The main topic of this passage is “ the vaporization of a meteor.”

3. Because winning or losing a race in skiing can be a matter of a hundredth of a second, skiing equipment has undergone many changes. Even clothing has changed as skiers search for ways to increase speed. Now they wear one-piece suits that cling to their bodies in order to reduce wind resistance. Nothing is worn under these tight-fitting suits as anything extra may mean the loss of an important millisecond.

The main topic of this passage is “the changes in skiing equipment.”

4. Addiction to cigarette smoking is basically an addiction to nicotine. Those who are attempting to overcome their addiction to nicotine have found the most common cures ineffective. Switching to low-nicotine cigarettes simply causes problem smokers to smoke more. Zero-nicotine cigarettes are usually rejected because they don’t satisfy the smoker’s need for nicotine perhaps the most effective aid for those who want to stop smoking is chewing a recently developed gum which contains nicotine.

The main topic of this passage is “how smokers become addicted to nicotine.”

5. Rice is the only major grain crop that is grown almost exclusively as human food. There have been a series of remarkable genetic advances that have made it possible to cultivate high-yield varieties hat are resistant to disease and insect pests. Because rice constitutes half the diet of 1.6 billion people, and another 400 million people rely on it for between one-fourth and one-half of their diet, these advances have deterred disasters which otherwise would have left millions of people severely underfed.

This passage is mainly about world disasters.

6. While living in Germany with her family, Caroline Herschel was not allowed to learn anything other than useful household skills such as knitting. However, all this changed in 1772, when her astronomer brother, William, took her to live with him in England. He taught her mathematics, and she began to help him keep a record of his discoveries. The two of them would often stay up until dawn, gazing upward. Eventually, they built up their own telescopes, which were even bigger and better than those at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

This passage is about the life of Caroline Herschel.

7. Christmas Island, discovered by Captain James Cook on Christmas Eve 1777, was once populated by a wide variety of bird species. In recent years, at least 18 species of birds – a total of 17 million birds either left or perished on the island. It is suspected that the cause of the disappearance may be related to a cyclical weather phenomenon in the Pacific that alters wind patterns, salinity, and ocean currents. These conditions have resulted in higher water temperatures which may have killed the fish and squid that the birds live on.

This passage is about Cook’s discovery of Christmas Island.

8. Two-thirds of China’s vast territory is mountainous desert. Every spring, windstorms come raging out of the mountains and cross the great deserts gathering dust. A dense cloud of dust that is hundreds of miles wide forms. It is blown thousands of miles, travelling from the North Pacific to the Gulf of Alaska and from there moving south and then east. As the prevailing winds lose their velocity, dust particles fall from the cloud. It is believed that as much as 10 percent of the soil in Hawaii is composed of the dust particles collected from China’s deserts and dispersed in the journey across the Pacific.

This passage is mainly about the soil composition in Hawaii.

9. Initially, underground homes are more expensive to build than conventional houses. In order to avoid a home resembling a dark, dank basement, much care and expense must be put into designing a home with well-placed windows and skylights that ensure brightness and fresh air. Also, expensive sophisticated waterproofing techniques need to be used to keep moisture out. However, in the long term, underground homes save the owner a great deal of money in heating and air conditioning costs. Underground houses require much less energy because the soil temperature is relatively stable and the concrete walls can store the sun’s heat and radiate it into the rooms at night.

The main topic of the passage is “the costs of an underground home”.

10. The potato, which nutritious and tasty, is an important food for millions of people. Destruction of the potato crop by pests has resulted in famines. Plant researchers, studying the hundreds of varieties of potatoes, have uncovered a hairy wild variety of potato from Bolivia that emits a strong glue from the end of its hairs. This glue traps and kills insects. A new hairy potato was developed when researchers successfully crossed the common potato with the hairy potato. This new hybrid potato not only reduced aphid populations by 40 to 60 percent, but also emits a substance that checks the population of the Colorado potato beetle, one of the most destructive potato pests. Unfortunately, the hairs also trap beneficial insects. Plant researchers are currently trying to alleviate this problem through limiting the density of the hairs.

This passage is mainly about he developments in the cross breeding of potatoes.

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