三、结论句
结论句位于全段的末尾,是对全段的内容进行总结,归纳或提出结论性观点的句子。结论句不仅仅是重复主题句提出的段落主题,更为重要的是,它可以更进一步强调段落的中心思想,以引起读者的重视和注意。在撰写结论句时我们应该注意,结论句的句式结构没有必要和主题句保持一致,不能相互矛盾。当然,并非每个段落都需要结论句,对于一些描述性段落也可以不使用结论句。例如,在下面这一段中,由于该段的内容具有很强的描述性,作者就没有使用结论句:
In fact,there are lots of better things to do in our leisure time.Going to concerts or theatre is pleasant experience.Visiting parks or art exhibitions brings us GREat joy.And there are many entertainment in interesting books or pleasant music than in everyday TV programs.
下面我们再通过文章的三个段落从整体上来说明段落的组成:
例1:Wherever one lives,in the city or in the country,there are some good reasons for owning a car.(主题句)First,cars can provide the most convenient form of transportation.(发展句)Second,a car is a comfortable way to travel,especially in winter time.(发展句)Finally,a driver is usually safe in his car when he is out at night.(发展句)Therefore,many people favor owning a car.(结论句)
例2:Computer is a wonder of this era.(主题句)Because of it our work and life have changed dramatically .(发展句)At the moment it plays an extremely important role in our life.Computers are able to do a GREat variety of jobs.(发展句) They are widely used in offices,laboratories,banks,airports,etc.(发展句)Businessmen use them to make more money;policemen use them to find criminals;scientists use them to make new discoveries.(发展句)Many modern families are equipped with it.(发展句)It has become so important in our life that we can not imagine what our life would be like without it.(结论句)
例3:In the future,the computer will be more powerful.(主题句)Students may receive their education through it.(发展句)There will be more intelligent robots to relieve us from arduous work and even to look after children or nurse the sick.(发展句)In a word,we can expect to see the development of the computer for more purposes in the future.(结论句)
EXERCISE 3
Identify the topic sentences in the following paragraphs:
1.A university cafeteria should be able to provide meals at a lower cost than private restaurants.The students serve themselves and,when they have finished,take their dirty dishes back to a special table.In this way,the cost of employing staff is reduced because there is no need for waiters.The same number of students eat in the same cafeteria each day.As a result,the manager can calculate the exact amount of food to buy and very little is wasted.Finally,a university cafeteria makes no profit.This reduces the cost of the meals by at least ten percent.
2.For more striking than any changes in the kinds of work done by women in the U.S.A.,labor force is the shift of wives and mothers from household activities to the world of paid employment.Emphasis on the new work of women,however,should not be allowed to obscure an e-qually important fact.Today,as always,most of the time and effort of American wives is devoted to their responsibilities within home and the family circle.This is true even to those who are in the labor force.Since 1890,the demands for paid work have become much lighter.The normal work week has decreased from sixty to forty hours;paid holidays and vacations have become universal;and most of the hard,physical labor that work once required has been iminated.Because of these developments,many women can work outside the home and still have time and energy left for home and family.
3.Many contemporary novels of Africa and India depict the lives of ordinary people struggling against adversity.Furthermore,poetry from South America and North America speaks out against social and economic oppression.In still another instance,modern European drama enacts the fate of the working man in his drab confrontation with life.It is clear from these limited examples that contemporary literature in manyparts of the world deals with the social issues of the day.
4.In his chamber the doctor sat up in his high bed.He had on his dressing gown of red watered silk that had come from Paris,a little tight over the chest now if it was buttoned.On lap was a silver tray with a silver chocolate pot and a tiny cup of egg-shell china,so delicate that it looked silly when he lifted it with his big hand,lifted it with the tips of thumb and forefinger and spread the other three fingers wide to get them out of the way.
Key to Exercise 3:
1.段首主题句。A university cafeteria should be able to provide meals at a lower cost than private restaurants.
2.段中主题句。Today,as always,most of the time and effort of American wives is devoted to their responsibilities within home and the family circle.
3.段尾主题句。It is clear from these limited examples that contemporary literature in many parts of the world deals with the social issues of the day.
4.隐含主题句。
