Reading 2: understanding topic sentences


A Read the text and decide where the first line of each paragraph fits. 1. Modern Venice is trying to overcome many problems. 2. Venice is a city and large port in the north east of Italy. 3. There are no cars or trucks on the islands of Venice. 4. Tourism is very important to the economy of Venice. 5. Around 400 bridges connect the islands that make up Venice.


Venice – Queen of the Adriatic


__ It is the capital of the province, also called Venice. Venice is built on over 100 islands created by around 150 canals in the lagoon at the top of Adriatic Sea.


__ A single road and rail link connects the city to the mainland. This link is protected from the sea by man-made sandbanks. One large canal, the Grand Canal, runs from north-west to south-east and divides the city into two halves.


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__ The bridges are for pedestrians only. For hundreds of years, the most common method of transport was the gondola, a traditional boat that is controlled by a single oar. Today, these boats are mainly for tourists. Small motor boats transport local people and produce.


__ The city is considered one of the most beautiful in the world, and tourists come in their millions to see the canals, the squares, the architecture and the art museums. There is a popular film festival every year. The islands of Murano and Burano are famous for glass products and Venetian lace.


__ Because the ground is soft, the city is sinking and buildings need to be made stronger. The area has flooded a number of times, and the sea has caused huge damage. The population is slowly leaving the city as jobs become more difficult to find. Some


people are afraid that Venice will be a city where nobody lives – a place only for tourists to come and photograph.


B Look at the first sentence of each paragraph again. Tick the statement below that is true.


1. The first sentence of a paragraph should tell the reader what the rest of the paragraph will be about.


2. The first sentence of a paragraph does not need to be related to what is in the rest of the paragraph.


Exam tip: The first sentence of a paragraph is usually the topic sentence. This means that it tells the reader what the rest of the paragraph will be about. Sentences in the rest of the paragraph should support the topic sentence. If a sentence is not related to the topic sentence, the writer should start a new paragraph.


Reading 3: practice with paragraphs and topic sentences


Exam tip: Reading and understanding the topic sentence will help you to read more quickly. When you read for gist, you can sometimes skip the rest of the paragraph if the topic sentence is clear. In the Reading test, understanding the topic sentence will help you to know where to look back to find answers.


A Read only the topic sentence of each paragraph in the text on the next page, and get an idea of what the text is about.


B Read questions 1–5 and guess which paragraph the information will be found in.


Pathway to IELTS 1 79


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