Recognizing Paragraph Patterns (I)
In our New Horizon College English series, we have been analyzing every Passage A from Unit 1, Book 1 up to now. This kind of practice has three purposes: 1. coming to a better understanding of the main ideas of the reading passages; 2. understanding text structure; 3. helping us construct well-organized paragraphs or short compositions.
Through Text Structure Analysis, we have become familiar with quite a few basic structures of a text such as Cause and Effect, Comparison and Contrast, Time Sequence, a Set of Sequential Actions, a General Point Supported by Details/Examples/a List of Things, a Problem-Solution Pattern, etc.
Paragraphs are important units of thought in the essays and stories you have to read. And figuring out the main idea in a paragraph is your basic challenge as a reader. A helpful clue to it often lies in the way a writer arranges information in a paragraph.
Paragraph information often appears in patterns that can be recognized or analyzed. If you know some typical paragraph patterns in which information may appear, you may find it easier to understand what you read. Of course, no writer follows any patterns rigidly. Usually, in an essay or story, many different patterns appear. In a single paragraph, in fact, they often overlap and combine. But being aware of typical patterns in a reading selection can help you follow a writer's thoughts and ideas.
Here are two more examples from passage A:
Example 1
All these developing regions see advanced communications as a way to leap over whole stages of economic development. Widespread access to information technologies, for example, promises to condense the time required to change from labor-intensive assembly work to industries that involve engineering, marketing, and design. Modern communications “will give countries like China and Vietnam a huge advantage over countries stuck with old technology”. (Para. 2, Passage A, Unit 4)
·What is the main idea of the paragraph?
Advanced communications are seen as a way to leap over whole stages of economic development.
·Why?
It is because information technologies shorten the time required to change from labor-intensive assembly work to engineering, marketing and design industries. And what is more, modern communications “will give countries like China and Vietnam a huge advantage over countries stuck with old technology”.
·What is the structure of the paragraph?
A general statement is supported by reasons.
Example 2
Wireless demand and usage have also exploded across the entire width and breadth of Latin America. For wireless phone service providers, nowhere is business better than in Latin America — having an operation there is like having an endless pile of money at your disposal. BellSouth Corporation, with operations in four wireless markets, estimates its annual revenue per average customer at about $2,000 as compared to $860 in the United States. That's partly because Latin American customers talk two to four times as long on the phone as people in North America. (Para. 8, Passage A, Unit 4)
·What is the main idea of the paragraph?
Wireless demand and usage have exploded across the entire Latin America.
·What are the reasons to support the main idea?
Wireless phone service providers are making a lot of money out of information technologies.
·What is the example given to support the main idea?
BellSouth Corporation estimates its annual revenue per average customer at about $2,000 as compared to $860 in the United States.
·What is the structure of the paragraph?
A general statement supported by details of reasons and an example.
阅读技能（reading skill): Recognizing Paragraph Patterns (I)
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