Cоnsequences оf Glоbаl Wаrming The world hаs experienced a temperature rise of about 0.6 degrees Celsius in the past century. This change may sound minor, and on a local or regional basis, it is. However, on a global scale, an increase of more than 2 degrees Celsius would be enough to melt polar ice and raise sea levels significantly. Scientists have already detected noticeable reductions in the polar ice caps. Unless massive dikes were built against rising oceans, rising sea levels could, by the end of the 21st century, flood coastal areas, many of which are environmentally sensitive and heavily populated. New York, Miami, and Los Angeles could all be under water. In addition to flooding, a warming trend might alter patterns of global rainfall and farming. For instance, the grain belts of the central United States and central Asia might become much drier and unable to support the crops currently grown there. Furthermore, forested areas in semiarid zones could lose their trees and become deserts. Overall, large amounts of habitat would be altered by rapid global warming, and in many cases, these changes could seriously impair efforts to reduce species loss. For instance, warming by 2 degrees Celsius would probably be intolerable for many species found in high-mountain areas. One computer model predicts that nearly 60% of the species of small mammals presently inhabiting mountain peaks in the Great Basin in the western United States could be lost because they would be unable to migrate to colder areas. A growing body of research has found numerous species already struggling to adapt to warmer temperatures: A spotted butterfly in California has changed its migration patterns, songbirds on the East Coast are losing habitat, and penguin populations are shrinking as seas warm up and food sources change. Similarly, global warming will probably have a serious impact on biodiversity in reserves and other areas that are currently protected. Alterations in these habitats may make them uninhabitable for many threatened species whose survival depends on them. At present, the growing body of research into global warming has led scientists to acknowledge the rapid onset of climate change. The ongoing impacts and future implications of global warming have become one of the top environmental issues investigated. Some researchers have already called for drastic cuts in the use of fossil fuels to slow temperature increases. On the other hand, some researchers, business leaders, and government officials call for more data before any conclusions are reached about whether the atmospheric increases are mainly from human sources and whether the increases have actually caused the temperature rise. Skeptics point out that Earth has a long history of severe climate shifts, none of which was caused by humans. Others raise the possibility that smoke and increased cloud cover from fossil fuel consumption and deforestation may decrease warming by reducing the amount of solar heat that reaches Earth’s surface. Despite these uncertainties, however, a majority of scientists and world leaders have concluded that immediate steps to slow the warming trend are necessary to prevent catastrophic global change. Campbell, Reece et al., Biology, Concepts & Connections, 4th ed., 2003. The pattern of organization of this whole writing is
The fоllоwing pаrаgrаphs have main ideas that may appear at variоus places within the paragraph. Identify each main idea by choosing the correct sentence number in the space provided. 1 When the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889, Parisians scorned the structure, calling it a grotesque “stain” on their beautiful city. 2 Today, it is the beloved symbol of Paris, attracting millions of tourists every year. 3 Why did people’s attitudes change so dramatically? 4 It turns out that mere repeated exposure to this famous French landmark made a difference over time. 5 Contrary to the old proverb that familiarity breeds contempt, familiarity with an object actually breeds fondness. 6 Take another example, this one a piece of large-scale public art. 7 Many residents of Grand Rapids, Michigan, were not pleased when presented with their new downtown landmark, an enormous metal sculpture titled “La Grande Vitesse,” created by the eminent artist Alexander Calder. 8 Their reactions included such comments as “an abomination,” “an embarrassment,” “a waste of money.” 9 Other people were neutral; few seemed enthusiastic. 10 But within a decade, the sculpture had become an object of civic pride: Its picture adorned bank checks, city posters, tourist literature—and even the city's official logo.
The fоllоwing pаrаgrаphs have main ideas that may appear at variоus places within the paragraph. Identify each main idea by choosing the correct sentence number in the space provided. 1 In 1798, a few naturalists were skeptically probing a specimen delivered to the British Museum in London, looking for signs that a prankster had slyly stitched the bill of an oversized duck onto the pelt of a small furry mammal. 2 They didn’t know it, but they were examining the remains of a platypus, a web-footed mammal about half the size of a house cat. 3 Like the other mammals, the duck-billed platypus has mammary glands and hair. 4 However, like birds and reptiles, it has a cloaca, an enlarged duct through which reproductive cells, feces, and excretions from the kidneys pass. 5 The platypus also lays shelled eggs, as do birds and most reptiles; however, the young hatch before their embryonic development is complete. 6 And although the creature’s fleshy bill does appear ducklike, its broad, flat, furry tail looks like the one on a beaver. 7 With its unusual traits, the platypus invites us to challenge preconceived notions of what constitutes “an animal.”
The fоllоwing pаrаgrаphs have main ideas that may appear at variоus places within the paragraph. Identify each main idea by choosing the correct sentence number in the space provided. 1To a degree unknown to moderns, residents of preindustrial cities literally were what they wore. 2 The Roman citizen, for example, expressed the fact of his citizenship by wearing, as decreed by law, the white toga. 3 A “gentleman” in the Colonial cities of America was known by his powdered wig. 4 The cap of the medieval Frenchman was made of velvet for the upper classes, rough cloth for the poor. 5 In Elizabethan England commoners were prohibited by law from wearing clothing fashioned from gold or silver cloth, velvet, furs, and other “luxury” materials. 6 Hair length also indicated status. 7 Among the Franks, only the elite had long hair. 8 The clothing of outcast groups was often regulated by law. 9 The Parsi minority in the Persian city of Yezd were forced, until the 1880s, to twist their turbans instead of folding them; were denied various colors; and were prohibited from wearing or carrying rings, umbrellas, and other items. 10 Occupation, too, was signaled by dress. 11 The lawyers of medieval France, for example, were distinguished by their round caps, and the executioners of the period were forced to wear a special coat of red or gold so that they would be readily recognizable in a crowd. 12 Each of the various types of traveling peddlers of Peking wore a distinctive costume, as did the clergy of twelfth-century Europe and the members of religious sects in numerous preindustrial cities.
The fоllоwing pаrаgrаphs have main ideas that may appear at variоus places within the paragraph. Identify each main idea by choosing the correct sentence number in the space provided. 1 The list of the ten deadliest animals, as determined by the group Live Science, contains many of the fearsome killers you’d expect, and a few that you’ve probably never heard of. 2 African lions, number five on the list, and great white sharks, number four, are well known for their killer instincts. 3 Few people ever choose to tangle with an Australian saltwater crocodile, number six, or a 16,000-pound African elephant, number seven. 4 More than 50,000 people die every year from snakebite, and the leading assassin in the snake world is the Asian cobra, which puts it at number two. 5 You’d have to be in some very specific corners of the world to run afoul of a cape buffalo, number nine, or a polar bear, number eight. 6 One deadly creature that you might not expect to find on the list is the poison dart frog, number ten. 7 Don’t pet the cute amphibian, however, because the slime on its back is deadly enough to kill ten people. 8 The Australian box jellyfish is beautiful and graceful in the water, but each of its many fifteen-foot-long tentacles has enough toxins to kill sixty humans, which puts it all the way up at number 3. 9 The most deadly animal of all is not exotic. 10 In fact, you have probably done battle with it many times. 11 Nevertheless, it’s responsible for millions of deaths every year by infecting people with the parasites that cause malaria. 12 Yes, the most deadly animal on the planet is the mosquito.
The fоllоwing pаrаgrаphs have main ideas that may appear at variоus places within the paragraph. Identify each main idea by choosing the correct sentence number in the space provided. 1 What is the connection between our nightly dreams and the actual events that precede them? 2 A naturalistic study of the impact of daytime events on the content of dreams was conducted by researchers shortly after a major earthquake struck the San Francisco area and caused more than $5 billion in damages and killed 62 people. 3 The researchers asked students at two universities in the San Francisco area to keep track of the number of upsetting dreams that they had during a three-week period immediately following the earthquake. 4 As a control group, students at the University of Arizona who had not been near the earthquake did the same thing. 5 Not surprisingly, the students in the area of the earthquake reported more vivid, upsetting dreams then the students in Arizona. 6 In addition, 40 percent of the students in the San Francisco area reported at least one dream about earthquakes, compared with 5 percent of the students in Arizona. 7 Persons exposed to highly stressful events, such as wars, sometimes have nightmarish dreams about them for many years afterwards. 8 Clearly, events and concerns in our daily lives are among the most common things that we dream about.
The fоllоwing pаrаgrаphs have main ideas that may appear at variоus places within the paragraph. Identify each main idea by choosing the correct sentence number in the space provided. 1 For most people, fairies are tiny, magical beings who don’t really exist. 2 Yet one of the most notorious hoaxes of the 20th century centered around photographs that purported to show actual proof of the existence of fairies. 3 These photographs, taken by Elise Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins living in Cottingley, near Bradford, England, depicted the two in various activities with supposed fairies. 4 The first two photographs were taken in 1917 and showed the fairies as small humans with period style haircuts, dressed in filmy gowns, and with large wings on their backs. 5 As strange as it may seem to us, some very prominent people believed the photos and fairies were real, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, famed author of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories. 6 Doyle went so far as to write a book called The Coming of the Fairies, about the Cottingley Fairies and his belief in them. 7 It wasn’t until 1981 that the cousins confessed that the photos were fake and the fairies nothing more than cutouts made of paper and cloth.
The fоllоwing pаrаgrаphs have main ideas that may appear at variоus places within the paragraph. Identify each main idea by choosing the correct sentence number in the space provided. 1 Born to a wealthy German American family in 1856, L. Frank Baum grew up in upstate New York. 2 His father had made a great deal of money from the oil industry, particularly Pennsylvania gushers that yielded a distinctive emerald-green oil. 3 The younger Baum was drawn to what he called the “dream life,” with its guilt-free indulgence in pleasure. 4 Together with his wife, he founded a theater troupe that toured the Midwest in the 1880s. 5 There, he also became editor of a town newspaper, the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. 6 Baum eventually moved his family to Chicago, where he embarked on a career as a department store window designer. 7 He founded the National Association of Window Trimmers in 1898 and started a trade magazine, The Show Window. 8 The magazine encouraged designers to strive for a “sumptuous display” of goods and to highlight their rich textures and colors. 9 Baum went on to become a popular writer of children’s fiction. 10 First published in 1900 as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Baum’s brilliantly imaginative book placed ordinary Midwesterners in a magical setting. 11 An accomplished and successful showman, L. Frank Baum understood that Americans were eager to buy fantasy wherever they could find it: in a theater, department store, or children’s book.
The fоllоwing pаrаgrаphs have main ideas that may appear at variоus places within the paragraph. Identify each main idea by choosing the correct sentence number in the space provided. 1 The short story is a literary form with certain characteristics that define it. 2 First of all, it must be fiction. 3 That is, the story is something made up by an author and is not intended to be an historical account of events that really occurred or people who really lived. 4 Nevertheless, most short stories seek to depict a realistic episode in the life of an imaginary person, usually as that person encounters a challenge or difficulty of some kind. 5 Some attention is paid to describing the setting where the action takes place, and to giving the main character a number of different traits to make him or her seem more believable. 6 If the short story has an obvious moral or lesson, it may also be called a fable or parable. 7 The Irish writer James Joyce borrowed the religious term “epiphany” to describe a moment of realization or new understanding that often occurs at the climax of the modern short story. 8 How long is a short story? 9 Edgar Allen Poe, a 19th-century American writer, famously said that a short story should be short enough to be read at one sitting and should be focused on creating a single effect. 10 In practice, most literary critics today put the length of a short story between about one thousand and twenty thousand words. 11 Anything shorter is called “flash fiction” or a “short-short story,” and a longer work is called a novella, or, if longer than about fifty thousand words, a novel.
The fоllоwing pаrаgrаphs have main ideas that may appear at variоus places within the paragraph. Identify each main idea by choosing the correct sentence number in the space provided. 1 Everyone knows that the Ford Edsel was one of the most spectacular marketing flops in history, but not everyone agrees why. 2 The car was introduced to the public with much fanfare in 1957, but sales were disappointing and the model was abandoned by Ford after only three years. 3 Some say that the car was over-hyped in one of the biggest advance publicity campaigns in history. 4 After being shrouded in mystery, the car’s actual appearance could not possibly live up to expectations. 5 Others say that the distinctive “horse collar” grill was just plain ugly. 6 Still others insist it was the name that was ugly, and that the public would never warm to a car with the odd first name of former company president Edsel Ford. 7 There were also quality control problems, as Ford did not build an Edsel factory, but made it with parts made in Ford and Mercury factories. 8 While all of these arguments may have some validity, the biggest factor might not have had anything to do with the car itself, but with the fact that it was introduced during an economic recession. 9 The Edsel may have been short-lived, but the Ford Motor Company survived. 10 The same cannot be said of Hudson, Nash, Packard, and DeSoto, four distinguished car companies that went out of business between 1957 and 1960. 11 Nevertheless, it is the poor Edsel whose name is forever linked with new product disaster.