A paragraph is a group of sentences about a topic.  The
topic is often explained in one sentence and developed in the
rest of the sentences.  The sentence that announces the main
point of the paragraph is called the topic sentence.  Though the
topic sentence usually is the first sentence of the paragraph, it
can appear anywhere in the paragraph.  It is also possible for a
paragraph to have no explicit topic sentence.  However, even if a
paragraph has no identifiable topic sentence, it must still have
a clear main focus, and the reader should sense the connection
among the sentences in the paragraph.
 
In the following paragraphs, identify the topic sentence and the
key words in the topic sentence that the other sentences support.


  1.   John Bookmeyer is a versatile, well-rounded boy. In
addition to singing in his church choir, he is a drummer in a
small combo. He maintains a high average in his subjects at
school and still manages to play football and run on the track
team. Although he is very popular with other young people, he
doesn't let his social life interfere with his weekend job at the
drugstore.



  2.   The first thing I noticed about the school was the litter
in the schoolyard. Trash and paper were scattered everywhere. The
building, which could have been very attractive despite its age,
was dingy and dirty beyond belief. A window -pane was broken out
of the main door, and the door itself led into a dark, for
bidding hall. As I walked down the hall, I noticed the messy
bulletin board and, in several places, writing on the wall. No
one greeted me when I entered the outer office, although a
receptionist was sitting there noisily chewing a huge wad of gum
and putting on fingernail polish. All in all. I couldn't help
feeling that the school was poorly cared for.

  3.   Through the fog the arc lights high above the stadium
looked like small moons from the field below. The lights were
reflected all over the marshy field in pools of water, an
accumulation of twenty four hours of steady drizzle. Despite
lengthy warm-up drills, the players now felt the cold and
dampness beginning to penetrate. They were either huddled
together or dancing up and down to keep warm-- that is, all
except our first-string quarterback and our all-state offensive
end, both of whom were out of the game with injuries. They sat
glumly on the bench wrapped in soggy woolen blankets, Conditions
could hardly have been worse for this crucial game.