Listening Quiz

Student Name ______________ Score ______________/14

Directions: You will hear a lecture in a college writing class. The listening quiz includes two types of
tasks. In the first task, you will fill in the missing details about the lecture. In the second part, you will
answer two main idea questions. Before listening, get familiar with the graphic organizer below and the
order of the blanks. Then read the two main idea questions on the next page.

Part One: Fill in the missing blanks

A 1____________ is a .
Explain the 2____________ of a simple paragraph.
group of sentences
about a main idea.

Topic Sentence
Gives the main 3____________ of a
paragraph.
Some paragraphs will not have this if the
main point is 4____________.
Most writers put this at the beginning,
5____________, or both.

Supporting Sentences
Provide examples, explanations,
6____________, or arguments.

Their 7____________ is to help the reader to

understand the topic and 8____________.

Concluding Sentence
It is usually the 9____________ sentence in
the paragraph.
It 10____________ the reader of the topic
and focus.
Should use 11____________ words than the
topic sentence.
Sometimes it will be 12____________ and is
not included.

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Part Two: Main Idea Questions

1. Which of the given statements best summarizes Professor Brown’s definition of a good
paragraph?
a) Always has a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence.
b) Main ideas in the paragraph have equal numbers of supporting sentences.
c) Sentences are effectively connected to the topic and focus in a coherent structure.
d) At least three to five sentences relate to the main topic of the paragraph.

2. Professor Brown wants to teach his students, as writers, to ____________.

a) always word their sentences very differently from each other
b) remember the order of the structure so they can create similar paragraphs every time
c) have as many supporting sentences as possible in their paragraphs
d) follow the general structure but be aware that it is not always relevant

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 Listening Quiz Answer Key

Part One Part Two

1 paragraph 1. c
2 structure 2. d
3 Idea
4 obvious
5 end
6 facts
7 purpose
8 focus
9 last
10 reminds
11 different
12 irrelevant

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 Listening Script

Professor Brown: In Unit 2, you learned that a paragraph is a group of sentences about one
main idea. This means that each paragraph has a topic -- what you are writing about, and a focus
-- what you want to say about that topic. In a good paragraph, all of the sentences will be
connected to the topic and focus.
Student 1: Professor Brown, could you explain the structure of simple paragraphs?
Professor Brown: OK, you want to know what a good simple paragraph looks like. Well, most
simple paragraphs will include a topic sentence, several supporting sentences and, sometimes, a
concluding sentence. A topic sentence gives the main idea of a paragraph. It usually occurs as
the first or last sentence of the paragraph. Some paragraphs will not have a topic sentence if the
main point is obvious. Others might place the topic sentence slightly differently. Occasionally,
the topic sentence might begin the paragraph but be restated in a different way at the end. That is
to say, most writers put the topic sentence of a paragraph at the beginning or the end or both.
The supporting sentences provide examples, explanations, facts or arguments that support the
main idea of a paragraph. Their purpose is to help the reader to understand the topic and focus
of the paragraph.
The concluding sentence is usually the last sentence in the paragraph. It is often similar to the
topic sentence and reminds the reader of the topic and focus of the paragraph, but it should use
different words, if possible.
Student 2: Should we always have a concluding sentence in each paragraph?
Professor Brown: A very good question! Having a concluding sentence in each paragraph
sounds rather too much, doesn’t it? Let me just say that not all paragraphs end with a concluding
sentence. Sometimes, the last sentence of a paragraph introduces the main topic of the next
paragraph, so in such cases a concluding sentence will be irrelevant. We will now look at some
examples. Let us start with topic sentences first.