CISE 1 Determining the Topic DIRECTIONS Read each paragraph. Then circle the letter of the word or phrase that sums up the topic. 1. Is it true that right-handed people live longer than left-handed people? It is true that there is a shortage of very old lefties. One pos- sible explanation lies in the widespread finding that left-handers are more accident-prone. However, the supposed clumsiness of lefties may well be a result of living in a right-handed world. One study showed that left-handed locomotive engineers have higher accident rates and suggested that the cause was due to the design of locomo- tive controls. If it can be gripped, turned, or pulled, it's probably de- signed for the right hand. Even toilet handles are on the right-hand side. On the other hand, the shortage of very old lefties may just re- flect the fact that, in the past, more left-handed children were forced to become right-handed. That makes it look like many lefties don't Recognizing the Topic . 113 survive to old age. In reality, they do, but many of them are masquer- ading as righties. (Dennis Coon and John O. Mitterer, Introduction to Psychology 12e. Cengage Learning) Topic a. life span of right-handed people b. left-handed people c. clumsy left-handers d. left-handed locomotive engineers 2. Researchers are trying to develop new anti-malarial drugs and vac- cines for Anopheles mosquitoes, which cause the deadly disease malaria. However, there are other ways to fight the disease. One is to provide poor people in malarial regions with long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets and window screens for their dwellings. Another is to use zinc and vitamin A supplements to boost resis- tance to malaria in children. The number of malaria cases can also be greatly reduced by spraying the insides of homes with low con- centrations of the pesticide DDT twice a year at a cost of about $10. Unfortunately, under an international treaty enacted in 2002, DDT and five similar pesticides are being phased out in developing coun- tries. However, in 2006, the World Health Organization supported the use of DDT for malaria control. (Adapted from G. Tyler Miller Jr. and Scott E. Spoolman, Sustaining the Earth, Cengage Learning.) Topic a. fighting malaria b. using DDT to fight malaria c. malarial regions d. pesticides 3. Conjoined twins are usually classified into three basic categories, depending on where their bodies connect. Twins of the first type are conjoined in a way that never involves the heart or the midline of the body. For example, about 2 percent of all conjoined twins are attached at the head only. About 19 percent are joined at the buttocks. Twins of the second type are always joined in a way that involves the midline of the body. Many twins joined at the mid- line share a heart. Around 35 percent are fused at the upper half of the trunk. Another 30 percent are joined at the lower half of their bodies. The third major type of conjoined twins includes very rare forms of physical connection. In this category are those in which one twin is smaller, less formed, and dependent on the other, as well as cases in which one twin is born completely within the body 114 . Chapter 3 Reviewing Paragraph Essentials Topic of his or her sibling. a. twins sharing a heart b. twins C. conjoined twins d. categories of twins 4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho are two of the most popu- lar horror films in American horror movie history. But popularity is not all the two films have in common. Both films are based on the life and crimes of one man, serial killer Ed Gein. Born in Wisconsin, Gein was the son of a deeply religious mother who preached relent- lessly to her son about the evils of sexual desire. Like Norman Bates in Psycho, Gein was completely devoted to his mother and never recovered from her death. After she died, he seems to have lost all hold on his sanity. Although he started out robbing the graves of Ed Gein, the inspiration for Leatherface in the horror movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was born in Wisconsin and never set foot in Texas recoction Recognizing the Topic . 115 recently deceased women, he graduated to murder of a particularly grisly kind, using the skin of his victims to make pieces of clothing and a mask reminiscent of the one worn by the killer in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Topic a. horror films b. Ed Gein c. Psycho d. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 5. When it comes to using formal or informal language, large cultural differences exist. The informal approach that characterizes conver- sations in countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and the Scandinavian countries is quite different from the concern about using proper speech in many parts of Asia and Africa, where for- mality in language defines a person's social position. In Korea, for example, the language reveals a system of relational hierarchies.* Koreans have a special vocabulary for different sexes, levels of social status, degrees of intimacy, and types of social occasions. There are even different degrees of formality for speaking with old friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers. One sign of being a learned person in Korea is the ability to use language in a way that recognizes these relational distinctions. When you contrast these sorts of distinctions with the casual friendliness that Americans dis- play even when talking to strangers, it's easy to see how a Korean might find an American boorish in conversation while an Ameri- can might consider a Korean stiff and unfriendly. (Ronald B. Adler and Russell E Proctor, Looking Out Looking In 12e, o Cengage Learning.) Topic a. Koreans in conversation with Americans b. levels of formality in different cultures c. informality in language d. contrasting English and Asian rules for language "hierarchies: levels or rankings of people based on authority or importance. "boorish: crude, disrespectful of others, vulgar