一段文章的中心思想常常由主題句(Topic Sentence)表達。主題句常常位於段首或段尾處,間或出現在段落中間。同樣,一篇文章的中心思想也常常在開始或結尾段點出。因此在閲讀中,我們要特別注意文章的.開頭或結尾。例四:
English is clearly an international is spoken by pilots and airport control operators on all the airways of the 70 percent of the worlds radio programs are in English.
本段主題句為首句,其後的內容句均説明首句。例五:
Some students prefer a strict teacher who tells them exactly what to rs prefer to be left to work on their l others like a democratic discussion type of one teaching method can be devised to satisfy all students at the same time.
本段中心思想在結尾句得到體現,它是此段內容的結論。例六:
For adults a cold is not that ver,this is not the case for symptoms in children may be signs of more serious diseases and should be given prompt medical attention.
本段主題句為第二句,因為在however後面才是作者真正的看法,並在下文中進一步作了説明。
然而,我們也常常發現,有的主題思想並非直接由一、二個句子表述,而是在文中間接暗示着。這就需要讀者根據文中細節進行概括與歸納,找出主題思想。