English Skills 10th Edition by John Langan, Zoe Albright

Exercise 5

Complete the partial outlines provided for the two paragraphs that follow.
1. The United States Congress: Two Branches
The United States Congress, the federal government's law-making branch, is made up of two different bodies: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate consists of one hundred members, two from each state. Until 1913, senators were elected by state legislatures, but the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, approved in that year, now requires the direct election of senators by each state's citizens. Senators serve six-year terms, and about one-third of the members are eligible for reelection every two years. The presiding officer of the Senate is the vice president of the United States. The House of Representatives has 435 members representing congressional districts across the United States. The boundaries of a congressional district are determined, theoretically at least, by the number of people residing in the district. Therefore, while New Jersey has eleven congressional districts, Wyoming, with a much smaller population, has only one. Members of the House serve for two- year terms, at the end of which all members must be reelected if they wish to continue. The presiding officer of this body is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by members of the majority party. Whenever the two branches pass different versions of a bill, a committee consisting of both representatives and senators meets to resolve the differences.
Topic sentence: The United States Congress, the federal government's law- making branch, is made up of two different bodies: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
a. The Senate
(1) Consists of 100 members
(2) Before 1913 was elected by state legislature; today is elected by citizens
(3) Senators serve six-year terms, one-third up for reelection every two years
(4) VP is presiding officer
b. House of Representatives
(1) Consists of 435 members; each congressional district contains about same number of people
(2) Members directly elected by citizens of district
(3) Members serve two-year terms, then must be reelected to continue
(4) Speaker of the House is presiding officer-elected by members of House's majority party.
c. Joint committee of House and Senate resolves differences in bills
Complete the following statement: Paragraph 1 uses the ___________ method of development.
2. Good and Bad Horror Movies
A good horror movie is easily distinguishable from a bad one. A good horror movie, first of all, has both male and female victims. Both sexes suffer terrible fates at the hands of monsters and maniacs. Therefore, everyone in the audience has a chance to identify with the victim. Bad horror movies, on the other hand, tend to concentrate on women, especially half-dressed ones. These movies are obviously prejudiced against half the human race. Second, a good horror movie inspires compassion for its characters. For example, the audience will feel sympathy for the victims in the horror classics about the Wolfman, played by Lon Chaney Jr., and also for the Wolf- man himself, who is shown to be a sad victim of fate. In contrast, a bad horror movie encourages feelings of aggression and violence in viewers. For instance, in the Halloween films, the murders are seen from the murderer's point of view. The effect is that the audience stalks the victims along with the killer and feels the same thrill he does. Finally, every good horror movie has a sense of humor. In Alien, as a crew member is coughing and choking just before the horrible thing bursts out of his chest, a colleague chides him, "The food ain't that bad, man." Humor provides relief from the horror and makes the characters more human. A bad horror movie, though, is humorless and boring. One murder is piled on top of another, and the characters are just cardboard figures. Bad horror movies may provide cheap thrills, but the good ones touch our emotions and live forever.
Topic sentence: A good horror movie is easily distinguished from a bad one.
a. Kinds of victims
(1) ____________________________________________
(2) ____________________________________________
Effect on audience
(1) ____________________________________________
(2) ____________________________________________
c. Tone
(1) ____________________________________________
(2) ____________________________________________
Complete the following statement: Paragraph 2 uses the ___________ method of development.