DETERMINING THE TOPIC SENTENCE OF A PARAGRAPH
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INSTRUCTIONS--IF THE PARAGRAPH HAS A TOPIC SENTENCE, TELL WHAT IT IS. IF THERE ISN'T A TOPIC SENTENCE, SUMMARIZE THE MAIN IDEA.
HERE IS THE PARAGRAPH:
IN MARCH OF 1996, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AND THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA ANNOUNCED A PLAN TO IMPROVE EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SERVICE FOR CALIFORNIANS WHO ARE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING. UNDER THE AGREEMENT, THE STATE WILL INSTALL TEXT TELEPHONES KNOWN AS TYYs or TDDs IN 475 EMERGENCY CENTERS. A TEXT TELEPHONE HAS A SMALL SCREEN AND A KEYBOARD THAT ALLOWS CALLERS TO TYPE AND RECEIVE TEXT MESSAGES OVER TELEPHONE LINES. BEFORE THE AGREEMENT, PEOPLE WHO WERE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING HAD TO CALL SPECIAL 911 CENTERS TO GET EMERGENCY HELP, AND THEY OFTEN HAD TO WAIT TO BE TRANSFERRED TO THOSE CENTERS. THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT DECIDED THAT THIS TWO-STEP PROCEDURE WAS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE. UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990, CITIES MUST PROVIDE TELEPHONE EMERGENCY SERVICES TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
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Solution Summary
The main idea in a paragraph is summarized. A topic sentence is provided.
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This is the topic sentence of the paragraph. All of the subsequent sentences support this sentence, by providing a basis ...
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