What is the purpose of a topic sentence in a paragraph?

Match each excerpt with the type of essay it represents. descriptive essay narrative essay expository essay persuasive essay essay excerpt type of essay when hal arrives at the pond, a bleak sight greets him as he discovers the surface of the skating pond is layered with snow. realizing he is facing a monumental task, he industriously begins to shovel the mounds of new snow from the frozen pond. lifting shovelful after shovelful of heavy wet snow, hal tirelessly works. while he works, he dreams of his brilliant future as a magnificent hockey star. soon a massive pile of glistening snow begins to appear on the bank, and the icy surface of the pond is smooth glass. hal’s back and arms ache as he eagerly exchanges his work boots for an old, worn pair of hockey skates. arrowright potter's lake used to be the nicest lake in the area. but these days the water is green with algae, and the lake is choked with weeds all summer long. as a result, people can no longer swim in it. experts have determined the cause of the problem. fertilizers from yards and farms have been running into the lake. they cause algae and weeds to grow out of control. they also kill birds and fish. arrowright a hard, gray mountain loomed over a serene, florescent-blue lake, which gently lapped at its granite base. miles above the lake, a trio of mountain peaks jutted into the sky. each seemed to be topped with a chilled scoop of vanilla ice cream. as a cold and distant sun crept over the peaks, the lake and valley below instantly became suffused with blue light, which seemed to touch everything but warm nothing. morning had arrived. arrowright since 1897, the population of the bachman's warbler in north carolina has decreased from more than 500,000 to fewer than 100. the main reason is the destruction of areas (like asbury woodlands) that the bird uses for its natural breeding grounds. bachman's warblers prefer thickly wooded swamps and wet thickets in heavy, full-grown forests. it’s there that they can build their nests and feed on insects. this fact does not mean that we cannot build a community theater. we simply must not build it in asbury woodlands. after all, our community has forever prided itself on caring for our natural surroundings. with the council’s and the support of our townspeople, future generations will be able to continue to appreciate the beauty of this little bird

What does the author see as the main cause for why students don’t really see shakespeare as a real, flawed human being? we shouldn’t shy away from discussing our literary heroes’ flaws. if nothing else, the knowledge of their failures us appreciate what success and greatness these authors did achieve. often our hero-worship keeps us from truly seeing the complexity of a great author. thus, i would argue, nothing would be better for high school students than to take shakespeare down a peg or two. a) the fact that students never learn enough about shakespeares biography b) the fact that students only read shakespeare’s comedies while in school c) the fact that students are never assigned to read any shakespeare while in high school d) the fact that students only read shakespeare’s greatest works in school and thus never see his weaknesses

Which techniques does president reagan use in this excerpt? select three options. pathos ethos shift understatement overstatement mark this and return save and exit