Questions: The following paragraph has a main idea that may appear at various places within the paragraph. Identify the topic sentence (main idea) of each paragraph by filling in the correct sentence number in the space provided. 1 Technology revolutionized agriculture as inventions dramatically increased productivity on the farms. 2 Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793 permitted an individual to clean three hundred pounds of cotton in a single day-three hundred times more than could be cleaned by hand. 3 After the mechanization of wheat farming, the hours required to farm one acre dropped from sixty-one to three, and the per-acre cost of production fell from 3.65 to 0.66. 4 Machines entered every phase of agriculture-by 1890 some 900 companies were manufacturing such items as hay loaders, cord binders, seeders, rotary plows, mowers, and combines.

The following paragraph has a main idea that may appear at various places within the paragraph. Identify the topic sentence (main idea) of each paragraph by filling in the correct sentence number in the space provided.
1 Technology revolutionized agriculture as inventions dramatically increased productivity on the farms. 2 Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793 permitted an individual to clean three hundred pounds of cotton in a single day-three hundred times more than could be cleaned by hand. 3 After the mechanization of wheat farming, the hours required to farm one acre dropped from sixty-one to three, and the per-acre cost of production fell from 3.65 to 0.66. 4 Machines entered every phase of agriculture-by 1890 some 900 companies were manufacturing such items as hay loaders, cord binders, seeders, rotary plows, mowers, and combines.

Transcript text: The following paragraph has a main idea that may appear at various places within the paragraph. Identify the topic sentence (main idea) of each paragraph by filling in the correct sentence number in the space provided. $\qquad$ 1 Technology revolutionized agriculture as inventions dramatically increased productivity on the farms. 2Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793 permitted an individual to clean three hundred pounds of cotton in a single day-three hundred times more than could be cleaned by hand. 3 After the mechanization of wheat farming, the hours required to farm one acre dropped from sixty-one to three, and the per-acre cost of production fell from $\$ 3.65$ to $\$ 0.66$. 4 Machines entered every phase of agriculture-by 1890 some 900 companies were manufacturing such items as hay loaders, cord binders, seeders, rotary plows, mowers, and combines. $\square$

Solution

The topic sentence (main idea) of the paragraph is:

1 Technology revolutionized agriculture as inventions dramatically increased productivity on the farms.

Explanation

The first sentence introduces the main idea that technology has revolutionized agriculture by significantly increasing productivity. The subsequent sentences provide specific examples and details that support this main idea:

Sentence 2 discusses Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin and its impact on cotton cleaning productivity.
Sentence 3 describes the mechanization of wheat farming and its effects on labor and cost efficiency.
Sentence 4 mentions the widespread adoption of various agricultural machines by 1890, further illustrating the technological advancements in agriculture.

Thus, the first sentence effectively encapsulates the main idea of the paragraph.

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