Ⅰ. Reading St ra tegy: Sequ en ce of Dates an d Even tsIn telling a story or recounting an event，the easiest and clearest way is todescribe things in order of time: earlier things are mentioned before later things，thefirst thing first and the last thing last. This method is also called chronologicalsequencing.
Thomas Jefferson graduated from William and Mary College in 1762and was admitted to the bar in 1767. He became a member of the SecondContinental Congress in 1775 and was chairman of the committee that wrotethe Declaration of Independence. From 1785 to 1789，he was the UnitedStates minister to France，and from 1790 to 1793，he served as the UnitedStates secretary of state. Jefferson served as vice president from 1797 to1801; and on March 4，1801，he was inaugurated as the third president ofthe United States.
This paragraph consists of a list of events，and the events are given in the order inwhich they happened. This is what we mean when we talk of paragraphs that outline ortrace a sequence of dates and events.
Notice that each event mentioned in the paragraph marks another step inJefferson??s professional and political career. Therefore，we can call “ Jefferson??scareer”the topic of the paragraph. The paragraph does not contain a main idea;instead，it simply outlines some major events in Jefferson??s career.
Now that we know the topic of the paragraph and are sure that we are dealingwith a paragraph that outlines a sequence of dates and events，we have everything weneed to take notes.
Topic: Jefferson??s career
Support: 1. 1762: graduated from William and Mary College
2. 1767: admitted to the bar
3. 1775: member of the Second Continental Congress，chairman ofcommittee that wrote the Declaration of Independence
4. 1785-1789: U. S. minister to France
5. 1790-1793: U. S. secretary of state
6. 1797-1801: vice president
7. 1801: inaugurated as president
As this sample illustrates，notes on a paragraph describing a sequence of datesand events should contain all the events and dates in the order in which they occurred.The following paragraph also presents a sequence of dates and events. But thisone contains a topic sentence as well:
The years between 1918 and 1945 brought violence and upheaval to thenewly formed Polish nation. In 1918，Poland was declared independent，andarmy officer Jozef Pilsudski took control of the government. After 1926 ，thegovernment became a dictatorship，first under Pilsudski and later，after hisdeath in 1935，under officers loyal to him. The officers，however，did notrule for long. In 1938，Germany and Russia invaded Poland，and bothpowers divided up the country. During the war years that followed，theGermans murdered anywhere from three to five and a half million PolishJews; they killed more than half of the population of Warsaw. Once one ofthe most beautiful capitals in Europe was reduced to rubble.
The topic of the above paragraph is“ political events in Poland between the years1918 and 1945”. The main idea is contained in the first sentence: Poland underwentviolence and upheaval during the years between 1918 and 1945. All the othersentences，with the exception of the fourth and last sentences，use specific dates andevents to support the main idea. The fourth sentence is atransitional sentence thathelps us move from the idea contained in sentence 3 to the idea contained in sentence
5. The last sentence is an emphatic sentence. It tells us again that Warsaw wasdestroyed during the war.
The paragraph consists of seven sentences，but only five are important to ournotes.
Main idea: Poland experienced violence and upheaval between the years 1918 and1945.
Support: 1. 1918: Poland declared independent; Pilsudski took control.
2. 1926: government became dictatorship.
3. 1935: Pilsudski died; loyal officers maintained dictatorship.
4. 1939: Germany and Russia invaded Poland and divided up the country.
5. 1939-1945: Germans murdered 3 to 5. 5 million Polish Jews.
6. Warsaw destroyed.
If you look at the sample notes above，you??ll see one date that does not appear inthe paragraph: this is the date for the end of World War Ⅱ. It does not appearbecause the author assumes you know the dates of World War Ⅱ. If you are readingand it is clear that the author expects you to know certain dates，make sure to lookthem up and add them to your notes.
Sometimes an author will not give the exact date of an event but will instead giveenough information so that you can figure out when the event occurred. If you runacross a paragraph in which the author uses this method to introduce dates and events,be sure to use the information provided and figure out the correct dates.For example，had our sample paragraph contained the concluding sentence“Twoyears after the war ended and the Nazis had been driven out，the Russians took controlof Poland”，we would have added the date 1947 to our notes.
In the following exercise，you are to take notes on several paragraphs thatdescribe a sequence of dates and events. Your notes should include all the dates andevents mentioned in the paragraph.
Ⅱ. Applying the Read ing Str ategy
Directions:
Read and take notes on each of the following paragraphs. You need tofill in the topic only when the paragraph does not state or suggest amain idea，as is the case in our example.
Example: The son of a Spanish immigrant，Fidel Castro was educated at a RomanCatholic school in Santiago，and from 1945 to 1950 ，he attended theUniversity of Havana. In 1947 ，he participated in an unofficial raid onthe Dominican Republic; and in July 1953，he organized an attack onthe army barracks in Santiago. The attack was not successful，andCastro was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. In 1955，Castro wasreleased from prison; the following year ，he went to Mexico to build aCuban revolutionary movement. In December 1959 ，he returned toCuba; and in January 1960，he led a successful attempt to overthrowdictator Fulgencio Batista.
Topic: Fiedel Castro??s career
Main idea:
Support: 1 . 1945-1950: attended University of Havana
2 . 1947: took part in unofficial raid on Dominican Republic
3 . July 1953: organized attack in army barracks in Santiago
4 . 1955: released from prison