Which one of the following sentences would be a good topic sentence (first sentence) for the paragraph below? Miss Vera Hedges Butler was the first British woman to pass her driving test. This was in 1900! Unfortunately, she had to take her test in France because driving tests didn't exist in England: they weren't introduced until 1940. On the other hand, the publication of the first edition of The Highway Code came out in 1931. Ah, well! Better late than never.

Each paragraph is a self contained unit: the first sentence is the 'topic sentence'; the last sentence is the 'link sentence' and the remaining sentences develop the subject within each paragraph.

The 'topic sentence' introduces us to the subject of the paragraph and the 'link sentence' is a sentence that introduces the next paragraph: this ensures a smooth continuity in the text.