Read the following paragraph and underline the topic sentence.

The central role of women in horticultural (农耕) societies tends to have political and sociological consequences. It is the women who own and manage their garden plots and pass them on to the next generation. It is the women who decide when their soil is depleted and where the village should move to clear more fertile ground. One of the more interesting aspects of horticultural societies is that it is often women who exercise political power and authority in their society. Anthropologists (人类学家) and travellers alike call attention to the special standing and respect that women enjoy in Austronesian cultures generally and the Philippines in particular. The honored position of women in Austronesian and Philippine society, more than likely, remains a legacy (遗产) from their, not so distant, horticultural prehistory.