A method for generating a nucleic acid template comprising a specific nucleotide sequence, comprising: (a) obtaining a population of nucleic acid molecules in which each molecule comprises a first sequence of contiguous nucleotides at the 5' end of the molecule, a second sequence of contiguous nucleotides at the 3' end of the molecule and a third nucleotide sequence positioned between the first and second nucleotide sequences, wherein the first nucleotide sequence and second nucleotide sequence are different from each other, and wherein the first nucleotide sequences of the nucleic acid molecules are substantially identical and the second nucleotide sequences of the nucleic acid molecules are substantially identical among the population; (b) subjecting the population of nucleic acid molecules to a cycle of nucleic acid amplification in the presence of a forward primer and a reverse primer, wherein the forward primer comprises an oligonucleotide sequence substantially identical to the first nucleotide sequence and the reverse primer comprises an oligonucleotide sequence complementary to a subsequence of the 5' end of the second nucleotide sequence that is linked at the 3'end of the subsequence to a fourth nucleotide sequence that is not complementary to the second nucleotide sequence; and (c) subjecting the products of the cycle of amplification of (b) to a cycle of amplification in the presence of the forward and reverse primers to generate multiple different nucleic acid products; wherein: the reverse primer includes a nucleotide sequence complementary to the 5' end of the second nucleotide sequence but does not contain a nucleotide sequence complementary to the 3' end of the second nucleotide sequence, and only one of the products comprises a sequence of nucleotides complementary to the fourth nucleotide sequence. (a) obtaining a population of nucleic acid molecules in which each molecule comprises a first sequence of contiguous nucleotides at the 5' end of the molecule, a second sequence of contiguous nucleotides at the 3' end of the molecule and a third nucleotide sequence positioned between the first and second nucleotide sequences, wherein the first nucleotide sequence and second nucleotide sequence are different from each other, and wherein the first nucleotide sequences of the nucleic acid molecules are substantially identical and the second nucleotide sequences of the nucleic acid molecules are substantially identical among the population; (b) subjecting the population of nucleic acid molecules to a cycle of nucleic acid amplification in the presence of a forward primer and a reverse primer, wherein the forward primer comprises an oligonucleotide sequence substantially identical to the first nucleotide sequence and the reverse primer comprises an oligonucleotide sequence complementary to a subsequence of the 5' end of the second nucleotide sequence that is linked at the 3'end of the subsequence to a fourth nucleotide sequence that is not complementary to the second nucleotide sequence; and (c) subjecting the products of the cycle of amplification of (b) to a cycle of amplification in the presence of the forward and reverse primers to generate multiple different nucleic acid products; the reverse primer includes a nucleotide sequence complementary to the 5' end of the second nucleotide sequence but does not contain a nucleotide sequence complementary to the 3' end of the second nucleotide sequence, and only one of the products comprises a sequence of nucleotides complementary to the fourth nucleotide sequence.