محمد شاهر
مشرف ومراسل السنة الأولى
عدد الرسائل : 1981
الدولة : Syria
الكلية : Faculty of Arts
السـنة الدراسية : second
النشاط : 2739
تاريخ التسجيل : 10/02/2011
 |  موضوع: تعبير و استيعاب part5  2011-05-24, 02:39 | |
| Cause and Effect Paragraphs
Sometimes, assigned topics on the
written portion of the TOEFL ask you to explain the reasons or causes of something. Other topics will ask you to discuss the
results or effects of some cause. Here is an example of a
writing topic asking for causes of a particular phenomenon (Note:
this is not an actual TOEFL topic, but it is similar to one that may
appear on a specific adminstration of the TOEFL):
In recent decades, cities have grown
so large that now about 50% of the Earth's population lives in urban areas.
Explain the causes of this phenomenon.
Be sure to give specific details and
reasons in your explanation.
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Cause/effect paragraphs generally follow basic paragraph format. That is,
they begin with a topic sentence and this sentence is followed by specific
supporting details. (Click here if you wish to review Lesson 1,
"Basic Paragraph Structure.") For example, if the topic
sentence introduces an effect, the supporting sentences all describe
causes. Here is an example:
In
recent decades, cities have grown so large that now about 50% of the
Earth's population lives in urban areas. There are several reasons for this
occurrence. First, the increasing industrialization of the nineteenth
century resulted in the creation of many factory jobs, which tended to be
located in cities. These jobs, with their promise of a better material
life, attracted many people from rural areas. Second, there were many
schools established to educate the children of the new factory laborers.
The promise of a better education persuaded many families to leave farming
communities and move to the cities. Finally, as the cities grew, people
established places of leisure, entertainment, and culture, such as sports
stadiums, theaters, and museums. For many people, these facilities made
city life appear more interesting than life on the farm, and therefore drew
them away from rural communities.
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Notice how each supporting sentence is a cause that explains the effect
mentioned in the topic sentence. In the chart below are the main ideas of the
above paragraph, to help you understand the relationships better:
EFFECT
(Topic Sentence)
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CAUSES
(Supporting Sentences)
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Cities
have grown very large.
[There are several reasons for this.]
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Factory jobs attracted
people.
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(Cities have
grown very large.)
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Better schools attracted
families to move
to the city.
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(Cities have
grown very large.)
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Places of leisure,
entertainment, and culture
made city life appear more interesting.
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Notice also how the topic sentence is followed by the "focusing" or
"prediction" sentence, There are several reasons for this.
Such sentences help the reader anticipate the organization of the paragraph
or essay.
Cause and Effect Conjunctions
Here are some common
conjunctions that can be used to express cause and effect:
since
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as
a result
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because
of + noun phrase
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because
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therefore
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due
to + noun phrase
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consequently
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for
this reason
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so
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There are two things
you must be careful of when using these conjunctions. First, you must order
the cause and the effect corerctly. For example, in the sentence
Sally closed the window because the
weather outside was cold.
the CAUSE is the fact that the room was cold, and the EFFECT is Sally's
closing the window. The conjunction because is placed in the correct
position here, which is right before the cause. Similarly, in the sentence
Because the weather outside was cold,
Sally closed the window.
the conjunction because is correctly placed before the part of the
sentence that expresses the cause, even though the subordinate clause because
the room was cold is now at the beginning of the sentence. (Note that the
first letter of the conjunction is now capitalized.) However, in this
sentence:
??The weather outside was cold because
Sally closed the window.
even though it is grammatical, it does not make sense because a person's opening
or closing a window does not influence the weather.
Second, you should be careful when using commas. Conjunctions such as therefore,
consequently, as a result, and for this reason are usually
followed by a comma, as in these examples:
The
weather was cold; therefore, Sally closed the window.
The
weather was cold. Therefore, Sally put on her coat.
The
weather was cold. Consequently, Sally put on her scarf.
A
blizzard hit the town. As a result, the schools were closed.
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The adverbial clause conjunctions since and because are
exceptions. These are attached directly at the beginning of CAUSE-sentence
without a comma, as in the example above, Because the weather outside was
cold, Sally closed the window. The comma here is placed at the end of the
subordinate clause.
The coordinating
conjunction so is also different from the ones above. This conjunction
has a comma before it, as in this sentence:
The weather was warm, so Jim turned on
the air conditioner.
However, in formal academic writing, so may not be used at the
beginning of a sentence (although you will often see it in informal writing):
The weather was warm. So Jim
turned on the air conditioner.
(too informal -- avoid this usage)
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