Cause and Effect Background Although it is possible for one cause to lead to one effect, academic subjects are

rarely this simple. One cause can lead to more than one effect, for example heavy rain can cause landslides and flooding. Also, more than one cause can lead to one or more effects, for example, eating too much pizza and drinking too much coke for lunch can cause you to get fat and be late for class Vocabulary and Grammar Cause-effect ...because of... ... caused by ... cause of ... reason for ... attributed to ... on account of ... o!ing to Example Sentences "here !as flooding because of the heavy rain. "he flooding !as caused by the heavy rain. "he heavy rain !as the cause of the flooding. "he heavy rain !as the reason for the flooding. "he flooding !as attributed to the heavy rain. "here !as flooding on account of the heavy rain. O!ing to the heavy rain there !as flooding. #"hese cause$effect phrases are all follo!ed by noun phrases% i.e. &the heavy rain&.' "here !as flooding because heavy rain fell all night. #&(ecause& is follo!ed by a verb phrase, &heavy rain fell all night&.'

... because

Grammar Note: don&t use &(ecause& as the first !ord in a sentence) it&s bad style. "here are a number of alternatives. *ou can use) $ &+ue to...&% e.g. &+ue to the heavy rain there !as flooding.& $ &O!ing to ...&% e.g. &O!ing to the heavy rain there !as flooding.& $ &As...&% e.g. &As there !as heavy rain, there !as flooding.&

Verbs may could might can

Example Sentences "he heavy rain may have caused the flooding. "he heavy rain could have caused the flooding. "he heavy rain might have caused the flooding. ,looding can be caused by heavy rain. Example Sentences ,looding is caused by heavy rain. "he flooding is caused by the heavy rain. "he flooding may be caused by the heavy rain. "he flooding !as caused by the heavy rain. "he flooding may have been caused by the heavy rain. Example Sentences

Time Certainty Al!ays true -resent .ess certain present -ast .ess certain past

!d"erbs

possibly certainly perhaps definitely probably undoubtedly

"he rain may possibly cause flooding. "he rain !ill certainly cause flooding. -erhaps the rain !ill cause flooding. "he rain !ill definitely cause flooding. "he rain !ill probably cause flooding. "he rain !ill undoubtedly cause flooding.

Grammar Note: use &!ill& !ith adverbs that sho! a high probability, such as &undoubtedly&, &definitely& and &probably&. ,or other adverbs, !hich sho! a smaller possibility, use &may&, &could& or &might&% e.g. "he rain could, perhaps, cause flooding.& or &"he rain may possibly cause flooding&. Also, the position of the adverb is usually just in front of the verb for adverbs of possibility and probability. "his is because the adverb gives more information about the verb. "his is different from adverbs like &/nfortunately&, !hich give information about the !hole sentence% e.g. &/nfortunately, the heavy rain caused flooding.& #t$er Cause and Effect %$rases: Causes "here are several reasons for this. ,irstly, ... Other causes played a part. ,irstly, A key factor !as... #&key& means &important&' "his is due to ... "his is a reflection of... Effects As a result, ... "his meant that... One conse0uence of this is that ... Grammar Note: +on&t !rite &are lacking of ...& as a cause or effect. /se &there is a lack of ...& O1 &they are lacking in ...&

EA- 2upplementary 3aterials Cause and Effect 4 Ans!er 5ey Correct the grammatical mistakes and comment on the meaning mistakes in these sentences: 6. (ecause the server crashed the !eb site !as unavailable and the company lost a lot of money. The server crashed, so the web site was unavailable and the company lost a lot of money. #+on7t start a sentence !ith 8because7.' "he crash may had been caused by a denial$of$service attack by hackers. The crash may have been caused by a denial-of-service attack by hackers. #/se an infinitive verb after modal verbs such as 8may7.' "he attack !as attributed by an ex$employee !ho had been fired for using pirate soft!are. The attack was attributed to an ex-employee who had been fired for using pirate software. #/se the preposition 8to7 after 8attributed7, 8by7 for people.' O!ed to the financial losses and the reduced confidence in the company7s security, the stock price of the company !ent do!n. Owing to the financial losses and the reduced confidence in the company s security, the stock price of the company went down. #8O!ing to7 does not change to past tense.' "o prevent further losses, the company may implementing a distributed computing approach by using thousands of -Cs rather than a small number of servers. To prevent further losses, the company may implement a distributed computing approach by using thousands of !Cs rather than a small number of servers. #/se an infinitive verb after modals like 8may7.' -ossibly this !ill solve the problem. This may possibly solve the problem. #,or adverbs of degree, such as 8possibly7, it7s better to put the adverb just in front of the verb that it defines% i.e. 8possibly solve7. Only use 8!ill7 for very high probability adverbs such as 8!ill definitely7 and 8!ill undoubtedly7.' O!ing to a lack of evidence, the hacker may probably not be arrested. Owing to a lack of evidence, the hacker will probably not be arrested. #+on7t use 8may7 for situations !here the probability is high.' @ am a patriotic person, so Aong 5ong is the best place in the !orld to live. " am a patriotic person, so " believe that #ong $ong is the best place in the world to live. #+on7t confuse personal beliefs !ith facts.' Bguitly pleasures. bucket list

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EA- 2upplementary 3aterials Cause and Effect Correct the grammatical mistakes and comment on the meaning mistakes in these sentences: 6. (ecause the server crashed the !eb site !as unavailable and the company lost a lot of money.

9. "he crash may had been caused by a denial$of$service attack by hackers.

:. "he attack !as attributed by an ex$employee !ho had been fired for using pirate soft!are.

;. O!ed to the financial losses and the reduced confidence in the company7s security, the stock price of the company !ent do!n.

<. "o prevent further losses, the company may implementing a distributed computing approach by using thousands of -Cs rather than a small number of servers.

=. -ossibly this !ill solve the problem.

>. O!ing to a lack of evidence, the hacker may probably not be arrested.

?. @ am a patriotic person, so Aong 5ong is the best place in the !orld to live.