Cause and Effect Paragraphs Cause and Effect Paragraphs

WHAT IS A CAUSE? WHAT IS AN EFFECT?

Cause and effect depend on each other. You can’t have one without the other. A plane crashed. That is the effect. What are the possible causes? Was it a mechanical or human error? Was it due to the weather? Obviously there are many possible causes. Cause and Effect writing analyzes why something

happens. Some effects are caused by multiple causes. Some causes, in turn, can result in multiple effects.

Writers use Cause/Effect writing to explain why something happens and/or the results of an event.

Cause and Effect writing typically uses the following questions:

"What are the causes of X?" "What led to X?" "Why did X happen?" "Why does X happen?" "What would be the effects of X?"

Activity 1: Identify the causes or effects in each of the following sentences:

1. A very cold weather will make people stay in-doors.

2. As a result of his injury, he could no longer play tennis.

3. Economic growth creates many jobs which in turn make many families live in better conditions.

4. According to experts, new agricultural methods will help solve many problems.

5. Necessity is the mother of invention.

6. I had a cold, so I did not go to class.

7. I did not go to class because I had a cold.

8. The government spends a lot of money to provide food for the needy.

9. Higher prices are often the result of an increase in consumption.

10. Bad roads conditions caused the car accident.

Activity 1: Identify the causes or effects in each of the following sentences:

Transition Words and Phrases

Cause and Effect Degrees of Certainty Levels of Importance

As a result Certainly Above all,

Because May Equally important,

Consequently Necessarily Most importantly,

Due to Perhaps First,

If … then Possibly Initially,

Leads to Probably Last,

Therefore Undoubtedly Primarily,

Thus Unquestionably Second,

As a consequence Undeniably Finally,

1. The weather was cold; therefore, Sally closed the window. 2. Sally put on her coat because the weather was cold. 3. The weather was cold; consequently, Sally put on her scarf. 4. A storm hit the town. As a result, the schools were closed.5. The schools were closed because the storm hit the Do these two:

1.He saw starving children ____________he helped.2.He helped ____________ he saw starving children.

Examples

1. Janet got home late.______________   She missed her evening TV program.

A. thereforeB. since    C. because of    D. due to

2. Ali missed the bus ________ he woke up late.

A. thereforeB. since    C. because of    D. due to

3. Since tomorrow is a holiday, ______ have to go to work.

A. so we do not

B. we do not

C. as a result, we do not

D. thus, we do not

4. Yousef went back to Saudi Arabia _______ to take care of some business in his company.

A. and he needed

B. because he needed

C. which he needed

D. because he need

5. __________ any fish yet, he is going to change the bait he is using.

A. Because Ali has not catched

B. Ali has not caught

C. Because Ali has not caught

D. Because Ali had not caught

6.________, the temperature should begin going up.A.Now that the sun has started to rise

B.Now that the sun start rise

C.Now the sun rising

D.Now that the sun starting to rise

1. We turned on the heat ________________________.

2. _______________________ when I fell off my bike.

3. Because I helped my mother, __________________.

4. ________________it was a very cold day yesterday.

5. Huda spilled some milk on the floor ____________.

6. She was very tired last night ___________________.

7. Adam forgot to come to class early today _______.

8. Our teacher was surprised ____________________.

9. ___________________, the football team was angry.

10. When the cat is away, _______________________.

Activity 2: Complete following sent. Make sure you include a transition signal:

There are several possible reasons why my father is in excellent health even though he is over seventy years of age. First, he is in excellent condition because he has stopped smoking cigarettes. He quit smoking cigarettes since whenever he climbed stairs, he would quickly stop several times and cough loudly. He also has good health as a result of stopping eating the wrong kinds of foods. For example, whereas before he would eat fatty red meat and deep-fried dishes several times a week, nowadays he seldom does so. He is also in good physical shape, for he exercises a lot. He swims three times a week at the local gym, and on sunny days he prefers to walk home rather than take the bus. In conclusion, my father is in better shape than some of his children are!

Using As a result, Consequently and Therefore

As a result:1. I finally decided to tell my parents. As a result, they made sure she ate

all her meals.

2. I finally decided to tell her parents, and as a result they made sure she ate all her meals.

Consequently:

1. My friend thought she was fat. Consequently, she wouldn’t eat any food.

2. My friend thought she was fat, and consequently she wouldn’t eat any food.

Therefore:

1. My friend thought she was fat. Therefore, she wouldn’t eat any food.

2. My friend thought she was fat, and therefore she wouldn’t eat any food.

1. My parents needed help in their restaurant. I moved back home and worked for them.

2. Cars are very convenient. People use them more than they should.

3. I told Huda I couldn’t meet her. My parents wanted me to help my sister with the homework.

4. I didn’t go to college right away. I wanted to travel for a year after high school.

5. Our school didn’t have a lot of money. The administration decided to cancel some after-school activities.

6. My friends complained that it was difficult to communicate with me. I bought a cell phone.

Activity 5: Join the following sentences using as a result, consequently or therefore.

Many situations can cause a friendship to end. One of those situations happens when a friend moves away and makes new friends; as a result, his or her old friends are often forgotten. Furthermore, busy schedules can cause friendships to end. It is hard to spend time with a friend if one is busy with university, work, and other responsibilities.____________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In those situations, the friends drift apart. Friends may come and go in everyone’s lives, but no matter how long they are in them, friends leave a lasting impression.

Many situations can cause a friendship to end. One of those situations happens when a friend moves away and makes new friends; as a result, his or her old friends are often forgotten. Furthermore, busy schedules can cause friendships to end. It is hard to spend time with a friend if one is busy with university, work, and other responsibilities. Another reason is the two friends no longer have anything in common or do not like the choices one of them has made. Perhaps one friend is interested in sports or movies or is spending too much time on social media and does not give time to be his or her friends. In addition, sometimes friendships end because of lack of communication. If one friend never calls or e-mails, the friendship ultimately fades and dies. Perhaps the main cause is a fight. If two friends fight and do not make up or cannot forgive each other, there is no reason to be friends anymore. In those situations, the friends drift apart. Friends may come and go in everyone’s lives, but no matter how long they are in them, friends leave a lasting impression.

The negative effects of unemployment on society.

Steps in Writing a Cause/Effect Paragraph?Steps in Writing a Cause/Effect Paragraph?STEP 1 Decide whether you want to examine the cause or effect.

STEP 2 Examine each cause and effect thoroughly, using sufficient

evidence to prove your points.

You should support all causes or effects with:

Good examples Definition Description Narration, and/or Comparison

Causal Patterns

Effect Cause

Cause Effect

Chain reasoning (Cause Effect Effect)

Effect Cause

Car accidents Bad road infrastructure Careless driving Lack of law enforcement

Cause Effect

Greenhouse Emissions

Climatic changes

Danger to coastal regions

Change in weather patterns

Chain reasoning Greenhouse emissions Global warming

Negative effects on natural resources

Changes to agriculture

Endangering wildlife animals

Nowadays smoking has increased in many different ways because of several causes.

* A lot of free time* Surrounded by smokers

* Big Advertisements

In Conclusion, smoking is a very bad phenomenon and the government must enforce laws that eliminate it.

Supporting Points(Causes)

Concluding Sentence

Multiple causes effect

Topic Sentence:

Watching too much TV has many effects on the physiology and psychology of people.

I. Eating disordersA. TV meals

B. obesity

II. Communication problemsA. more violence

B. No social interaction

Multiple causes effect

There are various reasons why more people are suffering from stress today. One reason is that the fast pace of life nowadays means that we do not always find time to relax. Likewise, it is difficult to find a good work-life balance due to the pressure to produce results at work. Another related cause of stress is the need to earn money to survive in our commercial world. Indeed, life today is very stressful and complex.

means – Similarly – cause – due to – one reason - reasons

There are a number of different _________ why young people from developing countries choose to emigrate. ____________ is that the poor economic situation where they live _________ that they do not have many job opportunities. ___________, it is difficult to earn enough to survive __________ the low level of salaries compared to wealthier countries. Another ________ of emigration is that they are tempted by people’s lifestyles in countries such as the United States and the U.K.

means – Likewise- cause - because of - one reason- reasons

There are a number of _________ why children are more obese nowadays. ___________ is that they eat too much fast food. This unhealthy diet ______ that they put on weight unnecessarily.________, their parents do not supervise what they are eating. Their parents are too busy to supervise their eating habits________ their own busy life-styles. Another ________ of childhood obesity is lack of exercise.

to – of – in – of – of – by - for

It is now almost certain that global warming has been directly caused _____ man's use of fossil fuels. This has led ____ a big debate about what we should do to reduce the negative effects ____ our actions and how we can make the planet safe for our children's children to live in. One result____ this debate has been to improve the level of "green" education in schools which should result____ greater awareness of this difficult issue. However, in the short term there still remains much to be done. The reason____ this is that we need to address the causes ____ the immediate problem.

___________ because (complete sentence)__

_________. As a result, (complete sentence)

____. As a consequence, (complete sentence)

Crime rates are increasing because there is much violence on television. The government is building more roads. As a result, the traffic congestion problem has decreased. The economy is improving. As a consequence, the unemployment rates have gone down.

___________ because of (Noun)________

___________due to (Noun)________

___________ thanks to (Noun)________

Crime rates are increasing because of violence on television. The government is building more roads due to the problem of traffic congestion. The economy is improving thanks to an increase in investment projects.

1. ____ I was late to work because the heavy traffic.

2. The global population has increased because of much better levels of nutrition.

3. ____ It is raining today. As a result, we are not going to the beach.

4. ____ It is not easy to generalize because of there are many causes of pollution.

5. ____ Because the rise in temperature, the climate in many countries is changing.

Check which of the following sentences contains a mistake:

____ The increase in crime is due to rising poverty levels.

7. ____ We succeeded in getting good grades thanks to your hard work.

8. ____ It was raining heavily. As a consequence, we had to stay home.

9. ____ We had to cancel the match because the bad weather

10. ____ Lizzy spilled milk all over the floor due to she was not careful.

The rise of the internet has had profound effects on our lives. First, email is now very familiar to us. For instance, many of us can communicate with their friends, relatives and colleagues using emails. Moreover, many of us now turn to websites rather than to newspapers or TV for the latest news, sports scores or stock quotes. Second, _________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. In conclusion, it is great to live in the age of the internet because of the great benefits it has had on our lives.

Activity 4: Complete the following paragraph providing reasons and examples:

Some students fail in their study

1. ______________________________________________

1.1 _________________________________________

1.2 _________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________

2.1 _________________________________________

2.2 _________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________

3.1 _________________________________________

3.2 _________________________________________

1. all over the country people sell products over the internet, these people are making impressive profits.

 2. finally face book help you to find people who loss communicate with them. 3. My friend Larry has a bad habit. He never on time to anything. Arrives ten minutes late everywhere.

4. gaza streets have a big traffic problems , that make the street more dangerous.

5. In concluding The government must work hard to solve this problems

Correct the problems in the following sentences:

6. There some negative effects of unemployment on society first of all, Unemployment cause destroying country economic.

7. Visitors can see many interesting places in Egypt. For example, the pyramids.

8. Second, the negative effects of the pollution on the environment.

9. university is more difficult than high school it depends on students to study hard to get marks.

Correct the problems in the following sentences:

Reading a book is always much better than watching a movie based on a book. ______ the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words,” a book is able to give much more information than a movie can give. The author can ______ give the thoughts of characters; _______, a movie usually conveys only the actions and words of the characters. A book can follow characters and plot lines, ______ a movie usually has less than two hours to tell the story and must follow one plot line. The final______is one of imagination. Each book’s reader can create a ______ mental picture of the characters. A movie, ______, can offer only the vision of the director and actors.

difference despite however different in contrast whereas also because

Distance education is a kind of learning that takes place when the student is in a location away from the classroom, building, or site; ___________, online courses are distance learning courses.

A- for instance

B- just as

C. similarly to

D. like

Circle the correct answer in each of the following

1. My favorite teacher, who just happens to be my uncle, retired from the university last summer.

2. My favorite teacher who just happens to be my uncle, retired from the university last summer.

3. My favorite teacher, who just happens to be my uncle retired from the university last summer.

4. My favorite teacher who just happens to be, my uncle retired from the university last summer.

Select the one that is NOT a sentence fragment

1.While waiting for her neighbor to move the car that blocked the driveway.

2.To avoid hitting the other car, Michael had to back across the corner of the lawn.

3.By making sure that no one will park across the driveway again.

4.Driving in the city during the evening rush hour.

1. karen's three favorite foods are pasta pizza and ice cream but her french friend loves only pasta and chocolate cake.  

2. the national shakespeare company will perform the following plays athelia macbeth hamlet

3. While working out she discovered an amazing fact she was now able to bench-press ten pounds more than the week before.

Punctuate the following sentences:

Wearing uniforms to school is a necessary part of a good school environment. First, the uniform helps build a sense of community and school spirit among students. In fact, it allows students to experience suitable dress in a professional environment. Second, ________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________. To conclude, school uniforms are very beneficial for students and create a healthy learning environment.

Complete the following paragraph providing reasons and examples: