英语高级写作 cause+and+effect英语高级写作 cause+and+effect.ppt

Cause and Effect pengyu@gucas.ac.cn Another common pattern of essay organization is called cause and effect. In a cause/ effect essay, you discuss the causes (reasons) for something, the effects (results), or both causes and effects. You might use cause/effect organization to answer typical test questions such as these: Explain the decline in reading ability among schoolchildren. Discuss the effects of global warming on the environment. Discuss house price and its effects on the Chinese economy. Explain the causes and effects of the Stockholm syndrome. You can organize a cause/effect essay in two main ways: block organization chain organization. block organization In block organization, you first discuss all the causes as a block (in one, two, three, or more paragraphs, depending on the number of causes). Then you discuss all the effects together as a block. You can discuss either causes or effects first. Of course, you can also discuss only causes or only effects. Block Organization Block Organization Task 1 Work out the outline of the essay with your teammates. Chain Organization In this pattern, causes and effects are linked to each other in a chain. One event causes a second event, which in turn causes a third event, which in turn causes a fourth event, and so on. Each new cause and its effect are links in a chain. Depending on the complexity of the ideas in each link, you can devote an entire paragraph to one link, or you may include several links in one paragraph, or you may describe the entire chain in one paragraph. Chain organization usually works better than block organization when the causes and effects are too closely linked to be separated. Notice the chain pattern in the following diagram. Chain Organization: How Fertile Land Becomes Desert People move to new areas and clear land for agriculture by cutting down trees. The tree roots no longer hold the soil in place. The tree roots do not hold the soil in place. The topsoil washes away during heavy r