Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Instructions
Look at sentences 1-5 below. Complete each sentence with the correct items of
transition vocabulary (see box A below). Next, match each piece of transition
vocabulary to its correct usage (see box B below).
1. Global warming is a serious problem affecting many parts of the world today.
__________, many countries are trying to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels which
can lead to the production of greenhouse gases such as CO2.
Usage:
2. There are several stages in writing a good IELTS task 2 essay. __________, it’s
important that you understand exactly what the question is asking you to do. Next, you
need to identify key words in the question which will help you to plan your answer.
Usage:
3. It is important for the future of the UAE that it diversifies its economy. In other words, it
cannot just depend on the money from oil sales. It must look at other sources of
revenue; __________, the tourism, finance and alternative energy sectors.
Usage:
4. In the northern hemisphere (north of the equator), the cooler, winter months are usually
from November to March, __________ in the southern hemisphere these months are
normally the hottest part of the year.
Usage:
Usage:
Box B Usage
drawing conclusions expressing contrast listing points
Instructions
Look at the different items of transition vocabulary in the box below. Can you match
them with the correct usage? Some have been done for you as examples.
2 thirdly so
10
IELTS Prep Course: Cohesive Devices & Linking Vocabulary
Underline the cause & circle the effect in the sentences below.
How can you express the relationship if you put the cause first? Try to use some of
these expressions:
causes, leads to, gives rise to, results in, brings about,
How can you express the relationship if you mention the effect first? Try to use some of
these expressions:
is caused by, is due to, is the effect of, results from, is the result of,
When there are several possible causes or several possible effects you can modify by
using may / might or an adverb of frequency, e.g. often / sometimes.
Pollution is often caused by factory smoke. Smoking may cause heart disease.
Now decide which the cause is and which the effect is from the pairs below and write
some appropriate sentences.
A B
malaria pollution
overcrowding eating too much fast food
motor vehicles mosquito bites
an unhealthy, high in sugar diet crime
obesity loud noise
deafness diabetes
1. ___________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________________________
IELTS Prep Course: Cohesive Devices & Linking Vocabulary
6. ___________________________________________________________________
Read the sentences below and then answer the questions which follow.
1. Even though / Although / Though it was cold and raining, I went swimming at the beach.
2. I went swimming at the beach even though / although / though it was cold and raining.
4. It was cold and raining. However, / Nevertheless, / Nonetheless, I went swimming at the
beach.
5. I went swimming at the beach despite the fact that / in spite of the fact that it was cold and
raining.
6. Despite the fact that / In spite of the fact that it was cold and raining, I went swimming at
the beach.
B Which part of the sentence describes the situation and which part describes the result?
C Was the result of the situation normal / usual / expected, or was it surprising / unusual /
unexpected?
E Which of the words / expressions in bold must be used before the ‘situation’ clause?
F Which of the words / expressions must be used before the ‘result’ clause?
G Using the sentences above as an example, can you work out a rule for when we need to use
a comma?
IELTS Prep Course: Cohesive Devices & Linking Vocabulary
10. Despite the hard work of the teacher, the students ________________________________.
Note: If we use a verb after ‘despite’ / ‘in spite of’ what form must the verb take?
3. Mr. Jones did not panic although his car had broken down in the desert.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4. Even though Henry J Bean is an honest politician, I would not vote for him because of his
views on foreign policy.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
5. My trip to New York was very enjoyable though it was very expensive.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
IELTS Prep Course: Cohesive Devices & Linking Vocabulary
You may need to add a verb in the ‘-ing’ form to the original sentence.
1. Even though his grades were low, he was admitted to the university.
In spite of the fact that his grades were low, he was admitted to the university._____________
He was admitted to the university despite the fact that his grades were low._______________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4. Although it is very hot, many people work in the construction industry in the UAE.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
5. He enjoyed living in Hong Kong even though the language was difficult to understand.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
IELTS Prep Course: Cohesive Devices & Linking Vocabulary
Read the sentences below and then answer the questions which follow them.
B Are we using these structures to show how the two items we are comparing (Mr. Smith &
Mr. Jones) are similar or different?
D Can you write 4 sentences about the contrasts between the UAE & the UK? Think about
climate, food, size, population, geography, history, culture, education, sports & hobbies etc.
1. __________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________
IELTS Prep Course: Cohesive Devices & Linking Vocabulary
Additional Practice:
(i) Link 1 below provides an exercise which asks you to identify synonyms of many transitional
phrases (not just contrast expressions). Try the exercise and make a note of any new
vocabulary items which appear.
(ii) Link 2 below takes you to the excellent Dominic Cole Blog. Here you can see examples of
transitional vocabulary and then move on to some quiz exercises (some of which are quite
challenging).
(iii) The Links in 3 take you to Hong Kong Polytechnic’s Grammar site. There are examples
given here and some quite challenging multiple-choice gap fill exercises.
(iv) Short BBC quizzes on common linking vocabulary for both cohesion & contrast.
No Link
1 http://www.academicenglishcafe.com/writing-quiz-1.html
http://www.academicenglishcafe.com/writing-quiz-2.html
2 http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-listening/connecting-language-contrasts/
http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/eap/contrastclauses.htm
3
http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/eap/2004/u3/contrastclauses.htm
4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/worldservice/quiznet/quizengine?ContentType=text/html;quiz=1213_cohesion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/worldservice/quiznet/quizengine?ContentType=text/html;quiz=136_contrast
IELTS Prep Course: Cohesive Devices & Linking Vocabulary
http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/worldservice/quiznet/quizengine?ContentType=text/html;quiz=1618_cause_effect
We can combine these sentences by using ‘because’, ‘because of’ or ‘due to’.
We use ‘because’, because of’, ‘due to’ before the ___________ clause.
Use ‘because’, ‘because of’, ‘due to’ to complete the sentences below. Decide which
part of the sentence is the reason & which is the result. Be careful with word order and
punctuation.
Now we will listen to a student, Taka from Japan, try to understand the
difference between ‘because’ and ‘because of’. Read the basic explanation
which demonstrates when these terms are used and then try the practice quizzes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/165_gramchallenge10/
00.25 – 05.06
1. Taka listens to a girl called Hina who talks about her weekend. She is asked a question
and gives 2 answers. Listen to the questions and explanation and complete the gaps
below:
‘Because of’ can also be followed by a ___________, which is a verb ending in ______
3. Complete the correct sentences Taka says which practice the use of ‘because’ /
‘because of’.
(a) Monday was John’s birthday. (b) We decided to throw a surprise party for him.
We can combine these sentences using the linking words ‘as’ or ‘since’.
As/Since Monday was John’s birthday, we decided to throw a surprise party for him.
We decided to throw a surprise party for John as/since Monday was his birthday.
Use ‘as’ or ‘since’ to combine the pairs of sentences below. Decide which sentence is
the reason & which is the result. Be careful with word order and punctuation.
_________________________________________________________________________
2. The people John lives with don’t speak any Arabic. He has to speak English with them.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
4. Many young people move to the cities in search of employment. There are few jobs
available in rural areas.
_________________________________________________________________________
IELTS Prep Course: Cohesive Devices & Linking Vocabulary
We can combine these sentences using the linking words ‘therefore’, ‘consequently’, ‘as a
result’ or ‘so’.
.
Use ‘therefore’, ‘consequently’, ‘as a result’ or ‘so’ to combine the pairs of sentences
below. Decide which sentence is the reason & which is the result. Be careful with word
order and punctuation.
1. Fewer people are unemployed. The economy has been strong for the last few years.
_________________________________________________________________________
2. The teacher postponed the examination. There were many students stuck in a traffic
jam.
________________________________________________________________________
3. Last night’s storm damaged the overhead electricity power lines. The town was without
electricity for several hours.
_________________________________________________________________________
4. Tariq always makes numerous spelling mistakes in his essay writing. Tariq does not use
a dictionary.
_________________________________________________________________________