For more examples of cause and effect language, view our Cause and Effect Reading Lesson.
Exercise 1
Overfishing has led to a huge drop in the number of fish in the world’s oceans.
Here ‘led to’ is the phrase that links the cause and effect parts of the sentence.
2. The numerous horror films depicting sharks as dangerous killers contributes to this common misconception amongst the general public.
3. The use of explosives in fishing has caused many coral reefs in south east Asian countries such as Thailand and Indonesia to be completely destroyed.
4. Frequent contact with humans is modifying the behavior of some species of sea animals.
5. Heavily taxing sea food would alter people’s eating habits and reduce the demand for fish.
6. The creation of large synthetic nets and long distance fishing boats facilitated a much more productive fishing industry but also facilitated the drastic reduction in fish stocks worldwide.
7. Rising sea levels will severely affect coastal cities in a number of ways.
8. The increasing number of whales seen today owes much to international laws prohibiting whale hunting.
9. Improvements in fish farming were triggered by the rising price of ‘free range’ fish and strongly enforced fishing laws.
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Language Analysis
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Cause… Effect
affect alter cause contribute to facilitate transform modify lead to trigger
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Effect… Cause
be affected by be altered by be caused by be facilitated by be transformed by be modified by be triggered by
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The rising temperature of the sea is contributing to the destruction of coral reefs.
The destruction of coral reefs is facilitated by the rising temperature of the sea.
Exercise 2 | Identify the Cause
Language Analysis
result of
consequence of
effect of
An impact of the rising temperature of the sea is the destruction of coral reefs.
reason for
source of
A cause of the destruction of coral reefs is the rising temperature of the sea.
Exercise 3
| 1. | Tsunamis often other disasters. (verb: trigger) |
| 2. | Many medical problems pollution. (verb: cause) |
| 3. | The earthquake the destruction of the city around 2000BC. (verb: lead to) |
| 4. | Recent advances in astronomy have the work done by the Hubble space telescope. (verb: owe much to) |
| 5. | Advances in science have improving the quality of life in developed societies over the last 100 years. (verb: contribute to) |
| 6. | Many people believe better exam results is easier tests for school children these days. (noun: reason) |
| 7. | Higher levels of hygiene have removed infection. (noun: source of) |
| 8. | her repeated success was that she worked very hard. (noun: reason) |
For more practice, try our Cause and Effect Prepositions Quiz.
We also have a Cause and Effect in Academic Texts lesson for you.
For more free essay writing lessons, visit our IELTS Task 2 Essay Writing page.
