toefl---signal-words

2013-03-21signalwords1RECOGNIZINGTRANSITIONSORSIGNALWORDS•Transitionsorsignalwordshelpyou,thereader,followthedirectionofawriter’sthought.Theyarelikesignpostsontheroadthatguidethetraveler.•Lookatthefollowingsentences:Ilovedrinkingcoffee.Itkeepsmeawakeatnight.Ilovedrinkingcoffeeeventhoughitkeepsmeawakeatnight.2013-03-21signalwords2•emphasiswords•additionwords•comparisonorcontrastwords•illustrationwords•cause-and-effectwordsactivity1understandingthebasicpatternsfororganizinginformation•space•classification•sequenceortimeorder•definition•endoftheroadsignals–stopactivity22013-03-21signalwords3EMPHASISWORDS•Amongthemostvaluablesignalsforyoutoknowareemphasiswords,throughwhichthewritertellsyoudirectlythataparticularideaordetailisespeciallyimportant.Thinkofsuchwordsasredflagsthattheauthorisusingtomakesureyoupayattentiontoanidea.•Sometypicalwordsshowingemphasis.2013-03-21signalwords4•importanttonote•mostofall•asignificantfactor•aprimaryconcern•akeyfeature•themainvalue•especiallyvaluable•mostnoteworthy•rememberthat•amajorevent•thechiefoutcome•theprincipalitem•payparticularattentionto•thechieffactor•avitalforce•aboveall•acentralissue•adistinctivequality•especiallyrelevant•shouldbenoted•themostsubstantialissue2013-03-21signalwords5Example:ChronicairpollutionisexpensivetotheAmericanpublic,costingusdearlyintermsofbothmoneyandhealth.Airpollutioncausesbuildingsandautomobilestodeteriorate.Ourpoisonedairdamagescrops,livestock,roads,andmetalsandforceshugecleaningbillsforeverythingfromdustydraperiestosoot-blackenedbuildings(Griffin,1972).Itisespeciallyintermsofhealth,however,thatpollutionhurts.ItisestimatedthatbreathingtheairofNewYorkCityistheequivalentofsmokingtwopacksofcigarettesaday.(1signalword)2013-03-21signalwords6ADDITIONWORDS•Additionwordstellyouthatthewriter’sthoughtisgoingtocontinueinthesamedirection.Heisgoingtoaddonmorepointsordetailsofthesamekind.Additionwordsaretypicallyusedtosignalenumeration.•Lookoversomeadditionwords.2013-03-21signalwords7•also•another•finally•first•firstofall•foronething•furthermore•inaddition•lastofall•likewise•moreover•next•and•second•thethirdreason2013-03-21signalwords8•Example:Acomputerisoftencalleda“thinkingmachine,”andinmanywaysitisjustthat.Computersperformdifficultandtimesavingmathematicalcomputations,aswellasproblemsinlogicandreasoning.Inaddition,computersrunothermachinesandanswerquestions.Also,theyareusedtoguideastronautsontakeoff.2013-03-21signalwords9COMPARISONORCONTRASTWORDS•Comparisonwordssignalthattheauthorispointingoutasimilaritybetweentwosubjects.Theytellyouthatthesecondideaislikethefirstoneinsomeway.Lookoverthefollowingcomparisonwords.•Contrastwordssignalachangeinthedirectionofthewriter’sthought.Theytellyouthattheauthorispointingoutadifferencebetweentwosubjectsorstatements.Lookoverthefollowingcontrastwords.2013-03-21signalwords10•like•likewise•just•like•equally•inlikemanner•inthesameway•alike•similarity•similarly•justas•asinasimilarfashion•but•however•incontrast•yet•differ•difference•variation•still•onthecontrary•conversely•otherwise•ontheotherhand2013-03-21signalwords11•Example:Thesexoftheinstructoraffectedtheextentofactivestudentparticipation.Inclassestaughtbymenwithroughlyequalproportionsofmaleandfemalestudents,malestudentswereresponsibleforabout75%ofallclassdiscussion.Similarly,withwomenasinstructors,femalestudentparticipationrosefrom25%to42%;incontrast,maleparticipationslippedfrom75%to58%.2013-03-21signalwords12ILLUSTRATIONWORDS•Illustrationwordstellyouthatanexampleorillustrationwillbegiventomakeanideaclear.Suchwordsaretypicallyusedintextbooksthatpresentanumberofdefinitionsandexamplesofthosedefinitions.•Lookoverthefollowingillustrationwords.2013-03-21signalwords13•forexample•toillustrate•specifically•once•forinstance•suchas2013-03-21signalwords14•Example:BlackEnglishusedtobeconsideredsimplypoorEnglishuntillinguistsrealizedthattheso-callederrorswereactuallyconsistentalternativegrammaticalforms,someofwhichoriginatedinAfricanlinguisticpatterns.Forexample,theword“be”instandardEnglishisprimarilyusedaspartoftheinfinitive“tobe.”ButinBlackEnglish,“be”canalsobeusedtoindicatearepeatedactionorexistentialstate(Labov,1972).Toillustratethis,inBlackEnglishonecansay“Iamsick”or“Ibesick.”Thefirstmeans“Iamsickatthispresentmoment.”Thesecondincludestherecentpastaswellasthepresent;toexpressthesecondconceptinstandardEnglish,onemightsay,“Ihavebeensickforawhile.”2013-03-21signalwords15CAUSE-AND-EFFECTWORDS•Cause-and-effectwordssignalthattheauthorisgoingtodescriberesultsoreffects.•Lookoverthefollowingcause-and-effectwords.2013-03-21signalwords16•because•therefore•sothat•cause•reason•effect•thus•consequently•since•asaresult•if...then•resultin2013-03-21signalwords17•Example:Atherosclerosisistheresultofthebuildupoffat,fibrin,partsofdeadcells,andcalciumontheinsideofthearteries.Nooneknowswhatcausesthisdisease,butanumberofthingscanspeeditsdevelopment.Theseincludesmokingcigarettesandeatinganimalfatandcholesterol.Othersincludeage,hypertension,diabetes,stress,heredity,andsex(maleshavemoreheartattacks).201