Writing Academic English 4th Edition

12 P.n"t 1 I WritingaParagraph

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Red-LightRunning

Althoughsomepeoplethinkthatred-lightrunningis a minortrafficviolation

thatisnoworsethanjaywalking,Iit can,infact,becomea deadlycrime.Red-light

runnerscauseaccidentsallthetime.Sometimespeopleareseriouslyinjuredand

evenkilled.It is especiallya probleminrushhourtraffic.Everyoneisina hurry

togethome,sodriversrun redlightseverywhere.Thepolicedonotdomuch

aboutit becausetheyaretoobusy.Theonlytimetheypayattentioniswhen

thereisanaccident,andthenitistoolate.Inconclusion,runningaredlightis

a seriousoffense.

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Red-LightRunning

"!Althoughsomepeoplethinkred-lightrunningisa minortrafficviolationthatis

noworsethanjaywalking,it can,infact,becomea deadlycrime.iied-Iightrunners

causehundredsofaccidents,includingdeathsandinjuriesaswellasmillionsof

dollarsindamages.tachyearmorethan 900 peopledie,andnearly200,000are

injuredincrashesthatinvolvered-lightrunning.4fv1otoristsrun redlightsallthetime.

!forexample,inFairfax,Virginia,a five-month-Iongsurveyatfivebusyintersections

revealedthata motoristranaredlightevery 20 minutes.ERed-lightrunners

areseldomcaught. 7AccordingtotheInsuranceInstituteforHighwaySafety,

"Communitiesdon'thavetheresourcestoallowpolicetopatrolintersectionsas

oftenaswouldbeneededtoticketallmotoristswhorunredlights"("Q&A").2

Thenextsectionshows youhowto useexamplesas support. Othertypesof

support-facts,statistics,andquotations-areexplainedinChapter3.

Examples Examplesareperhapstheeasiestkindofsupportingdetailtousebecauseyoucan

oftentakeexamplesfromyourownknowledgeandexperience.Youdon'thaveto

searchthelibraryortheInternetforsupportingmaterial.Furthermore,examples

makeyourwritinglivelyandinteresting,andyour readerismorelikelytoremem-

beryourpointifyousupportit witha memorableexample.

Wordsandphrasesthatintroduceexamplesincludeforexample,forinstance,and

suchas.SeeTransitionSignalsonpages25-29inChapter2 formoreinformation.

Ijaywalking:crossinga streetwherethereisnomarkedareaforit

2"Q&A: RedLightRunning."Insurance InstituteforHighwaySafetyJune2003. 26 Feb. 2004

<http://www.hwysafety.org/safetyjacts/qanda/rlc.htm>.