Writing Academic English 4th Edition

RRA€T1CE4,.

UsingConsistent
Pronouns

TransitionSignals..

..
PRACTlCE 5
Transition
Signa's

Chapter:1I UnityandCoherence 25

Inthefollowingparagraph,thepronounsarenotconsistent.Correctthemtomake

thisparagraphmorecoherent.

OlympicAthletes

Olympicathletesmustbestrongbothphysicallyandmentally.Firstofall,

if youhopetocompeteinanOlympicsport,youmustbephysicallystrong.

Furthermore,aspiring^4 OlympiansmusttrainrigorouslySformanyyears.Forthe

mostdemandingsports,theytrainseveralhoursaday,fiveorsixdaysa week,

fortenormoreyears.Inadditiontobeingphysicallystrong,athletesmustalso

bementallytough.Thismeansthatyouhavetobetotallydedicatedtoyoursport,

oftengivingupa normalschool,family,andsociallife.Beingmentallystrongalso

meansthatheorshemustbeabletowithstandtheintensepressureofinterna-

tionalcompetitionwithitsaccompanyingmedia^6 coverage.Finally,noteveryone

canwina medal,soOlympiansmustpossesstheinnerstrengthtolivewithdefeat.

Transitionsignalsareexpressionssuchasfirst,finally,andhowever,orphrasessuch

asinconclusion,ontheotherhand,andasa result.Otherkindsofwordssuchas

subordinators(when,although),coordinators(and, but),adjectives(another,addi-

tional),andprepositions(becauseof,inspiteof)canserveastransitionsignals.

Transitionsignalsareliketrafficsigns;theytellyourreaderwhentogoforward,

tumaround,slowdown,andstop.Inotherwords,theytellyourreaderwhenyou

aregivinga similaridea(similarly,and,inaddition),anoppositeidea(ontheother

hand,but,incontrast),anexample(forexample),a result(therefore,asa result),or

a conclusion(inconclusion).

Transition signalsgivea paragraphcoherencebecausetheyguideyourreader

fromoneideatothenext.

Compareparagraphs1 and2 thatfollow.Whichparagraphcontainstransition

signalsandis morecoherent?Circleallthetransitionsignalsyoucanidentify.

Paragraph 1

Onedifferenceamongtheworld'sseasandoceansis thatthesalinity?variesin

differentclimatezones.TheBalticSeainnorthernEuropeisonlyone-fourthassalty

astheRedSeaintheMiddleEast.Therearereasonsforthis.Inwarmclimates,

waterevaporates^8 rapidly.Theconcentration^9 ofsaltis greater.Thesurrounding

landisdryanddoesnotcontributemuchfreshwatertodilutelOthesaltyseawater.

Incoldclimatezones,waterevaporatesslowly.Therunoffcreatedbymeltingsnow

addsa considerableamountoffreshwatertodilutethesalineseawater.

(^4) aspiring:hopeful
(^5) rigorously:strictly,withoutweakness
(^6) media:radio,television,newspapers,magazines
(^7) salinity:saltcontent
8evaporates:driesup
9concentration:percentage(ofsalt)
IOdilute:reducetheconcentration