Transitions activity
1. Fill in the blanks with the most suitable transition from the list. Some transitions will
not be used. You may use a transition only once.
thus then first
this for example rather
finally second indeed
A child may leave home for a number of reasons, but three seem to be more common than
others. ____, a child may leave home because of a lack of parental affection, which can
leave the child with emotional scars. When parents are cold and uncaring, a child senses
____ and feels that s/he does not belong in the home. The child will ____ leave, seeking a
home where s/he at least feels wanted and a part of a family. ____, when a child feels that
s/he is not given just recognition as a person and as an individual, s/he may feel frustrated
enough to leave home – especially if the parents do not stop what they are doing long
enough to really listen to him/her or at least to respect some of the child’s opinions. ____,
severe punishment by a child’s parents, which does not suit the child’s misconduct, may
cause him/her to leave home. ____, severe punishment is child abuse, and a child will
normally feel that s/he is not safe in such a home. ____, for his/her own protection and for
affection s/he may leave home.
2. Fill in the blanks with the most suitable transition from the list. Some transitions will
not be used. You may use a transition only once.
when because of whenever besides in addition
they nevertheless whereas these for example
Animals use various means to protect themselves. Colour is one that is widely used as a
protective device. For instance, some birds display brightly coloured feathers ____ they are
threatened. These are designed to frighten away the enemy. ____ to colour, some animals
emit a particular smell for the same purpose. ____, form may be used to conceal the
animal. Some insects, ____, conceal themselves by making themselves resemble plants of
flowers. In this way, ____ are hardly visible because they can merge into their
surroundings. Other animals adopt regular patterns of behaviour ____ they are frightened.
Some pretend to be dead ____ others just come forward and stand still. ____, buffaloes
were almost eliminated in the 19th century ____ their lack of resistance to hunters.
3. Fill in the blanks with the most suitable transition from the list. Some transitions will
not be used. You may use a transition only once.
like in addition to similar to
although compared to also
____ we have scientific evidence that women should not smoke when they are pregnant,
many future mothers ignore this danger. These mothers endanger the physical health of
their babies. ____, they could be contributing to even more problems in the future. ____ the
known problems, recent studies have linked mothers’ smoking during their pregnancy with
sons who go on to become criminals. Researchers in Finland followed over 5000 males and
their mothers from the time the mothers were six months pregnant until the young men were
28 years old. ____ to sons whose mothers did not smoke during pregnancy, those young
men whose birth mothers did smoke were more than twice as likely to commit criminal acts.
The researchers theorised that smoking during pregnancy may alter the chemical balance in
the baby’s brain. This recent information, added to the body of evidence available for years,
should be a warning to pregnant women to give up smoking.
4. Fill in the blanks with the most suitable transition from the list. Some transitions will
not be used. You may use a transition only once.
because of despite however
on the contrary while therefore
If you lead a busy life, you are probably not getting enough vitamin C. Given the choice,
most of us would rather relax with a cup of coffee, instead of pealing an orange. ____, the
cold and flu season is not over yet. Especially at this time of the year, vitamin C is not just a
necessity, but essential for helping maintain the immune system. ____ the expert’s
acknowledgement that there is no real substitute for real fruit, our company discovered a
new way to maximise the benefits of taking a daily dose of vitamin C. Redaxon makes this
possible with a capsule. ____ an orange a day may give the body a sudden burst of Vitamin
C, the effects do not last long – no matter how it is consumed. Vitamin C cannot be stored in
the body for a long period of time ____ its solubility in water. So, how does Redaxon Slow
Release work? Each capsule contains hundreds of coated pellets made up of Vitamin C.
These pellets dissolve safely and gradually into your system; ____ they provide a continuous
and steady source of Vitamin C over a period of eight hours. This will help you maintain the
body’s natural defences and resistance to infection.
5. Fill in the blanks with the most suitable transition from the list. Some transitions will
not be used. You may use a transition only once.
therefore however for example
although on the contrary such as
Have you ever wondered how those big ocean storms called hurricanes or typhoons get
their names? Who decides to name a hurricane “Ann” or “Barbara” or “Bill”? The way
hurricanes and typhoons are named has changed over the years.
At first. Weather forecasters described them by their positions in degrees of latitude or
longitude. ____, a typhoon used to be called “21.20 north, 157, 52 west”. ____, this method
was confusing, because storms don’t stay in the same place; ____, people developed other
ways to identify them. In the 60s, a weather forecaster in Australia used to name typhoons
after politicians whom he disliked. For example, he could make weather forecasts such as
“Typhoon Smith is on a very destructive path”. ____ this caused criticism among the public,
this trend continued to exist for quite a long time. Later, during World War I, women’s names
began to be used like “Hurricane Betsy” or “Typhoon Alice”. ____, during World War II,
men’s names became popular; a storm could be named “Fred” or “George”.
In short, we can say that the way hurricanes and typhoons are named has changed over the
years and will undoubtedly change again.