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definitions with which / that.
The carburetor is a mechanism which / that
mixes air and petrol.
•
(used) for * verb + -ing:
Theodolites are (used) for surveying the land.
•
(used / designed) to:
This polymer was originally (designed / used) to
protect astronauts’ eyes from solar rays.
•
act / function as:
In a capacitive screen, the finger acts as one plate of a
capacitor and the screen functions as the other.
Cause and effect
You can express the cause of something in a number of ways:
•
due to / owing to / because of/ caused by / as a result of + noun phrase:
The pipes burst because of / owing to / due to / as a result of the high-
water pressure. The Earth's temperature is rising owing to / as a result of
the increase in carbon emissions.
•
lead to / give rise to / result in / be the cause of / be a factor in *
participial phrase:
Global warming can result in sea levels rising and
low-lying areas being flooded
Comparison and contrast
Comparative adjectives (e.g. stronger/ more expensive than) are
commonly used to compare two items.
Note the use of that / those of in the following examples:
The safety record of the hybrid car is better than that of most other
models. (= better than the safety record of most other models)
The dimensions of this mobile phone are smaller than those of the other
one. (= smaller than the dimensions of the other one)
The following linking words and phrases can be used to compare or
contrast two ideas:
•
although / though:
Although / Though the turbine was heavy, the
explosion lifted it into the air.
•
while / whereas:
Laser light contains one wavelength, whereas / while
ordinary light contains many.
•
however / nevertheless:
Cruise control is very convenient. However /
Nevertheless, many drivers fail to use it.
•
on the other hand:
Deepwater drilling is risky. On the other hand, it opens
up new oil fields.
•
instead:
The oil is not located in one place. Instead, it is broken up into
thousands of small pockets.
•
insteadof:
Instead of using pressure, the capacitive screen uses the
conductivity of the user's finger.
