021 How to express causes and consequence 1.1 Read the following news items and identify the causes and consequences of each situation Petrol tanker in difficulty off coast of Spain On Saturday evening distress calls were received from a Panamanian-registered oil tanker in difficulty off the coast of Galicia, due to extreme weather conditions. The crew were taken off the ship thanks to the Spanish lifeboat service. It was reported that some of the 80,000 tonnes of crude oil onboard was already beginning to leak into thesea, because of a crack in the hull of the ship. If the leakworsens, it could lead to severe pollution of the Galiciancoast, resulting in the death of birds and other wildlife species. Causes Consequences Severe flooding reported in North-East France Continuous rainfall has saturated river systems all over Northeast France, giving rise to severe flooding and causing damage to houses, businesses and agriculture. As rainfall has been far higher than is average for November, authorities have warned that flooding could continue, causing further damage. As a consequence of damage to a chemicals factory close to the Somme river, there are fears of pollution to the region’s water tables. Local municipalities have requested financial aid from the central government to subsidise a clean-up operation. Causes Consequences Fire fighters out on strike Britain’s fire service has been severely reduced owing to a strike by 90% of fire fighters. Fire brigade personnel have stopped work because of a dispute over pay and the introduction of new equipment. As a result, the government has called in the army to respond to emergency calls using equipment dating from the 1950s. The effect of the dispute could be a higher risk of death and injury in emergency situations. Negotiations with the government should bring about an agreement. Causes Consequences 1.2 Here is some more vocabulary for describing causes and consequences Cause Verbs To bring about To give rise to To result in To cause To lead to To trigger Consequence Consequently As a result As a consequence of others Because As Due to Owing to Thanks to Because of Note the structures used after each expression : CAUSE A car accident in central London brought about chaos at rushhour. (to bring about +noun) The prolonged heatwave resulted in serious drought in some regions. (result in +noun) Heavy rains caused widespread flooding in the region. The earthquake triggered a massive tsunami in the Pacific.(to trigger + noun) The building had to be closed as it did not meet the new safety standards. (as +new clause) We had to start the experiment 3 times, due to errors of calculation. (due to +noun) The computer crashed as a result of the virus. (as a result +noun) The computer crashed as a result of being infected by a virus. (as a result +vb - ing) The results were saved thanks to the assistant who had made back-up copies. (thanks to +noun) Consequence Very few students registered for the course in quantum physics.Consequently, the college decided to cancel it. (consequently + new sentence) The safety features on the device had been disabled. As a result, the user had no protection. (As a result + new sentence) 1.3 Titanic case : estate of Hans Jensen vs the White star line 1.3.1 Read the story. 1.3.2 Fill in the gaps expressing cause and consequence Wordbank : consequently, because of, as a result, trigger ,owing to, The sinking of the ship t___________ (verb expressing cause) the death of Hans Peter Jensen. As____________ (consequence) his fiancé decided to file a lawsuit against the company White Star line for the death of her beloved. O_______ ___ (cause) the will Hans had written before the journey, Carla is the heir and executor of his estate. B________ __ the trial taking place in New York, the will has been transferred from Denmark to the American city. C__________, the American law will prevail over the Danish one.