less than 2,500 d. more than 2,500

win your readers over point by point. If your less important points make sense to the reader, then your more important points will come off stronger. And, as the saying goes, writers often “save the best for last” because that’s where “the best” often has the most impact. In other words, the writer’s purpose helps to determine the structure he or she uses. Transitions are very important for this organizational pattern, too. Here’s a list of the most common transitions writers use with the order of importance structure. Most of these work for both most-to-least important and least-to-most important patterns: first and foremost most importantly more importantly moreover above all first, second, third last but not least finally C OMPARISON AND C ONTRAST When you show how two or more things are similar, you are making a comparison. When you show how two or more things are different, you are contrasting them. This technique gives you a way to classify or judge the items you are analyzing. By placing two or more items side by side, for example, you can see how they meas- ure up against each other. How are they similar or different? And why does it matter? For example, you might say that the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was even better than Star Wars. Both featured warriors with special powers and a love story comparison. But in Crouching Tiger, the fighters relied much more on their physical strength and agility than on powered weapons, which are plentiful in Star Wars contrast. And Crouching Tiger featured female warriors as strong as or even stronger than the male fighters contrast. Whenever an author is comparing and contrasting two or more items, he or she is doing it for a rea- son. There’s something the author wants to point out by putting these two items side by side. For example, we could compare the French Revolution and the American Revolution to show how they both overthrew monarchies to create a free republic. One of the keys to a good comparison and contrast is strong transitions. It’s important to let readers know when you are comparing and when you are contrasting. As a reader, it’s important to watch for these transitions. Here are some words and phrases that show similarity: similarly in the same way likewise like in a like manner just as and also both The following words and phrases, on the other hand, show difference: but on the other hand yet however on the contrary in contrast conversely while unlike – R E A D I N G C O M P R E H E N S I O N S K I L L S – 4 0 C AUSE AND E FFECT Another common organizational pattern is cause and effect. A cause is a person or thing that makes some- thing happen creates an effect. An effect is an event or change created by an action or cause. A passage about cause explains why something took place. You might ask, for example, “What caused the Industrial Rev- olution?” A passage about effect, on the other hand, explains what happened after something took place. What happened as a result of the Industrial Revolution? How did it affect the economy? Daily life? Education? Just as certain key words indicate whether you’re comparing or contrasting, other key words indicate whether things are causes or effects. Here is a partial list of words and phrases that indicate cause and effect: WORDS INDICATING CAUSE: because of created by since caused by WORDS INDICATING EFFECT: therefore so hence consequently as a result H OW T HIS C AN H ELP Y OU ON THE TOEFL E XAM Familiarity with organizational patterns can help you in several ways as you prepare for and take the TOEFL exam. Once you recognize an organizational pattern, you can anticipate what’s ahead. This often makes it eas- ier to understand and remember what you read. It also makes it easier to find specific information in the text for those specific factdetail questions. When you know the structure of a passage, you can also make better decisions about where to insert new information. For example, read this passage: The current measure used to calculate poverty levels was introduced in 1963. At that time, the poverty line for a family of two adults and two children was about 3,100. In 1992, there were 36.9 million people, or 14.5 percent of the U.S. population, with incomes below the poverty line. 1 A proposed new way of measuring poverty levels would take into account the effects of work- related expenses such as transportation and child-care costs. 2 By including these costs, fewer people in families receiving cash welfare would fall under the poverty line while a greater percentage of people in working families would be categorized as poor. Specifically, people in families receiving cash welfare would make up 30 percent of the poor under the new measure, compared with 40 percent under the current measure. 3 In contrast, people in working families would make up 59 percent of the poor under the new measure, com- pared with 51 percent under the current measure. 4 – R E A D I N G C O M P R E H E N S I O N S K I L L S – 4 1