因果关系在雅思阅读中涉及的题型广，考察形式也比较多样。今天小编将为大家讲解有关因果关系考点在雅思阅读中的考查。

在雅思阅读中，常考的四大逻辑关系 分别是：并列关系，因果关系，转折关系和比较关系，这次我们要分析的是因果关系。相对来说， 因果关系在雅思阅读中涉及的题型广，考察形式也比较多样。今天小编将为大家讲解有关因果关系考点在雅思阅读中的考查。

 

 

 

逻辑关系无疑是雅思阅读的重要考察内容之一，而这恰恰也是大部分考生在备考过程 中容易疏忽或者没有引起足够重视的地方。

首先，考生们需要熟悉在雅思阅读中常见的表示因果关系的词（组），并且能够从句 子中判断出原因和结果分别是什么。就完成阅读题目而言，可以简单把表因果关系的 词汇分成以下三类：

 

1. 名词

（原因）reason, factor, cause, explanation…

（结果）result, consequence

 

2. 之后接原因的词（组）

 since, as, for, in, that

due to, thanks to, as a result of       + 原因

owe to, result from, be attributed to

 

3. 之后接结果的词（组）

lead to, contribute to, result in

cause, engender, give rise to 

be responsible for                 + 结果

so, therefore, hence, thus  as a consequence,

as a result

 

有一些词组可以表示较弱的因果关系，需结合上下文来具体分析，例如，be linked to, be related to, be associated with, be connected with等。在了解基本的词 （组）之后，我们再来分析因果关系在雅思阅读不同题型中的考察方式。

1

填空题中的因果关系

填空题考察因果关系主要体现在两个方面：一是考生可以利用题目中出现的因果逻辑 关系进行辅助定位，节省做题时间，以及减少因为题目定位词发生替换之后找不到原 文的几率；另一方面，考生需要通过因果关系判断答案要填的是某组因果关系中的原 因还是结果。

 

例如：C5T2P1中的3题

There were several reasons for the research into plastics in the nineteenth century, among them the great advances that had been made in the field of 3________ and the search for alternatives to natural resources like ivory.

本题题目句子较长，考生除了正常选择名词定位，还可以通过reasons明确答案要的 是原因之一，因此可以从文章中的factors进一步确定答案的范围。

【原文】The impetus behind the development of these early plastics was generated by a number of factors — immense technological progress in the domain of chemistry, coupled with wider cultural changes, and the pragmatic need to find acceptable substitutes for dwindling supplies of 'luxury' materials such as tortoiseshell and ivory.

 

例如：C7T1P1中的11题

Radar is an inaccurate term when referring to bats because 11_______ are not used in their navigation system.

【原文】It is technically incorrect to talk about bat ‘radar’, since they do not use radio waves.

本题定位词的改写比较多，定位难度比较大，如果考生可以借助因果关系词because 定位，可以大大节约时间；并且还可以有题目判断答案需要填写的原因。而正好对应 原文中的since，由于because和since之后都是接原因的，所以答案在since之后 找，再根据词性判断，即radio waves。

 

例如：C9T3P2中的25题

 Air bubbles result from the 25______ behind blades.

【原文】One technical difficulty is cavitation, where low pressure behind a turning blade causes air bubbles.

本题通过air bubble比较容易定位到答案出处，但是如果分不清楚因果关系的考生可 能会在air bubble之后找寻答案。如果判断出result from之后需要接原因，而cause 之后接的是结果，那么就可以把答案的范围确定在文中air bubble这个定位词之前， 即low pressure。

 

例如：C9T4P1中的13题

During her research, Marie Curie was exposed to radiation and as a result she suffered from 13 ______.

【原文】A few months after this discovery, Marie Curie died as a result of leukaemia caused by exposure to radiation. 

本题的解题思路和上一题很像，难度增加在对应定位到的原文中出现了两组因果关 系，就更需要考生仔细辨析。题目问的是exposed to radiation结果，所以答案应该 填caused by exposure to radiation之前的中心词leukaemia。

 

例如：C10T4P1中的3-6题则集中考察了因果关系 

Reasons wildfires cause more damage today compared to the past: 

rainfall: 3______ average

more brush act as 4______

increase in yearly temperature

extended fire 5______

more building of 6______ in vulnerable places

【原文】One explanation for the trend to more superhot fires is that the region, which usually has dry summers, has had significantly below normal precipitation in many recent years. Another reason, experts say, is related to the century-long policy of US Forest Service to stop wildfires as quickly as possible. The conventional consequence has been to halt the natural eradication of underbrush, now the primary fuel for mega fires. Three other factors contribute to the trend, they add. First is climate change, marked by a 1-degree Fahrenheit rise in average yearly temperature across the western states. Second is fire seasons that on average are 78 days longer than they were 20 years a. Third is increased construction of homes in wooded areas.

本题集中考察了多个并列的原因。考生如果能够熟悉并利用因果关系词（组），将题 目中并列的五个原因分别对应到文章的五个句子中，那么不仅可以*证这一组题目的 正确率，还可以大大节约做题的时间。

2

判断题中的因果关系

因果关系是判断题中重要的考点之一，首先要求考生在读题的过程中就找出因果关 系，并且认真和文章比对，看其因果关系是否一致。

 

例如：C5T4P1中的7题

The spread of tourism in certain hill-regions has resulted in a fall in the amount of food produced locally.

【原文】In some hill-regions, this has led to a serious decline in farm output and a change in the local diet, because there is insufficient labour to maintain terraces and irrigation systems and tend to crops.

本题result in和lead to之后都接结果，因此题目和文章中的因果一致，因此答案为 YES。

 

例如：C7T1P2中的22题

 Feeding increasing populations is possible due primarily to improved irrigation systems.

【原文】Food production has kept pace with soaring populations mainly because of the expansion of artificial irrigation system that make possible the growth of 40% of the world’s food.

本题思路同上题，题目和文章中的因果一致，因此答案为TRUE。

 

例如：C7T1P2中的25题

Modern technologies have led to a reduction in domestic water consumption.

【原文】But since 1980, the amount of water consumed per person has actually decreased, thanks to a range of new technologies that help to conserve water in homes and industry.

本题相对容易出错，因为看似题目和文章中的定位词technology和water consumption颠倒了位置，但由于lead to后接结果而thanks to 后接原因，因此从逻辑 上看两句话的因果关系仍然是一致的，所以答案是TRUE。

 

例如：C8T1P2中的20题

 The FAA was created as a result of the introduction of the jet engine.

【原文】An accident that occurred in the skies over the Grand Canyon in 1956 resulted in the establishment of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to regulate and oversee the operation of aircraft in the skies over the United States, which were becoming quite congested.

题目中表述FAA创建的原因是the introduction of the jet engine，而原文中说的是 An accident that occurred in the skies over the Grand Canyon导致了FAA的建 立，因此两者的原因不同，答案为FALSE。

 

例如：C7T3P3中的28题

 【题目】Problems in Nordic countries were excluded because they are outside the European Economic Community.

【原文】Their initial task was to decide which of the many forest problems of concern to Europe involved the largest number of countries and might be the subject of joint action. Those confined to particular geographical areas, such as countries bordering the Mediterranean or the Nordic countries therefore had to be discarded.

本题和上题类似。题目中说得到的原因是这些国家不属于the European Economic Community，而从文中说到的原因是their initial task was to decide which of the many forest problems of concern to Europe involved the largest number of countries and might be the subject of joint action，因此题目和文中的原因不 同，所以答案为FALSE，部分考生会因为没有提及the European Economic Community而选NOT GIVEN，因此需要注意出现因果关系的判断题考察的是题目与文章 的英国关系是否一致。

3

选择题中的因果关系

选择题历来是阅读考试中花费时间较多而正确率比较低的一个题型。如果题目中出现 了明确的因果关系，考生可以利用该逻辑关系来选择答案或者排除，从而*正确率。

 

例如：C6T4P3中的33题

 The writer thinks that the declaration ‘There is no bullying at this school’

A. is no longer true in many schools.

B. was not in fact made by many schools.

C. reflected the school/s lack or concern.

D. reflected a lack of knowledge and resources. 

【原文】Until recently, not much was known about the topic, and little help was available to teachers to deal with bullying. Perhaps as a consequence, schools would often deny the problem. There is no bullying at this school has been a common refrain, almost certainly untrue. Fortunately more schools are now saying: ‘There is not much bullying here, but when it occurs we have a clear policy for dealing with it.’

本题是考生在练习中错误率非常高的一题，其中一个原因是选项A、B的干扰能力很 强，很容易让考生觉得和文中的untrue一词是同义替换进而错选A、B项；另一个原 因则是，很多考生没有注意C、D选项中的比较弱的因果关系，即reflect后可以加原 因。因此，当我们再读文章时就会发现文章中有对应的因果关系，即as a consequence。由此得出前句则是原因，也就是选项D的同义替换，因此答案为D。

 

例如：C7T4P3中的27题

 【题目】The writer suggests that people may have difficulty sleeping in the mountains because

A. humans do not prefer peace and quiet to noise.

B. they may be exposed to short bursts of very strange sound.

C. humans prefer to hear a certain amount of noise while they sleep. D. they may have adapted to a higher noise level in the city. 

【原文】In general, it is plausible to suppose that we should prefer peace and quiet to noise, and yet most of us have had the experience of having to adjust to sleep in the mountains or the countryside because it was initially, ‘too quite’, an experience that suggests that humans are capable of adapting to a wide range of noise levels.

本题的因果关系相对来说就比较简单了，文章和题目中都出现了because，考生只需 要通过同义替换或者排除没提及的选项即可得出正确答案。

 

例如：C8T4P2中的14题

The use of pesticides has contributed to 

A. a change in the way ecologies are classified by agroecologists.

B. an imbalance in many ecologies around the world.

C. the prevention of ecological disasters in some parts of the world.

D. an increase in the range of ecologies which can be usefully farmed. 【原文】Apart from engendering widespread ecological disorders, pesticides have contributed to the emergence of a new breed of chemical-resistant, highly lethal superbugs.

本题题目和原文中都有比较明显的因果关系，然后需要注意的是，文中提到了 pesticide导致的两个结果，很多考生因为不熟悉engender一词，而将重点全部放在 第二个结果上，即contribute to之后的内容，故会选错答案。而本题的正确答案B中 的imbalance实际上是engender之后的disorder的同义替换。因此，考生需要在做 题的过程中不断地积累尽可能多的表示因果关系的词（组）。

 

例如：C5T2P1中的9-10题

 Which TWO of the following factors influencing the design of Bakelite objects are mentioned in the text?

A. the function which the object would serve

B. the ease with which the resin could fill the mould

C. the facility with which the object could be removed from the mould

D. the limitations of the materials used to manufacture the mould E. the fashionable styles of the period

【原文】Sharp corners proved impractical and were thus avoided, giving rise to the smooth, ‘streamlined’ style popular in the 1930s. 

不仅单选，多选题中也同样出现了因果关系的考察。本题的难点在于，考生很容易通 过定位和同义替换选出B、C选项，但是往往在看到“‘streamlined’ style popular in the 1930s”这个表达之后觉得是E选项的替换，而不知如何取舍。这个时候就需要 考虑到因果逻辑关系了，虽然这两个表达在意思上的确可以替换，但读题目之后就会 发现，题目问的是影响设计的因素factor，即问原因，而从原文中的thus和give rise to可以看出，潮流是设计带来的结果，而非原因，因此可以排除E选项。

 

例如：C9T2P1中的11-12题

The list below includes factors contributing to classroom noise.

Which TWO are mentioned by the writer of the passage?

A. current teaching methods

B. echoing corridors

C. cooling systems

D. large class sizes

E. loud-voiced teachers

F. playground games 

Modern teaching practices, the organization of desks in the classroom, poor classroom acoustics, and mechanical means of ventilation such as airconditioning units all contribute to the number of children unable to comprehend the teacher’s voice.

同为多选，本题就简单一些，只需要通过定位词找到原文中对应的因果关系即可从同 义替换角度选出答案。

4

段落信息配对题中的因果关系

例如：C13T3P3中的27题

 proposed explanations for the declined of the Harappan Civilisation

【原文】…; and yet others that climate change caused an environmental change that affected food and water provision. ‘It is unlikely that there was a single cause for the decline of civilisation.’…

段落细节信息匹配在阅读中算是难度较大题型，但是考生仍然可以利用逻辑关系来降 低难度，*正确率和做题时间。本题定位难度较大，没有有效的定位词可以借助， 但是在题目中问道explanation for…，那么答案所在段落极有可能出现表示因果关系 的词（组），因此我们可以利用该逻辑关系来帮助我们更加准确地缩小甚至确定答案 的范围。

 

例如：C9T4P2中的17题

 【题目】a reason for the limitations of scientific research into ‘self-as-subject’

【原文】Empirical investigations of the self-as-subject in young children are, however, rather scarce because of difficulties of communication:…

本题首先可以通过self-as-subject定位词将自然段的范围缩短，然后再进一步确认哪 段那句讲到了研究局限的原因所在，而D段中则提到了原因是调查结果scarce的原因 是difficulties of communication。 

5

Heading题中的因果关系

例如：C7T1P2中的19题

【答案】(ii) An explanation for reduced water use

【G段】What explains this remarkable turn of events? Two factors: people have figured out how to use water more efficiently, and communities are rethinking their priorities for water use. Throughout the first three-quarters of the 20th century, the quantity of freshwater consumed per person doubled on average;…

Heading在考察中仍然涉及到了因果关系。如果某一个自然段的topic sentence中出 现了因果关系，那么考生应该将重点放在同样体现出因果关系的选项中。本题中G段 是明显的总分结构，因此topic sentence位于段落前面，而句话提问what explain..紧接着说two factors，考生不用往后读文章也可以得知，之后会分别论述这 两个因素。因此，本段的heading选择的是ii。

 

例如：C8T2P3中的29题

【答案】(vi) Why our sense of smell is not appreciated

【C段】In spite of its importance to our emotional and sensory lives, smell is probably the most undervalued sense in many cultures. The reason often given for the low regard…

本题解题思路和因果关系的考察和上题一致，所以考生不妨在完成heading的时候除 了找topic sentence的基本原则外，关注因果逻辑关系，可以相应*正确率。

因果关系不仅可以帮助我们解决阅读中的不同题型，同样，有效利用因果关系还可以 帮助考生在考试中推测生词的词义。

 

例如：C7T2P1中的7题

【题目】use as observation post

【原文】When the pada reached Japan, however, its architecture was freely adapted to local conditions - they were built less high, typically five rather than nine storeys, made mainly of wood and the staircase was dispensed with because the Japanese pada did not have any practical use but became more of an art object.

在这组搭配题中，一部分考试不认识dispense这个动词的意思，因此无法判断日本 佛塔中的楼梯知否*留了，但可以通过because看出说的是楼梯被dispense因为日 本塔没有实际用途只是一个艺术品。因此我们可以根据上下文大胆地推测， dispense应该是“去除”的意思。

 

例如：C5T2P1中的9-10题

【答案】C. the facility with which the object could be removed from the mould

【原文】The object could not be designed so that it was locked into the mould and therefore difficult to extract.  

本题中部分同学不认识extract，文章说这个物品不能被设计以至于卡在模具里面因 此很难…（动词），通过因果关系可以推测出，应该是很难取出，因此解决了生词就 可以选到正确的答案C，即extract和remove是同义替换。

通过上述剑桥真题中的具体例子可以看出，因果关系在阅读中的考察比并列关系和转 折关系更为灵活，涉及到的题型也更加广泛。因此，希望大家在利用定位和其他方法 做题的过程中可以借助题目中已知的因果关系辅助定位，从另一个角度缩短找答案的 时间，并且*正确率。

除此之外，合理利用因果关系推测生词的词义，也可以解决一部分考生能够准确定位 到文中而被生词卡住的困境。