Cohesion Exercise A: Learning Under Pressure

Organize these five sentences into a cohesive paragraph by adding

appropriatetransitional words and phrases to sentences number 2, 3, and 5. When you
are done, compare your paragraph with the original on page two.
1. Dr. Edward C. Tolman, after experimenting with rats over a long period of years, found
that rats that learned to run a maze under the pressure of hunger took much longer to
learn the maze than rats that learned under non-crisis conditions.
1. The learning that did take place was of a narrow type.
2. After learning the "right" route, these rats panicked if one avenue were blocked off.
3. They were not able to survey the field to notice alternative routes.
4. When the rats were permitted to learn under non-crisis conditions, they later performed
well in a crisis.

Cohesion Exercise B: Energy Efficiency

Organize these seven sentences into two cohesive paragraphs by adding

appropriatetransitional words and phrases to sentences number 2, 3, 5, and 7. When
you are done, compare your paragraphs with the originals on page two.
1. There is a source of energy that produces no radioactive waste, nothing in the way of
petrodollars, and very little pollution.
2. The source can provide the energy that conventional sources may not be able to
furnish.
3. Unhappily, it does not receive the emphasis and attention it deserves.
4. The source might be called energy efficiency, for Americans like to think of themselves
as efficient people.
5. The energy source is generally known by the more prosaic term conservation.
1. To be semantically accurate, the source should be called conservation energy, to
remind us of the reality--that conservation is no less an energy alternative than oil, gas,
coal, or nuclear.
2. In the near term, conservation could do no more than any of the conventional sources to
help the country deal with the energy problem it has.
Here are the two paragraphs that served as models for the exercises on page
one:Revising Paragraphs with Transitional Words and Phrases.
Cohesion Exercise A: Learning Under Pressure
Dr. Edward C. Tolman, after experimenting with rats over a long period of years, found
that rats that learned to run a maze under the pressure of hunger took much longer to
learn the maze than rats that learned under non-crisis conditions.
Furthermore, the learning that did take place was of a narrow type. That is, after
learning the "right" route, these rats panicked if one avenue were blocked off. They
were not able to survey the field to notice alternative routes. On the other hand, when
the rats were permitted to learn under non-crisis conditions, they later performed well in
a crisis.

(adapted from How to Study in College, by Walter S. Pauk, Houghton Mifflin, 2000)

Cohesion Exercise B: Energy Efficiency

There is a source of energy that produces no radioactive waste, nothing in the way of
petrodollars, and very little pollution. Moreover, the source can provide the energy that
conventional sources may not be able to furnish. Unhappily, however, it does not
receive the emphasis and attention it deserves.
The source might be called energy efficiency, for Americans like to think of themselves
as efficient people. But the energy source is generally known by the more prosaic
termconservation. To be semantically accurate, the source should be called
conservation energy, to remind us of the reality--that conservation is no less an energy
alternative than oil, gas, coal, or nuclear.Indeed, in the near term, conservation could
do no more than any of the conventional sources to help the country deal with the
energy problem it has.(adapted from Energy Future, by Daniel Yergin, Random House,
1979)