段落不連貫挑選

Thematic consistency
1. Find the theme of every sentence.
2. All these themes must be related to the main idea of the paragraph.
Example:
Scarcity is not poverty. The poor and the rich both face scarcity. A child wants a 75 cent can of soft drink and a 50 cent chocolate bar but has only $1 in her pocket. She experiences scarcity. Faced with scarcity, we must choose among the available alternatives (McTaggart et al. 1999, p. 1.4).

Lexical ties
Find the repetitive words or synonyms in a paragraph.
Example:
Markets coordinate individual decisions through price adjustments. To see how, think about your local market for hamburgers. Suppose that too few hamburgers are available so that people who want to buy hamburgers are not able to do so. To make the choices of buyers and sellers compatible, buyers must scale down their appetites or more hamburgers must be offered for sale (or both must happen). A rise in the price of hamburgers produces this outcome. A higher price encourages producers to offer more hamburgers for sale. It also curbs the appetite for hamburgers and changes some lunch plans. Fewer people buy hamburgers, and more buy hot dogs. (McTaggart et al. 1999, p. 2.10).

Reference words: the, the other, another, the others, some, this, these, that, those. Comparative expressions can also act as reference expressions.
Example:
A feature of the labour market for young workers is a system of minimum wage rates that have to be paid. These rates are an example of a minimum price law…. The minimum wage rate system is a consequence of
government intervention in the labour market…. In other cases, instead of setting the price, governments fix a quantity…. Even more frequently, governments impose taxes…. In yet other cases, governments try to ban markets. Those for drugs like heroin are obvious examples (McTaggart et al. 1999, p. 7.2).

Transition signals
Transition signals are words or phrases to indicate the relationship of sentences.
Example:
The opportunity cost of producing an additional tape is the number of bottles of cola we must forgo. Similarly, the opportunity cost of producing an additional bottle of cola is the quantity of tapes we must forgo (McTaggart et al. 1999, p. 3.3).

Parallel constructions
See the relationship between the sentences.
Example:
In ordinary speech, the word ‘market’ means a place where people buy and sell goods such as fish, meat, fruits, and vegetables. In economics, a market has a more general meaning (McTaggart et al. 1999, p. 2.9).

Cited from U of New South Wales, Australia