This document provides information and guidance for writing a cause and effect essay on overdependence on smartphones. It defines key terms and lists potential causes such as the affordability and versatility of smartphones. Effects discussed include negative impacts on physical health like eye strain, mental health such as stress, reduced productivity and social isolation. An example outline is given that introduces the topic, discusses causes and effects in two body paragraphs, and provides a concluding statement.

1. UNIT 6
Topic: Technology
Writing genre: A cause and effect essay

3. 1. Why do people become too dependent on smart phone?
2. What are some problems which overdependence on smart phone
may cause?

4. Vocabulary
• Smart phone = cell phone = mobile phone
• Overdependence /overreliance
• Overdepend on (v) / overrely on (v)
• Depend/rely on .... excessively
• Be overdependent on …. / be overreliant on …
• overuse / abuse
• Addiction / Addictive/ Addict / Be addicted to

5. Overdependence on smart phones
CAUSES EFFECTS
+ affordability of smart phones
- Easy to buy a smart phone at a
low/affordable cost
- Make smart phones become a more
popular personal device
+ versatility of smart phones (versatile)
- Many functions are included in a smart
phone
- With just a compact gadget, people can do
many things
+ available access to the Internet
- Easy to connect to wireless network
everywhere
- Enjoy a wide range of online activities
+ affect people’s health
- Physical health: eye constrain, headache,
obesity
- Mental health: stressed
+ distract people from work/study
(distraction/be distracted from...)
- Cannot concentrate
- Reduce work productivity / learning
effectiveness
+ make people socially-isolated
- Spend less time on face-to-face interaction
- Have less time for social activities

6. ESSAY ORGANIZATION
(Essay focusing on both causes and effects)
• Introduction:
- Generally introduce the topic
- Thesis statement: [state that the essay will discuss both causes and effects of the issue]
• Body:
+ Causes : [a topic sentence stating that this paragraph will focus on the causes of the issue]
- Cause 1
- Cause 2
+ Effects: [a topic sentence stating that this paragraph will focus on the effects of the issue]
- Effect 1
- Effect 2
• Conclusion:
- Summarize your main ideas
- State your opinion about the topic

7. Example
• Today more people are overweight than ever
before. What in your opinion are the primary
causes of this? What are the main effects of
this epidemic?

8. Nowadays the number of overweight people is constantly increasing. This essay will
discuss the main reasons of this epidemic and then describe the possible effects of the
problem.
In my opinion, the foremost causes of obesity are inactive lifestyle and unhealthy eating
habits. Today more and more people rely on cars instead of walking, have less physical
demands at work and prefer inactive leisure activities. This results in burning less calories and
gaining weight. Moreover, the problem is accentuated by the growing number of people, who
eat irregularly and consume large portions of high-calorie food. For example, about 50% of the
adult population in Europe with so-called disordered eating suffer from obesity.
The possible effects of this problem include physical health problems and loss of
productivity. First of all, obesity results in incorrect functioning of the human body and
contributes to the risk of developing some chronic illnesses. For example, as body fat
percentage increases, the person’s metabolism worsens, which in turn may result in diabetes or
heart diseases. Secondly, overweight people are very unhealthy and often suffer from stress
and tiredness. This lessens their work capacity and results in lower productivity. For example, it
has been proven that an obese person needs to put more effort to complete some task than a
person with normal weight.
To sum up, obesity is a big problem that affects a lot of people nowadays. It’s mainly
caused by inactive lifestyle and eating disorders and results in severe health problems and
loss of productivity.

9. WRITING TASK 6
It can be said that smart phones have
become an indispensable part of people’s
lives in the modern society. However,
overreliance on smart phones is a growingly
alarming issue.
Discuss the causes and effects of this trend

10. Make an outline
I. Thesis statement
II. First topic sentence focusing on causes
A. Cause 1: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
- Supporting detail 1.1
- Supporting detail 1.2
B. Cause 2: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
- Supporting detail 2.1
- Supporting detail 2.2
III. Second topic sentence focusing on effects
A. Effect 1: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
- Supporting detail 1.1
- Supporting detail 1.2
B. Effect 2: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
- Supporting detail 2.1
- Supporting detail 2.2
IV. Concluding sentence

11. ESSAY OUTLINE
I. This essay will discuss some causes of people’s overdependence on smart phones, and analyze some
consequences it may cause.
II. There are several reasons why people are becoming overdependent on smart phones.
A. Smart phones are more affordable nowadays
- Easy to buy a smartphone at a low/affordable cost
- Make smart phones become a more popular personal device
B. Smart phones are versatile with mutilfunctions in one compact device.
- Many functions are included in a smart phone
- With just a phone, people can do many things
III. Overrelying on smart phones can result in some serious problems
A. Using smart phones excessively can cause health problems
- Physical health: eye constrain, headache
- Mental health: stressed, tired
B. Make people socially-isolated
- Spend less time on face-to-face interaction
- Have less time for social activities
IV. People should use smart phones appropriately to avoid aforementioned undesirable consequences.