In turn

The following revision is taken from a dissertation by a Malay-speaking postgraduate student of Islamic Theology

Original Revision
The moral framework has a religious basis which is based on divine revelation The moral framework has a religious basis which in turn is based on divine revelation.

In academic writing we may want to show that the relationship between B and C follows on the relationship between A and B. Here for example, A (the moral framework) is based on B (religion), and B (religion) is based on C (divine revelation). The expression in turn can be very useful to make clear this sequence of relationships. Here are some examples. In each one, try to identify A, B & C, and the words that show the relationships between them:

  1. Radioactive nickel-56 decays quickly to cobalt-56, which in turn decays into stable iron-56 over a period of several months.
  2. No pesticides have ever been used on the parkland through which the stream flows, so there are still plenty of aquatic insects to feed the fish. They in turn feed the electric blue kingfisher, which has disappeared throughout much of this country.
  3. Between July and September 1988 the expenditure measure of GAP was 5.5 per cent lower than the income measure, which in turn was 5.5 per cent lower than the output measure.
  4. It has recently been shown that the organism H. pylori, which resides in the stomach wall, can stimulate abnormally high levels of gastric acid. The acid in turn causes irritation and inflammation.
  5. Increased carbon dioxide improves plant growth.. This increases crop yields, in turn reducing carbon dioxide and redressing the atmospheric balance.
  6. Declining funds have forced many youth clubs and centres to reduce activities forced many youth clubs and centres to reduce activities, cut staff, and even close. That in turn has meant fewer places for young people to turn to in times of trouble.
  7. He claims that schools in the USA are organised like factories. Every period is the same length of time; children move mindlessly from one class to another, and they are treated impersonally by teachers, who are in turn told what to do by a top-down bureaucracy.
  8. The algae are a food source for zooplankton, which in turn feed tiny shrimps and fish, which in turn feed the Charybdis smithii.''

Two simple questions to think about:

In the following citations, try matching the text up to in turn with what follows. The first match is A-H. Can you find the others?

A Energis is owned by the National Grid Company, which in turn A was struck by a Ford Orion car.
B Public investment leads to higher demand and higher incomes, which in turn B is owned by the 12 regional electricity companies.
C The coach was immediately hit by a British Telecom van, which in turn C was related to the hours of bright sunshine.
D The resistance of the plants to ozone was proportional to the level of ozone, which in turn D are related to patterns of optimum food exploitation.
E VS Naipaul learned a good deal of his comedy from the Indian novelist RK Narayan, and Naipaul in turn E prompts higher private investment and thus higher output.
F The mating systems of these animals are dependent upon the dispersion patterns of the females and these in turn F has influenced writers like Salman Rushdie and Rohinton Mistry.
G It is hard to be assertive when feeling ill but patients should be encouraged always to ask doctors what they are doing and why. Doctors in turn G stimulates more air movement, building up the winds in the storm.
H Hurricanes are driven by warm, moist air. When this air rises to high altitudes, its water vapour condenses releasing latent heat. This in turn H should try to explain their actions and remain aware of patients' fears.

Key to Questions

13th November 1998

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