Linking Words & Discourse Markers – English Grammar Exercises for B2
An official post-meeting email from management summarizing the difficult decision to reduce staff due to a severe decline in company revenue.
Choose the best option (A, B, C, or D) to complete each sentence from the management summary.
1 “Our quarterly revenue has dropped by 40% over the last six months. ______, we must urgently reduce our operational costs.”
(A) However
(B) Therefore
(C) In addition
(D) Because
2 “The marketing budget was entirely depleted by August. ______, all promotional campaigns for the fourth quarter have been suspended.”
(A) As a result
(B) As result
(C) As a result of
(D) Furthermore
3 “______ the severe and unprecedented decline in global sales, the board has authorized a company-wide hiring freeze.”
(A) Because
(B) Due to
(C) Consequently
(D) Despite
4 “We have lost our three largest international clients. ______, management is forced to implement a strategic downsizing protocol.”
(A) Consequently
(B) Consequent
(C) In consequence of
(D) Nevertheless
5 “The product launch failed to meet its minimum financial targets; ______, the entire project division has been dissolved.”
(A) thus
(B) yet
(C) due to this
(D) so that
6 “______ the ongoing economic downturn is severely affecting our cash flow, restructuring the organization is no longer optional.”
(A) Due to
(B) Because of
(C) Since
(D) Therefore
7 “Our overhead costs remain unsustainably high; ______, the executive committee has decided to consolidate three departments into one.”
(A) hence
(B) for this reasons
(C) as a consequence of
(D) otherwise
8 “The decision to lay off 15% of our workforce is a direct ______ of the massive financial losses incurred this year.”
(A) consequence
(B) consequently
(C) affect
(D) cause
9 “We simply do not have the capital to maintain our current staffing levels. ______, 50 administrative positions will be eliminated.”
(A) Accordingly
(B) According to
(C) In accordance
(D) By contrast
10 “______ a lack of external investor funding, the proposed expansion into the Asian market is officially canceled.”
(A) Because
(B) Owing to
(C) As a result
(D) Instead of
11 “The company’s net profits have plummeted drastically. For this ______, we are offering early retirement packages to senior staff.”
(A) reason
(B) cause
(C) purpose
(D) consequence
12 “______ the unanimous vote by the board of directors yesterday, the layoff protocol will begin immediately on Monday morning.”
(A) Resulting from
(B) As a result of
(C) As a result
(D) Consequently
13 “The London branch has been consistently unprofitable for two years. The office will, ______, be permanently closed by the end of the month.”
(A) furthermore
(B) as a result of
(C) therefore
(D) however
14 “We have repeatedly warned departments about exceeding their budgets, ______ many teams continued to overspend, leading to this crisis.”
(A) therefore
(B) yet
(C) consequently
(D) because
15 “Our raw material costs increased so drastically ______ mass layoffs became the only viable strategy to avoid bankruptcy.”
(A) that
(B) as
(C) than
(D) therefore
16 “The immediate need for personnel reductions is a regrettable necessity ______ the sudden loss of our primary market share.”
(A) resulting from
(B) resulting in
(C) as a consequence
(D) therefore
17 “Our competitors have heavily automated their production lines; ______ the immediate necessity for us to restructure our manual labor force.”
(A) thus
(B) hence
(C) therefore
(D) due to
18 “The company has failed to secure the Series B funding. It is, ______, with deep regret that I must announce these departmental cuts.”
(A) moreover
(B) consequently
(C) despite this
(D) due to
19 “We understand this news is devastating. ______, our HR department has partnered with external agencies to provide job placement assistance.”
(A) To this end
(B) Because of this
(C) Due to this end
(D) In result
20 “Many roles have become completely redundant due to the new AI software. ______, those specific positions will be phased out over the next sixty days.”
(A) That is why
(B) As a consequent
(C) On account of
(D) In conclusion to
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) Therefore
- Why it is correct: A formal conjunctive adverb used to show the logical result of the previous statement (Revenue dropped -> result: we must cut costs).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Meaning Trap: “However” shows contrast, which is illogical here. (C) Meaning Trap: “In addition” adds information, but this is a strict cause-and-effect relationship. (D) Structural Error: “Because” is a subordinating conjunction and cannot start a standalone independent sentence followed by a comma in this way.
2 (A) As a result
- Why it is correct: A transitional phrase starting a new sentence to introduce the consequence of the depleted budget.
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Common Mistake: Missing the article “a”. (C) Structural Error: “As a result of” is a preposition and must be followed by a noun phrase, not a full independent clause. (D) Meaning Trap: Adds similar information, rather than showing a direct consequence.
3 (B) Due to
- Why it is correct: A prepositional phrase meaning “caused by,” correctly followed by the noun phrase “the severe and unprecedented decline in global sales”.
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Structural Error: “Because” must be followed by a full subject-verb clause. (C) Structural Error: “Consequently” is an adverb and cannot function as a preposition connecting a noun phrase to a main clause. (D) Meaning Trap: “Despite” shows contrast, which is logically opposite to the context.
4 (A) Consequently
- Why it is correct: A highly formal adverb used at the beginning of a sentence to introduce the direct effect of the preceding event (losing clients).
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Structural Error: “Consequent” is an adjective. (C) Structural Error: “In consequence of” requires a noun object, not a comma and a new clause. (D) Meaning Trap: “Nevertheless” means “despite this,” which contradicts the logical flow.
5 (A) thus
- Why it is correct: “Thus” is a formal adverb meaning “as a result of this.” It is perfectly used here after a semicolon to bridge the cause and the effect.
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Meaning Trap: “Yet” shows contrast. (C) Structural Error: Cannot be used alone as a conjunctive adverb in this structure. (D) Structural Error: “so that” shows purpose, not consequence, and doesn’t follow a semicolon.
6 (C) Since
- Why it is correct: Used as a subordinating conjunction meaning “Because.” It perfectly introduces the dependent clause explaining the cause (“the economic downturn is severely affecting…”).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Structural Error: “Due to” is a preposition and cannot be followed by a full subject-verb clause. (B) Structural Error: “Because of” is a preposition and cannot be followed by a full clause. (D) Meaning Trap: “Therefore” introduces an effect, not a cause.
7 (A) hence
- Why it is correct: A formal adverb meaning “for this reason” or “therefore.” It connects the high costs to the resulting decision to consolidate.
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Common Mistake: Singular/Plural mismatch (“this reasons”). (C) Structural Error: Requires a noun object. (D) Meaning Trap: “Otherwise” implies a condition (“if not”), which alters the meaning entirely.
8 (A) consequence
- Why it is correct: The sentence requires a noun following the adjective “direct.” “Consequence” means the result of an action.
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Structural Error: “Consequently” is an adverb. (C) Common Mistake: “Affect” is usually a verb; the noun form is “effect”. (D) Meaning Trap: The layoffs are the result, not the “cause” of the losses.
9 (A) Accordingly
- Why it is correct: A formal business adverb meaning “in a way that is appropriate to the particular circumstances.” It acts seamlessly as a cause-and-effect marker here.
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Structural Error: “According to” is a preposition requiring an object. (C) Structural Error: Incomplete phrase (In accordance with). (D) Meaning Trap: Indicates a contrast.
10 (B) Owing to
- Why it is correct: A formal prepositional phrase meaning “because of,” correctly followed by the noun phrase “a lack of external investor funding.”
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Structural Error: Requires a full subject-verb clause. (C) Structural Error: Requires the preposition “of” to precede a noun phrase. (D) Meaning Trap: “Instead of” means as a substitute, which is illogical here.
11 (A) reason
- Why it is correct: “For this reason” is a standard transitional phrase linking a cause to its resulting action.
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Common Mistake: “For this cause” is unnatural phrasing in English. (C) Meaning Trap: “Purpose” implies an intentional goal, but the plummeting profits are a circumstance, not a goal. (D) Common Mistake: The idiom is “As a consequence,” not “For this consequence.”
12 (B) As a result of
- Why it is correct: A multi-word preposition meaning “caused by,” correctly followed by the noun phrase “the unanimous vote”.
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Structural Error: Usually follows a noun (e.g., “injuries resulting from…”), rather than starting a sentence this way. (C) Structural Error: Missing the preposition “of”. (D) Structural Error: An adverb cannot connect a noun phrase to a main clause in this position.
13 (C) therefore
- Why it is correct: “Therefore” can act as an interrupter mid-sentence, set off by commas between the auxiliary verb (“will”) and the main verb phrase, to emphasize the formal, objective nature of the consequence.
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Meaning Trap: “Furthermore” adds information but doesn’t express the direct logical result of being unprofitable. (B) Structural Error: Missing a noun object. (D) Meaning Trap: Shows contrast.
14 (B) yet
- Why it is correct: STRONG DISTRACTOR. The context implies a cause (warnings) that was ignored, leading to the crisis. “Yet” is the coordinating conjunction that correctly shows the surprising contrast (they were warned, but/yet they still overspent).
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Meaning Trap: Warned -> Result: overspent is logically backward. (C) Meaning Trap: Same as A. (D) Structural Error: Creates a run-on sentence without proper punctuation.
15 (A) that
- Why it is correct: The structure “so [adverb/adjective]… that…” is used to express a cause and its extreme result (so drastically that layoffs became necessary).
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Common Mistake: Incorrect pairing (so… as). (C) Structural Error: “Than” is used for comparatives. (D) Structural Error: Cannot be used in the “so… that” grammatical framework.
16 (A) resulting from
- Why it is correct: A participle phrase functioning as an adjective, meaning “caused by” the sudden loss of market share.
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Meaning Trap: “Resulting in” means “causing” (putting the cause and effect backward). (C) Structural Error: Needs the preposition “of”. (D) Structural Error: Adverb used incorrectly as a preposition.
17 (B) hence
- Why it is correct: “Hence” is unique because it can be followed directly by a noun phrase (“the immediate necessity…”) to mean “which leads to” or “that is the reason for.”
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Structural Error: “Thus” generally requires a full clause or V-ing (e.g., thus creating a necessity). (C) Structural Error: “Therefore” requires a full subject-verb clause. (D) Structural Error: Cannot follow a semicolon as a preposition in this manner.
18 (B) consequently
- Why it is correct: Used as a mid-sentence adverbial interrupter (set off by commas) to formally state the result of failing to secure funding.
- Distractor Analysis: (A) Meaning Trap: Adds similar information, doesn’t establish the cause-and-effect relationship. (C) Meaning Trap: Shows contrast/concession. (D) Structural Error: Preposition used without an object.
19 (A) To this end
- Why it is correct: A formal business phrase meaning “in order to achieve this” or “as a response to this situation.” It logically links the devastating news to the resulting action the company is taking to help.
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Common Mistake: Too informal for a severe corporate announcement. (C) Structural Error: Mixed, incorrect idiom. (D) Common Mistake: The correct phrase is “As a result.”
20 (A) That is why
- Why it is correct: A clear, natural phrase used at the beginning of a sentence to introduce the logical consequence of the previous statement.
- Distractor Analysis: (B) Common Mistake: “Consequent” is an adjective; it should be “As a consequence”. (C) Meaning Trap: “On account of” means “because of,” so it would introduce a cause, not the resulting action (phasing out positions). (D) Structural Error: Not a standard English idiom.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
When drafting professional reports, meeting minutes, or difficult announcements (like downsizing), using precise discourse markers removes emotion and makes your conclusions sound objective and data-driven.
- Introducing the Result (Independent Clauses):
- Therefore, / Consequently, / As a result, / Accordingly, / Thus,
- Rule: These are conjunctive adverbs. They start a new sentence (or follow a semicolon) and must be followed by a comma and a full clause.
- Example: “Sales fell. Consequently, we must reduce staff.”
- Introducing the Cause (Prepositions vs. Conjunctions):
- Prepositions (Followed by a Noun Phrase): Due to, / Owing to, / Because of, / As a result of. * Example: “Due to the budget cuts, the project is canceled.”
- Conjunctions (Followed by a Full Clause): Because, / Since, / As.
- Example: “Since the budget was cut, the project is canceled.”
- The “Resulting In” vs. “Resulting From” Trap:
- Resulting in = Leading to (points to the Effect). -> The crash resulted in job losses.
- Resulting from = Caused by (points to the Cause). -> The job losses resulted from the crash.
- The Power of “Hence”:
- Hence is highly formal and can uniquely be followed directly by a noun phrase to explain a consequence.
- Example: “We lost our biggest client; hence the immediate budget freeze.”