SC迷思：幫because of平反
一開始Dustin在準備GMAT的時候，包括chasedream等網路論壇就有傳言「表因果不要用because of，要用because+子句」。真的嗎？
比如這一題：
Retailers reported moderate gains in their November sales, as much because of their sales of a year earlier being so bad as that shoppers were getting a head start on buying their holiday gifts.
(A) of their sales of a year earlier being so bad as that
(D) their sales a year earlier had been so bad as because
有些網路上的解釋說「這是不接受的用法。（當文法來解）」有些解釋甚至還煞有其事地說：「用because+句子（完整子句）表因果關係，才能明確表達出因果的相關性」。
Dustin怎麼聽都覺得怪怪的，只好拿出正確句子搜尋一下（不到0.5秒）：
Today, because of improvements in agricultural technology, the same amount of acreage produces twice as many apples as it did in 1910.
Just as scientists, because of random fluctuations in the weather, cannot determine the transition from one season to the next by monitoring temperatures on a daily basis, so they cannot determine the onset of global warming by monitoring average annual temperatures.
還有這題的正確答案：
Almost like clones in their similarity to one another, the cheetah species’ homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease.
(E) members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease because of their homogeneity
如果你照網路上的詭異解釋，阿不就看到because of馬上秒刪了？還有更多，我就族繁不及備載了。網路上的解釋很多都是「馬後炮解」，知道正確答案才倒回來來解釋，會死人的…
because一樣可以表達「明確的因果」，沒有什麼「只有because子句才能表達明確因果」這件事。關鍵在於「because of 後方接的名詞核心是否為原因的根本（通常是表事件的action noun）」。
「地上這攤水害我跌倒」是口語英文，但邏輯是不精確的。沒踩上去會跌倒嗎？因此「地上這攤水（物）」不能當作原因。「踩到地上這攤水讓我跌倒」是動作或改變才會帶來結果。
如：
because of improvements in agricultural technology… 核心名詞在「進步」。
如果寫成because of agriculture whose technology has improved… 那就完蛋啦！「農業」是不能當原因的。
because of random fluctuations in the weather…核心名詞在「波動」。
如果寫成because of fluctuating weather…呢？天氣是原因嗎？天氣的變動才是原因吧！
那請問，當今天可以寫成because of random fluctuations in the weather…時，有必要寫成because the weather fluctuates randomly…嗎？
語意都明確合理之下，哪一句比較精簡，是否一看皆知。當今天because of 後方核心名詞正確表達原因的時候，多開一個because＋子句反而使結構複雜化。
希望大家要學會這個點啊！幫because of 平反！
About Dustin
最不專業的GMAT教學分享平台。
最討厭商學院卻考了GMAT。
為GMAT考生打造的輔助學習網站。
（那個，拜託，不要叫我老師或顧問。）