Cause and Effect

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Cause and Effect

• An Important Reading Concept
• Created by Cheri Morris
• Basic Skills, DCCC

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How do I recognize the differencebetween the
cause and the effect?
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Cause tells us why something happened.
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Effect tells us what happened.
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Consider the following sentences.

• Casey failed the test because he did not study.
• Because he did not study, Casey failed the test.

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What happened?Casey failed the test.This is
the effect.
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Why did it happen?because Casey did not
study.This is the cause.
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Certain words signal causeand
effectbecause, since, for, therefore, so
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On the Accuplacer test, you will see two-sentence
relationships. You will seecause and effect
questions.

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Look at this example using our previous
sentence.A.Casey failed the test.B.He did not
study.

• The effect is he failed the test.
• The cause is he did not study.

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• A. Casey failed the test.
• B. He did not study.
• What relationship does B have to A?
• B is the effect.
• B is the cause.
• What happened? Casey failed the test.
• Why? He did not study.
• Therefore, the answer is 2
• B is the cause of A.

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• Now try the converse of the previous question.
• A. Casey failed the test.
• B. He did not study.
• What relationship does A have to B?
• 1. A is the effect of B.
• 2. A is the cause of B.
• The effect is (A) Casey failed the test.
• The cause is (B) he did not study.
• Therefore, the answer to this question is 1.
• A is the effect of B.

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• Now try to answer this question.
• A. Jennifer missed her ride to school.
• Jennifer was not in school today.
• What relationship does A have to B?
• 1. A is the effect.
• A is the cause.
• What happened? effect
• Why did it happen? cause

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• The answer to this question is 2. A is the
• cause.
• Jennifer missed her ride to school, so she was
  absent from school.
• Why was she absent? She missed her ride!

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• Try another cause and effect question.
• William never ate dinner last night.
• He forgot his money.
• What is the relationship of B to A?
• B is the effect.
• B is the cause.

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• The answer to this question is 2. B is the
  cause.
• William never ate dinner is what happened.
• Why? He forgot his money.

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• Try one more question.
• The doctor prescribed medicine for the baby.
• The baby had an ear infection.
• What relationship does B have to A?
• B is the effect.
• B is the cause.

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• The answer is 2. B is the cause of A.
• The doctor prescribed medicine for the baby
  because it was sick.

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• If you are still unsure about cause and effect,
• there is a book on the fourth shelf of the
  reading bookcase. Please refer to pages
• 56 64. The name of the book is Breakthroughs
  in Critical Reading. Do not take this book home!