Reading Comprehension Success in 20 Minutes a Day, 3rd Edition

L E S S O N
Why Do Things
Happen?
A Look at Cause 
and Effect
L E S S O N S U M M A R Y
“One thing leads to another”—that’s the principle behind cause and
effect. Understanding cause and effect, and the relationship between
them, will make you a better reader.
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7 3

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D i s t i n g u i s h i n g C a u s e f r o m
E f f e c t
A passage that examines cause generally answers the
question 
why
something took place: Why was the com-
pany restructured? Who or what made this take place?
A passage that examines effect generally answers the
question 
what happened
after something took place:
What happened as a result of the restructuring? How
did it affect the company?
Practice
To help you distinguish between cause and effect, care-
fully read following the sentences. You’ll see that cause
and effect work together; you can’t have one without
the other. That’s why it’s very important to be able to
distinguish between the two. See if you can determine
both the cause and the effect in each of the following
sentences:
Cause:_Robin_talked_back_to_the_boss._Effect:_Robin_got_demoted._1.'>Example:
Robin got demoted when she talked
back to the boss.
Cause:
Robin talked back to the boss.
Effect:
Robin got demoted.
1.
Inflation has caused us to raise our prices.
Cause:
Effect:
2.
Since we hired Joan, the office has been running
smoothly.
Cause:
Effect:
3.
He realized that his car had stopped not because
it needed repair but because it ran out of gas.
Cause:
Effect:
4.
The company’s budget crisis was created by
overspending.