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

Effect:
Answers
1. Cause: Inflation
Effect: We had to raise our prices.
2. Cause: We hired Joan.
Effect: Our office has been running smoothly.
3. Cause: The car ran out of gas.
Effect: The car stopped.
4. Cause: Overspending
Effect: Budget crisis
5. Cause: The new marketing program
Effect: Sales have doubled.
You were probably guided in your answers to this
exercise by the words and phrases that indicate when a
cause or effect is being examined. Here is a partial list
of such words.
Words Indicating Cause
Words Indicating Effect
since
hence
so
therefore
consequently
as a result
because (of)
since
created (by)
caused (by)
–
W H Y D O T H I N G S H A P P E N ? A L O O K AT C A U S E A N D E F F E C T
–
7 4

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When Cause and Effect Are
Interrelated
Notice how the signal words listed on the previous
page are used in the following paragraph. Underline the
signal words as you come across them.
Ed became a mechanic largely because of his father.
His father was always in the garage working on one
car or another, so young Ed would spend hours
watching his father work. As a result, he became
fascinated by cars at an early age. His father encour-
aged him to learn about cars on his own, so Ed
began tinkering with cars himself at age eight. Con-
sequently, by the time he was 13, Ed could tear an
engine apart and put it back together by himself.
Since he was already so skilled, when he was 15, he
got a job as the chief mechanic at a local repair shop.
He has been there ever since.
You should have underlined the following signal
words and phrases in this paragraph: because of, so
(twice), as a result, consequently, and since.
Notice that this paragraph’s purpose—to explain
why Ed became a mechanic—is expressed in the topic
sentence, “Ed became a mechanic largely because of his
father.” This paragraph’s purpose, then, is to explain
cause, and the primary cause is Ed’s father.
You’ll notice, however, that some of the sentences
in this paragraph also deal with effect. This may seem
like a contradiction at first. After all, why would a para-
graph about cause deal with effect? But it’s not a con-
tradiction. That’s because there isn’t just one thing that
led to Ed’s becoming a mechanic. Although Ed’s dad
may have been the initial cause, there was still a series
of actions and reactions that occurred—a series of
causes and effects. Once A causes B, B then becomes the
cause for C.
In fact, six different sets of cause and effect are
listed in this paragraph. What are they? The first cause
is provided to get you started.