ACT Reading Cause and Effect: Trace Relationships Between Events and Ideas

A cause is why something happens. An effect is what happens as a result. Question phrasing: "As a result of...", "Caused by...", "Led to...", "In response to...". Process: (1) Identify what happened (effect). (2) Ask why it happened (cause). (3) Verify the passage directly states or clearly implies this causal relationship. Not every two events are causally related. Only connect cause-effect if the passage supports the relationship. Example: "The company failed because it spent too much on advertising." Cause: excessive advertising spending. Effect: company failure. The passage states the relationship.

Tricky case: "The price rose and the sales dropped." This shows correlation (both happened), not necessarily causation (price caused sales to drop). The passage must explicitly state or strongly imply the causal link.

Trap 1: Assuming causation from correlation. Two things happened together, but one might not have caused the other. Trap 2: Reversing cause and effect. "Traffic increased because rush hour started" gets the direction wrong. Rush hour causes traffic, not vice versa. Trap 3: Assuming causation when only one event is mentioned. If the passage describes only the effect, don't invent a cause. Trace both the cause and effect explicitly stated or heavily implied in the passage.

During practice, underline causes in one color and effects in another. This visual separation prevents mixing them up.

Find three practice passages with cause-effect questions. For each passage, (1) identify the effect (what happened), (2) identify the cause (why it happened), (3) verify the passage supports this causal relationship, (4) predict the answer before looking at choices. Do this for three passages this week. This drill trains you to distinguish correlation from causation and trace causal relationships supported by the passage. Most predictions will match correct answers because cause-effect relationships are usually explicit.

Repeat on two more passages. By the second passage set, you'll recognize that cause-effect questions reward textual evidence, not speculation.

Cause-effect questions appear on most ACT Reading sections, making up 5-10% of questions. Students who develop careful cause-effect reasoning pick up 1 point on the reading section because they understand how ideas logically relate.

Use the underline-both-colors method on your next practice test. For every cause-effect question, underline the cause in one color and the effect in another. By test day, causal relationships should be clear and traceable.