Cause and Effect Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A new café opened on a street, and traffic increased two weeks later. What can be concluded from this information alone?
The café definitely caused all of the additional traffic
The traffic increase caused the café to open
The events occurred in sequence, but more evidence is needed to establish causation
The events cannot be compared because they occurred at different times
2. Mia set her alarm for the wrong time. She woke late and then missed her bus. What was the most immediate stated cause of her missing the bus?
Setting the alarm incorrectly
The bus following its route
Waking up late
Missing the bus
3. Heavy rain washed leaves into a drain. The drain became blocked, and the street flooded. What was the immediate cause of the street flooding?
Leaves growing on nearby trees
The blocked drain
Water covering the street
The street being lower than the sidewalk
4. A storm caused a power failure. Refrigerated food spoiled, and traffic lights stopped working. Which pair consists of effects in this chain?
The storm and the power failure
Spoiled food and nonworking traffic lights
Strong wind and heavy clouds
Repair crews and replacement food
5. In a cause-and-effect relationship, what is a cause?
An event or condition that produces or contributes to a result
The result that follows an event or condition
A detail that describes when the result occurred
A prediction made after the result is known
6. Which sentence presents the effect first and its cause second?
Because the alarm failed, Nora arrived late.
Strong winds caused several branches to fall.
The heater stopped, so the room cooled.
The room cooled because the heater stopped.
7. Which description best defines an effect?
The earliest event mentioned in a passage
A condition that makes another event possible
A word used to connect two unrelated details
A result or change produced by a cause
8. A loose cable made a computer screen flicker. A worker restarted the computer without saving, and unsaved changes were lost. What was the immediate cause of the lost changes?
The loose cable
The screen flickering
Restarting the computer without saving
The worker noticing the screen
9. A spark can ignite dry paper, but the same kind of spark goes out on a wet log. What does this example show about causes?
A cause may produce an effect only when supporting conditions are present
A spark cannot be considered a cause of fire
Wetness is an effect of every spark
The event that happens last must be the cause
10. Ice cream sales and sunburn cases both rise during summer. What is the most plausible common cause of both increases?
Ice cream causing skin to burn more easily
Sunburn making people buy ice cream
The two increases occurring in the same season by definition
Warmer, sunnier weather increasing both activities and exposure
11. A school extends lunch, and afternoon tardiness decreases. Which additional evidence would best support the claim that the longer lunch caused the decrease?
Comparable classes use different lunch lengths while transport and attendance rules remain the same
Students say they enjoy having more time to eat
The school also changes its bus schedule that week
Afternoon tardiness was already decreasing before the change
12. The picnic moved indoors since dark clouds began producing rain. Which event is the cause stated in the sentence?
The picnic being planned
People entering the building
The picnic moving indoors
Dark clouds producing rain
13. If a suspected cause is removed while other conditions stay the same, what result would generally support the causal claim?
The effect occurs earlier than before
The effect changes even when the cause remains present
The effect becomes less likely or less pronounced
The effect is described with different words
14. The sidewalk froze overnight because the temperature fell below freezing. What is the stated cause?
The arrival of morning
The temperature falling below freezing
The frozen sidewalk
People avoiding the sidewalk
15. Plants beside a sunny window grew taller than plants in a darker corner, but the two groups also received different amounts of water. Why is sunlight alone not yet a certain cause of the difference?
Plant height cannot be observed accurately
Water amount is another variable that could have affected growth
Sunlight can only be treated as an effect
Two groups can never be compared
16. A researcher wets identical towels with equal amounts of water, places them in otherwise identical dryers set to different temperatures, and finds that hotter settings dry them faster. What cause was tested?
The dryer temperature
The type and size of each towel
The length of time used to wet each towel
The amount of water in each towel