Pariksha SaathiReasoning
Cause and Effect: Practice Questions with Answers
11 practice questions on Cause and Effect, with answers; most also have an explanation or a worked solution. Try each one before you open its answer.
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Q.1
I. Schools in a district remained closed for two days. II. Government offices in the same district also remained closed for the same two days.
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Answer: Both I and II are effects of some common cause
Solution:
- Neither closing directly causes the other — schools don’t close because offices do, or vice versa. Both closing on the exact same days strongly suggests a shared, unstated trigger (such as a district-wide weather warning or a declared local holiday).
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Q.2
I. Two of a company’s factories, in different states, both reported a dip in output during the same week. II. Both states experienced an unusually severe heatwave during that week.
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Answer: II is the cause and I is its effect
Solution:
- A severe heatwave naturally causes reduced factory output (heat-related safety limits, power cuts, shorter shifts) — here the cause (II) is stated second and the effect (I) is stated first, so it’s the reverse pairing.
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Q.3
I. A company announced a significant price cut on its flagship product. II. Sales of the product increased sharply over the following month.
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Answer: I is the cause and II is its effect
Solution:
- A price cut naturally and directly leads to higher sales — this is a textbook direct cause-and-effect pairing in this order.
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Q.4
I. The company’s sales team exceeded its quarterly target. II. The company’s new office building was completed ahead of schedule.
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Answer: I and II are independent events
Solution:
- These describe two separate departments’ unrelated outcomes, with no plausible causal link between them and no obvious shared trigger — they’re simply independent events.
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Q.5
I. Several low-lying areas in a region were flooded. II. The region experienced heavy rainfall for three consecutive days.
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Answer: II is the cause and I is its effect
Solution:
- Heavy rainfall is what naturally causes flooding — here, the cause (II) is stated second and the effect (I) is stated first, so it’s the reverse pairing.
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Q.6
I. A particular factory started using new, more efficient machinery last month. II. The factory’s production output increased noticeably this month.
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Answer: I is the cause and II is its effect
Solution:
- Installing more efficient machinery is exactly the kind of change that naturally and directly raises output soon after — a textbook direct cause-and-effect pairing in this order.
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Q.7
I. A city recorded an unusually high number of hospital visits for heat-related illness one week. II. The city experienced an intense heatwave that same week.
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Q.8
I. A particular online retailer offered a large discount during a festival sale. II. The retailer recorded its highest-ever single-day sales during that festival sale.
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Q.9
I. The government increased the import duty on a certain category of electronics. II. The retail price of that electronics category rose in the following weeks.
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Q.10
I. A cafe near an office introduced a new menu item. II. The office’s annual sports day was rescheduled to the following month.
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Q.11
I. Several flights were delayed at an airport. II. Train services on nearby routes were also disrupted around the same time.
How these questions were made
Written by Mahesh Srivastava, Founder of Pariksha Saathi. Published: 2026-10-03.