Words in Context Pattern - Cause and Effect

Choosing the word that connects a cause to its effect or a reason to its result

These questions give you a passage where something causes something else, and the blank word needs to name that causal relationship — or describe the thing being affected. The passage spells out what happened and why; your job is to find the word that accurately connects the cause to the effect.

 

How to recognize it

Look for cause-and-effect language: "because," "as a result," "therefore," "since," "consequently," or a sentence that describes a cause and then its outcome. The blank word sits somewhere in that chain — it might name the effect, describe the cause, or link the two.

 

How to approach it

Read the passage and identify: What's the cause? What's the effect? Then figure out what role the blank plays in that chain.

Here's a real example:

Bakers add salt to dough to control yeast activity, but excessive salt draws water out of yeast cells and suppresses fermentation. Active yeast is particularly _ to high salt concentrations; too much salt can collapse cell membranes and stall the rise.

The question asks: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A) vulnerable B) resistant C) limited D) receptive

The cause is high salt concentration. The effect is damage: water drawn out, cell membranes collapsed, fermentation stalled. The blank describes yeast's relationship to this cause — yeast is easily harmed by it. That's vulnerable — choice A.

Why the others fail: "Resistant" (B) means the opposite — it would mean salt doesn't harm yeast, which contradicts the entire passage. "Limited" (C) describes a restriction but not a susceptibility to harm. "Receptive" (D) means open or welcoming, which doesn't fit — yeast isn't "welcoming" high salt; it's being damaged by it.

 

Traps to watch for

• Words that reverse the causal direction. If the passage says X causes damage, don't pick a word that means X is harmless or beneficial. Always check that the word matches the direction of the effect (positive or negative).

• Words that describe the topic but not the causal link. All four choices may relate to the general subject. But only one names the specific causal relationship the passage describes.

 

How the difficulty changes

 

Easier questions:

The cause and effect are stated plainly, and the blank word is a common term.

Marine biologists once believed that all shallow-water corals responded to heat waves in the same way, but a recent field study proved that view wrong by _ that colonies hosting certain symbiotic algae bleached far less severely.

The cause: a field study was conducted. The effect: the old belief was disproved. The blank describes how the study did it — by recording or showing evidence. The answer is documenting. The wrong choices (pretending, requiring, complaining) don't describe a way to produce evidence.

 

Medium questions:

The causal chain is longer, and you need to trace the reasoning through the sentence.

After Newbrook introduced weekday congestion pricing in 2021, traffic into the city core fell by 18 percent while weekend retail receipts rebounded to pre-2019 levels. The early results may persuade critics who predicted the fee would depress local commerce to ______ that targeted pricing can coincide with healthy retail activity.

The cause: real-world data showing pricing worked without hurting retail. The effect: critics might change their minds. The blank describes what the critics would do — accept or admit that pricing and commerce can coexist. The answer is acknowledge. You have to trace the chain: data → persuasion → critics admitting they were wrong. "Mandate" (force), "refute" (disprove), and "certify" (officially confirm) don't describe a skeptic reluctantly accepting evidence.

 

Harder questions:

The causal relationship is more abstract, and the vocabulary is more advanced.

A cache of nineteenth-century dealer correspondence reveals that the so-called Storm Series was titled and marketed as a set decades after the canvases were painted, to appeal to collectors. This post hoc packaging suggests a constructed narrative, potentially _ the myth that the painter conceived the works as a unified cycle from the start.

The cause: evidence that dealers packaged the paintings as a set later. The effect: the origin myth (that the painter planned the series) is weakened. The blank describes how the evidence affects the myth — it undermines it. The answer is undercutting. "Enshrining" (preserving) and "cementing" (strengthening) go the wrong direction — they'd mean the evidence supports the myth, which is the opposite. "Presaging" (foreshadowing) doesn't fit because the evidence doesn't predict the myth; it undermines it.

 

Your approach on test day

1. Identify the cause and the effect in the passage.

2. Determine what role the blank plays: Does it name the effect? Describe the cause? Link them?

3. Check that your answer matches the direction of the causal relationship — don't accidentally reverse it.