Question 1

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the most plausible causal relationship between the two statements.  Statement I: Standard of living among the middle class is consistently rising in recent years.  Statement II: The Indian economy is witnessing remar…

Accepted Answer

Approach Economic growth typically drives higher incomes, employment, and consumption, which elevate the standard of living, especially for the middle class. Reasoning It is more natural that a growing macroeconomy (Statement II) causes improvements in household welfare and purchasing power (Statement I) rather than the reverse. Common pitfalls Assuming the reverse direction without macroeconomic justification. Final Answer Statement II is the cause and Statement I is its effect

Question 2

Cause–Effect reasoning: Decide which statement is likely the cause and which is the effect.  Statement I: The Meteorological Department announced deficient monsoon rainfall across many regions.  Statement II: The Government lowered the revised estim…

Accepted Answer

Approach Deficient rainfall adversely impacts agriculture, rural demand, power generation, and allied sectors, which can reduce expected GDP growth. Reasoning A forecast (Statement I) provides a rational basis for the Government to trim GDP projections (Statement II). Hence I → II. Final Answer Statement I is the cause and Statement II is its effect

Question 3

Cause–Effect reasoning: Determine the best description of the relationship between the protest events.  Statement I: Airport Authority staff called off the strike they had been observing against privatization.  Statement II: Airport Authority staff …

Accepted Answer

Approach A strike (Statement II) logically precedes any decision to call it off (Statement I). The initiation of the strike sets the stage for a later withdrawal. Reasoning Without the strike there would be nothing to call off. While the immediate trigger to end a strike could be negotiations or assurances, the temporal and causal chain is II → I. Common pitfalls Treating the two as independent; they are sequential parts of the same industrial action episode. Final Answer Statement II is the cause and Statement I is its effect

Question 4

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the relationship between Statement I and Statement II.  S1: A huge truck overturned in the middle of the road last night. S2: The police cordoned off the entire area in the locality this morning for half of the day. …

Accepted Answer

Given data S1: A huge truck overturned in the middle of the road last night. S2: The police cordoned off the entire area this morning for half of the day. Concept / Approach Cordon-offs are typical responses to accidents to manage traffic, safety and investigation. Hence an accident (S1) plausibly causes the cordon (S2). Step-by-step check of options A: Accident ⇒ police cordon. Matches normal sequence. ✔ B: Police cordon causing the prior night's accident is illogical. ✖ C/D/E: No evidence that both are unrelated effects or independent causes. ✖ Final Answer Statement I is the cause and Statement II is its effect.

Question 5

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the relationship between Statement I and Statement II.  S1: The importance of Yoga and exercise is being realized by all sections of society. S2: There is increasing awareness about health in society, particularly am…

Accepted Answer

Given data S1: People are realizing the importance of Yoga and exercise. S2: Health awareness is increasing, especially among middle-aged people. Concept / Approach Greater health awareness typically leads people to value preventive practices like Yoga and exercise. Thus S2 is a natural driver of S1. Step-by-step check of options A: Realizing the importance of Yoga does not itself create society-wide awareness. ✖ B: Rising health awareness ⇒ more people realize Yoga/exercise matter. ✔ C/D/E: No indication of separate unrelated causes or a third common cause beyond S2 directly influencing S1. ✖ Final Answer Statement II is the cause and Statement I is its effect.

Question 6

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the relationship between Statement I and Statement II.  S1: Prices of food grains and other essential commodities in the open market have risen sharply during the past three months. S2: The opposition political party…

Accepted Answer

Given data S1: Sharp rise in prices of essentials over three months. S2: Opposition calls a general strike protesting the government's economic policy. Concept / Approach The wording of S2 explicitly ties the strike to the government's economic policy. Price rise (S1) is also commonly an outcome of economic policy (among other factors). Hence both can be traced to a likely common cause: the government's policy stance. Step-by-step check of options A: S1 directly causing S2 is possible superficially, but S2 cites policy as the reason, not prices per se. ✖ B: A strike cannot cause the prior three-month price rise. ✖ C: They are not two separate causes; both look like outcomes. ✖ D: Independent unrelated causes are not indicated; both link back to policy. ✖ E: Both are effects of a common cause (government's economic policy). ✔ Final Answer Both statements I and II are effects of a common cause.

Question 7

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the relationship between Statement I and Statement II.  S1: The Government has decided to hold a single entrance test for admission to all medical colleges in India. S2: The State Government has debarred students fro…

Accepted Answer

Given data S1: A central policy decision about a single (national) medical entrance test. S2: A separate State policy to restrict out-of-state applicants. Concept / Approach Each statement describes a policy decision that can independently cause downstream outcomes. Neither is stated as a response to the other; their intents and jurisdictions differ (central vs state). Step-by-step check of options A/B: No explicit or necessary causal link from one policy to the other. ✖ C: Both are policy decisions that independently act as causes for distinct effects. ✔ D/E: They are not effects; they are causes themselves. ✖ Final Answer Both statements I and II are independent causes.

Question 8

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the relationship between Statement I and Statement II.  S1: A large number of primary schools in rural areas are run by only one teacher. S2: There has been a huge dropout from the primary schools in rural areas.  Ch…

Accepted Answer

Given data S1: Many rural primary schools have only one teacher. S2: Rural primary schools are experiencing huge dropouts. Concept / Approach Teacher scarcity degrades instructional quality and student support, which plausibly increases dropout rates. Step-by-step check of options A: Staff shortage ⇒ poorer learning experience ⇒ dropouts. ✔ B: Dropouts causing one-teacher schools is unlikely. ✖ C/D/E: No indication of unrelated causes or a third common cause. ✖ Final Answer Statement I is the cause and Statement II is its effect.

Question 9

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the relationship between Statement I and Statement II.  S1: Employees of the biggest bank in the country have given an indefinite strike call starting from the third of next month. S2: Employees of the Central Govern…

Accepted Answer

Given data S1: Bank employees plan an indefinite strike starting a future date. S2: Central Government employees have ended their week-long demonstrations. Concept / Approach Different groups, different timelines and actions; there is no stated linkage. Each action likely responds to its own negotiations/contexts. Step-by-step check of options A/B: Neither action plausibly causes the other across sectors and opposite directions (starting vs withdrawing). ✖ C: They are not presented as causes; they are outcomes/decisions. ✖ D: Each is an effect of its own independent cause (sector-specific labor context). ✔ E: No common cause is indicated. ✖ Final Answer Both statements I and II are effects of independent causes.

Question 10

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the relationship between Statement I and Statement II.  S1: Police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse an unlawful gathering of a large number of people. S2: The citizens' forum called a general strike in protest ag…

Accepted Answer

Given data S1: Police used lathi-charge to disperse an unlawful gathering. S2: A citizens' forum called a general strike protesting police atrocities. Concept / Approach A protest strike is a direct reaction to the alleged police excesses; hence S1 triggers S2. Step-by-step check of options A: Police action ⇒ protest strike. ✔ B: The later strike cannot cause the earlier police action. ✖ C/D/E: No evidence of unrelated causation or third common factor. ✖ Final Answer Statement I is the cause and Statement II is its effect.

Question 11

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the relationship between Statement I and Statement II.  S1: Farmers have decided against selling their Kharif crops to Government agencies. S2: The Government has reduced the procurement price of Kharif crops from la…

Accepted Answer

Given data S1: Farmers refuse to sell to Government agencies. S2: Government reduced procurement price for six months. Concept / Approach A price reduction makes selling less attractive, so farmers' refusal (S1) is a likely reaction to S2. Step-by-step check of options A: Farmers' refusal causing an earlier price cut contradicts the timing. ✖ B: Price cut ⇒ refusal to sell at lower prices. ✔ C/D/E: No basis for independent or common external causes beyond S2→S1 direct link. ✖ Final Answer Statement II is the cause and Statement I is its effect.

Question 12

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the relationship between Statement I and Statement II.  S1: Many people visited the religious place during the weekend. S2: Few people visited the religious place during the weekdays.  Choose the correct cause–effect…

Accepted Answer

Given data S1: High weekend footfall at a religious place. S2: Low weekday footfall at the same place. Concept / Approach A common cause—people being off work on weekends and busy on weekdays—simultaneously explains higher weekend visits and lower weekday visits. Step-by-step check of options A/B: Neither weekend traffic causes weekday paucity nor vice versa. ✖ C/D: They are not independent causes/effects; both reflect the weekly work–leisure cycle. ✖ E: Both are effects of a common cause (weekly schedule/availability). ✔ Final Answer Both statements I and II are effects of a common cause.

Question 13

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the relationship between Statement I and Statement II.  S1: All the schools in the area had to be kept closed for most of the week. S2: Many parents have withdrawn their children from the local schools.  Choose the c…

Accepted Answer

Given data S1: Schools remained closed for most of the week. S2: Many parents withdrew their children from local schools. Concept / Approach Extended closures undermine continuity and trust, prompting parents to pull out their children. Step-by-step check of options A: Prolonged closure ⇒ withdrawals by parents. ✔ B: Withdrawals cannot be the reason schools were kept closed earlier in the week. ✖ C/D/E: No signal of unrelated or third-cause explanations. ✖ Final Answer Statement I is the cause and Statement II is its effect.

Question 14

Cause–Effect reasoning: Identify the most plausible causal link between the two statements.  Statement I: The literacy rate in the district has been increasing for the last four years.  Statement II: The district administration conducted extensive t…

Accepted Answer

Given data Outcome: Literacy rate has been rising for four years (Statement I). Intervention: Administration ran extensive training for literacy workers (Statement II). Concept/Approach Training improves teaching quality, outreach, and program execution, which reasonably increases literacy outcomes. Step-by-step reasoning 1) Capacity building of workers → better delivery of literacy drive. 2) Better delivery → higher enrollment/retention/learning → rising literacy rate over time. Common pitfalls Assuming the reverse direction without an additional mechanism. Final Answer Statement II is the cause and Statement I is its effect

Question 15

Cause–Effect reasoning: Decide whether the tax policy change explains the subsequent price revision.  Statement I: Car manufacturers recently increased prices of mid-sized cars.  Statement II: The Government recently increased the duty on mid-sized …

Accepted Answer

Given data Manufacturers increased ex-showroom prices (Statement I). Government raised duty on mid-sized cars (Statement II). Reasoning Higher duty increases cost; firms typically pass part/all of the tax to buyers, leading to price hikes. Causal chain Duty hike → higher cost → price increase. Final Answer Statement II is the cause and Statement I is its effect

Question 16

Cause–Effect reasoning: Connect policy scheduling to previously delayed results.  Statement I: University officers decided to conduct the last examination every year in March/April to announce results on time.  Statement II: Earlier, results were de…

Accepted Answer

Given data Problem: Results were delayed due to insufficient examiners (Statement II). Remedy: Exam scheduling shifted earlier to enable timely result processing (Statement I). Reasoning Past operational bottlenecks motivate a scheduling change to allow more processing time and better examiner allocation. Final Answer Statement II is the cause and Statement I is its effect

Question 17

Cause–Effect reasoning: Relate a current incentive announcement to last year's broad tax hike.  Statement I: The State Government announced a special tax package for new industries to be set up in the State.  Statement II: Last year the State Govern…

Accepted Answer

Interpretation A prior across-the-board hike could have dampened investment; a subsequent special package is a corrective to attract new units. Causal chain Earlier hike (II) → investment concerns/pressure → incentive package (I). Note This direction is more plausible than the reverse; both statements clearly connect via policy response. Final Answer Statement II is the cause and Statement I is its effect

Question 18

Cause–Effect reasoning: Assess whether policy liberalization explains a national carrier's capacity increase.  Statement I: The Government allowed private Indian airlines to operate to overseas destinations.  Statement II: The national carrier incre…

Accepted Answer

Logic Opening routes to private competitors increases competitive pressure; a typical strategic response is to add capacity and frequencies on lucrative sectors. Causal chain Policy liberalization (I) → competition signal → national carrier scales up overseas flights (II). Final Answer Statement I is the cause and Statement II is its effect

Question 19

Cause–Effect reasoning: Link import surge to domestic price movement in a commodity market.  Statement I: The Government imported large quantities of sugar under trade agreements with other countries.  Statement II: Sugar prices in the domestic mark…

Accepted Answer

Market mechanics Higher imports increase supply; other things equal, excess supply pushes prices down. Causal chain Import surge (I) → supply expansion → price falls (II). Final Answer Statement I is the cause and Statement II is its effect

Question 20

Cause–Effect reasoning: Evaluate if a disease outbreak explains clinic closures by private practitioners.  Statement I: Many people in the area are reported to be suffering from malaria.  Statement II: Private medical practitioners in the area decid…

Accepted Answer

Analysis Malaria is vector-borne; a rise in cases is typically due to mosquito breeding and weather factors. Clinic closures usually occur due to strikes, licensing issues, or administrative directives, not as a control for malaria. Conclusion The two events can occur simultaneously but are likely driven by different immediate causes. Final Answer Both are effects of independent causes

Cause and Effect Questions