1. Inferring cause and effect
Comprehension Toolkit
Inferential comprehension 1
Inferring cause and effect

2. Comprehension means understanding.
Comprehension Toolkit
Inferential comprehension 1
Comprehension means understanding.
The best way to understand a text is to ask yourself questions as you read it.
The answers to some questions are easy to find, while the answers to others are more difficult to work out.

3. The cause of the dominoes falling is you pushing over the first one.
Comprehension Toolkit
Inferential comprehension 1
Cause and effect is when something happens — the cause — and as a result something happens — the effect.
Imagine lining up a row of dominoes. If you push over the first one, it causes all the dominoes to fall.
The cause of the dominoes falling is you pushing over the first one.
The effect is that all the dominoes fall.

4. Comprehension Toolkit
Inferential comprehension 1
cause
effect
The cause of the eggs breaking is that someone dropped them.
The effect of someone dropping the eggs is that they broke.

5. Which words show cause and effect in these sentences?
Comprehension Toolkit
Inferential comprehension 1
Words and phrases that often show cause and effect in a text are because, if, when, so, then, and, consequently, therefore, triggered, resulted in, as a result.
Which words show cause and effect in these sentences?
The cup broke because it slipped off the saucer.
If the cup slips off the saucer, it will break.
When the cup slipped off the saucer, it broke.
The cup slipped off the saucer and it broke.
The cup slipped off the saucer; as a result, it broke.

6. What caused Ella to miss her favourite TV program?
Comprehension Toolkit
Inferential comprehension 1
Sometimes there are no words to show cause and effect. We then have to infer it — figure it out — from information in the text.
Ella got home two hours later than usual. She was tired and irritable. She had missed her favourite TV program and would probably be up late, finishing her homework.
What caused Ella to miss her favourite TV program?

7. Comprehension Toolkit
Inferential comprehension 1
The End