October 2010 LSAT Section 1 Question 1

By referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as "purely programmatic" (line 49) in nature, the author mo...

on September 8, 2019

Identifying Cause and Effect

I am having trouble identifying the cause and effect on very specific questions, such as example 3 and example 5. Example 5 for instance discusses both the 1)low-power circuitry being susceptible to interference and 2)electronic devices putting navigation systems at risk. However, the cause and effect was "Cause: electronic devices" and "effect: modern aircraft navigation systems at risk". To me, it is a combination of both of these factors that is putting the navigation system at risk. I realize that in the conclusion electronic devices was explicitly mentioned, which could theoretically be an easy indicator for which cause to hone in on. However, when compared to example 3, whose cause was "ban on hunting" and effect was "increase in deer population" despite "resulting in a public safety concern" being the resulting factor explicitly stated in the conclusion, I have become confused on how to differentiate between cause and effect scenarios with various contributing/resulting variables. Is there a recommended technique to help when differentiating cause and effect within these types of questions?

Replies

on September 13, 2019

Hi,

Im having the same problem identifying cause and effect arguments. Can someone explain the strategy.

Thanks,
Brandy

Emma on December 10, 2019

Hey guys, I believe that, for example 5, the global effect observed is in fact that modern aircraft navigation systems are being put at risk. The designation of "modern aircraft navigation" is a way for us to understand that we are talking about aircrafts with low-power circuitry. I understand why you think that low-power circuitry can also be a cause, but what seem to really cause the technical problems is the use of electronic devices that interfere with the circuitry and not the other way around. The use of electronic devices, therefore, is the sufficient cause that brings about an interference with the low-powered circuitry that are found in modern aircrafts systems which as a result puts them at risk. I am not a tutor, so I can't be sure of what I am writing but I hope it can help you.
Emma.

Gabby on March 31, 2020

I'm also confused about how the cause/effect was chosen in example 3, can someone explain? Given the premise's mention of property damage, I chose the answer about the shrubs and such..

Gabby on April 7, 2020

@Gabby