Question:
Given below is a pair of events I and II. You have to decide their nature of relationship. Assume that the given information is correct and final.
I. Prices of toys in the market have gone down
II. Government has reduced import duty on toys.
Given below is a pair of events I and II. You have to decide their nature of relationship. Assume that the given information is correct and final.
I. Prices of toys in the market have gone down
II. Government has reduced import duty on toys.
I. Prices of toys in the market have gone down
II. Government has reduced import duty on toys.
Show Hint
Ask which event is a deliberate decision and which is only a market outcome. The deliberate decision is the cause.
Updated On: Jul 17, 2026
- I is the main cause and II is the main effect
- I is effect but II is not the main cause
- II is the main cause and I is the main effect
- II is an effect but I is not the main cause.
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The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Understanding the Question:
Two events are given and we must decide which one produced the other. In a cause and effect question the cause has to come first in time and must be capable of bringing the other event about.
Step 2: Key Approach:
Try both directions. Ask whether I can produce II, then whether II can produce I. The direction that makes sense as a real world mechanism is the answer.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Import duty is a tax charged on goods brought into the country. It is added on top of the price the importer pays, so the shopkeeper passes it on to the buyer.
Now test direction II to I. If the government cuts the import duty on toys, imported toys become cheaper to bring in. The landed cost falls, sellers can sell for less, and market prices of toys come down. This is a clean, direct chain. So II causes I.
Now test direction I to II. Suppose toy prices in the market fall on their own. Would the government then reduce import duty? There is no reason for it. If anything, a government cuts duty when it wants prices to fall, not after they have already fallen. So this direction has no mechanism behind it.
Only one direction works. II, the duty cut, is the main cause and I, the fall in prices, is the main effect. That is option (C).
Step 4: Why the other options fail:
(A) reverses the chain and makes the price fall cause the duty cut, which has no logic behind it.
(B) accepts that I is an effect but denies that II is its main cause. Since a duty cut is precisely the standard reason toy prices would drop, denying it makes no sense here.
(D) treats II as an effect, which cannot be right because a policy decision by the government is an independent action, not a consequence of shop prices.
Step 5: Final Answer:
The answer is option (C): II is the main cause and I is the main effect.
Two events are given and we must decide which one produced the other. In a cause and effect question the cause has to come first in time and must be capable of bringing the other event about.
Step 2: Key Approach:
Try both directions. Ask whether I can produce II, then whether II can produce I. The direction that makes sense as a real world mechanism is the answer.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Import duty is a tax charged on goods brought into the country. It is added on top of the price the importer pays, so the shopkeeper passes it on to the buyer.
Now test direction II to I. If the government cuts the import duty on toys, imported toys become cheaper to bring in. The landed cost falls, sellers can sell for less, and market prices of toys come down. This is a clean, direct chain. So II causes I.
Now test direction I to II. Suppose toy prices in the market fall on their own. Would the government then reduce import duty? There is no reason for it. If anything, a government cuts duty when it wants prices to fall, not after they have already fallen. So this direction has no mechanism behind it.
Only one direction works. II, the duty cut, is the main cause and I, the fall in prices, is the main effect. That is option (C).
Step 4: Why the other options fail:
(A) reverses the chain and makes the price fall cause the duty cut, which has no logic behind it.
(B) accepts that I is an effect but denies that II is its main cause. Since a duty cut is precisely the standard reason toy prices would drop, denying it makes no sense here.
(D) treats II as an effect, which cannot be right because a policy decision by the government is an independent action, not a consequence of shop prices.
Step 5: Final Answer:
The answer is option (C): II is the main cause and I is the main effect.
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