What you'll learn
Events happen in an order, one event causes another, people change, and ideas build on one another. The GED tests whether you can follow these connections.
In this lesson you will learn to:
- put events in sequence, even when a text does not tell them in time order;
- trace cause and effect, including chains of causes and the difference between a root cause and an immediate cause;
- analyze characters — their traits, motivations and how they change;
- follow plot structure in stories;
- explain how ideas interact in informational texts, such as problems leading to solutions.
How it shows up on the GED. These questions appear with both informational and literary passages: "What led to the decision?", "Which event happened first?", "Why does the character…?", "How does the character change?", "How does this event affect the rest of the story?" Most are multiple choice; you may also drag events into a timeline or match causes to effects.
Key terms
- Sequence — the order in which events happen (first the survey, then the council meeting).
- Flashback — a scene from the past placed in the middle of a story ("Two years earlier, she had been laid off…").
- Cause — why something happens (the printer ran out of labels).
- Effect — what happens as a result (orders could not ship).
- Cause-and-effect chain — a series in which each effect becomes the cause of the next event.
- Root cause — the first event that set a chain in motion (the reorder reminder was never switched over).
- Immediate cause — the event that happened right before the effect (the truck left before boxes were labeled).
- Character trait — a lasting quality of a person (stubborn, generous, shy).
- Motivation — the reason a character acts (he came in early to hide his injury).
- Conflict — the problem or struggle at the center of a story (person vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. nature, person vs. society).
- Plot — the sequence of events in a story: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.
- Climax / turning point — the moment of highest tension, where the story's direction changes.
- Dynamic character — a character who changes in an important way; a static character stays the same.
Sequence: when things happened
The order in which a text tells events is not always the order in which they happened. Writers use flashbacks, background paragraphs and summaries that jump around in time.
Time signal words:
Beginning words: first, originally, before, in 2019. Middle: next, then, later, within two months. End: finally, eventually, now. Same time: meanwhile, while, during.
How to build a timeline:
- Note every date and time word.
- List the events in order on your note board (an erasable board at the test center, or an on-screen whiteboard online).
- Watch for flashbacks: words like had been, years earlier, once, before that signal a move into the past.
Example.
Dana finally opened her own salon in 2023. She had started as a receptionist in 2012, earned her cosmetology license in 2016, and spent five years as a stylist before buying her first chairs.
Told order: salon → receptionist → license → stylist. Actual order: receptionist (2012) → license (2016) → stylist (about five years) → salon (2023). The word had tells you the second sentence moves back in time.
Cause and effect: why things happened
A cause makes something happen; an effect is the result. Signal words help:
- Cause words: because, since, due to, as a result of, led to, caused, the reason
- Effect words: so, therefore, as a result, consequently, which meant, that is why
But many cause-effect relationships have no signal word. Ask: Did event A make event B happen? Time order alone does not prove cause.
Chains. Real situations often involve a chain:
Ordering moves to a new office → reminder not switched → no reorder → printer runs out → orders cannot ship → truck missed → customers wait an extra day.
Root vs. immediate cause. The immediate cause is the last link before the effect (the truck was missed). The root cause is the first link that went wrong (the reminder was never switched over). GED questions often ask for the root cause and offer the immediate cause as a tempting wrong answer.
Multiple causes. Watch for partly: "attendance was low, partly because…" means there were other reasons too.
Reversed cause and effect is a common trap: a choice that flips which event led to which.
Characters: traits, motivation and change
Authors rarely say "Walt was proud." They show character through:
- Actions — what the character does (he hid his hands in his pockets);
- Dialogue — what the character says and how ("Tell her to bring her own coffee");
- Thoughts — what the narrator reveals (He suspected she had seen the screwdriver fall);
- Others' reactions — how other characters treat them.
A trait lasts (shy); a feeling passes (nervous before a speech). Check which one the question asks about.
Motivation is the why behind an action. Look for purpose words: so, so that, in order to, because, hoping to. If none appears, infer from what the character wants or fears.
Character change. To see how a character develops, compare a detail at the beginning with a matching detail at the end:
| Beginning | End | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Answers questions "with as few words as possible" | Answers "every one in full" | Closed off → open |
| Tells apprentice to bring her own coffee | Brings her a cup of coffee | Unwelcoming → welcoming |
Authors often echo an early detail near the end to highlight the change. When you notice a repeated object or phrase, ask what is different the second time.
Plot structure and how ideas interact
Plot structure in stories:
| Part | What happens | Example ("Eleven Questions") |
|---|---|---|
| Exposition | Characters, setting and situation are introduced | Walt, the garage, the new apprentice |
| Rising action | Conflict builds | Walt hides his stiff hand; short answers |
| Climax | The turning point | Tasha asks to be talked through the repair |
| Falling action | Results of the climax | She completes the repair; the customer claps |
| Resolution | The new normal | Walt brings coffee and answers every question |
When a GED question asks how an event "affects the plot," ask: What was happening before? What becomes possible after?
How ideas interact in informational texts. Nonfiction has structures too:
- Problem → solution: a neighborhood without a grocery store → a farmers market → a cooperative store.
- Cause → effect: a missed reminder → late orders.
- Claim → evidence → response: an argument, then the other side's objection, then a reply.
- Steps in a process: first, next, finally.
An idea in one paragraph often sets up an idea in a later paragraph. A writer might explain that "no one person caused" a problem, then list changes that each fix one step. Questions about how two sections relate ask you to line them up piece by piece.
Worked example 1: sequence with a flashback
(1) On her first day as shift manager, Rosa stood in front of the crew she had once been part of. (2) Six years earlier, she had been hired to wash dishes. (3) Within a year she was cooking on the line, and two years after that she began training new cooks. (4) Last spring, when the old manager retired, the owner asked her to take over.
Question: Which event happened most recently? A. Rosa was hired to wash dishes. B. Rosa began training new cooks. C. The old manager retired. D. Rosa stood in front of her crew as shift manager.
Think-aloud:
- Sentence 1 is the "now" of the story. Sentence 2 jumps back ("Six years earlier… had been hired") — a flashback.
- Order: dishwasher → line cook → trainer → manager retires (last spring) → first day as manager.
- C is tempting because it is told last, but sentence 1 happens after the retirement.
Answer: D. Told order is not time order.
Worked example 2: root cause in a chain
(1) The town's only bridge closed for repairs in March after inspectors found cracks. (2) Drivers detoured fifteen miles through the next county. (3) Deliveries to the hardware store on Main Street slowed, and the store ran short of lumber during the spring building season. (4) Several contractors began buying from a supplier in the next county instead.
Question: What was the root cause of the hardware store losing contractor business? A. Contractors found a supplier in the next county. B. The store ran short of lumber. C. Inspectors found cracks in the bridge. D. Spring is a busy building season.
Think-aloud:
- Build the chain: cracks → bridge closed → detour → slow deliveries → lumber shortage → contractors leave.
- A is the effect itself, restated. B is the immediate cause. D is background — it made the shortage worse but did not start the chain.
- The first link is the cracks.
Answer: C.
Worked example 3: character motivation
Jerome folded the letter and slid it under the sugar bowl before his mother came into the kitchen. When she asked about the mail, he said, "Just bills." That night, he took the bus across town to apply for a second job. The letter, from the bank, said the house payment was two months behind.
Question: Why does Jerome hide the letter? A. He is angry at his mother for spending too much. B. He wants to fix the problem without worrying his mother. C. He does not understand what the letter says. D. He plans to move out of the house.
Think-aloud:
- Actions: he hides the letter, says "Just bills," then immediately applies for a second job.
- The letter is about a late house payment. Getting a second job is an attempt to fix it. Hiding it and downplaying it suggest he wants to protect his mother from worry.
- A — no anger is shown. C — he acts right away, so he understands. D — nothing suggests moving.
Answer: B. Motivation is inferred from what a character does next.
Worked example 4: how two parts of a text relate
(1) Last year, our library's summer reading program lost nearly half its participants. Parents told us the sign-up form was confusing, the reading log was paper-only, and the prizes were handed out only on weekdays, when many parents work. (2) This summer, families can sign up online in two minutes, log books on paper or by phone, and pick up prizes on Saturdays.
Question: How does paragraph 2 relate to paragraph 1? A. It gives more examples of the problems described in paragraph 1. B. It describes changes that respond to each problem named in paragraph 1. C. It argues that the problems in paragraph 1 were not serious. D. It explains why participants left the program.
Think-aloud:
- Paragraph 1 lists three problems: confusing form, paper-only log, weekday prizes.
- Paragraph 2 lists three changes: quick online sign-up, phone logging, Saturday pickup — one fix for each problem.
- A — paragraph 2 gives solutions, not more problems. C — no such argument. D — that is paragraph 1's job.
Answer: B. Line up the parts one to one.
Traps to avoid
- Confusing told order with time order. Wrong: "It's mentioned last, so it happened last." Right: check for flashbacks (had, earlier, before) and dates.
- Assuming that "after" means "because." Wrong: "Sales rose after the new sign, so the sign caused it." Right: a cause must be shown or clearly implied by the text, not just come first.
- Choosing the immediate cause when the question asks for the root cause. Wrong: "The truck was missed." Right: trace the chain back to the first link — why was it missed, and why did that happen?
- Reversing cause and effect. Wrong: "More vendors caused the market's first crowds." Right: check which event the text says came first and which resulted from it.
- Mixing up a character's trait and a passing feeling, or inventing a motive. Wrong: "Walt comes in early because he wants overtime." Right: motives must come from the text — here, he wants to hide his stiff hand.
- Reversing a character's change. Wrong: describing the end of the story as the beginning. Right: compare a specific early detail with a specific late one.
GED test-day strategy
- Make a quick timeline. For sequence questions, jot dates or key words on your note board in order — it takes 20 seconds and prevents mistakes.
- Draw arrows. For cause-effect questions, sketch the chain: A → B → C. Then see which link the question asks for (first? last? middle?).
- Look for signal words (because, so, as a result, led to, had been, earlier), but do not rely on them alone.
- For character questions, find the action. Ask: What did the character do or say, and what does that show? Then look for a later detail that confirms it.
- For change questions, compare beginning and end. Find one detail from each and name the difference.
- For "how does this affect…" questions, ask what was true before the event and what became possible after it.
Check yourself
From Empty Lot to Market Day
(1) For almost eight years, the closest full-service grocery store to the Linden Park neighborhood was a forty-minute bus ride away. The neighborhood's only supermarket had closed after its parent company went out of business, and no other chain moved in. Residents without cars did most of their shopping at two corner stores, where fresh fruit and vegetables were scarce and prices were high.
(2) The turning point came in the spring of 2019, when a group of parents at Linden Park Elementary noticed how many students arrived at school hungry. The parents surveyed families and found that more than half of them traveled outside the neighborhood for groceries at least once a week. They brought the survey results to a city council meeting and asked a simple question: what would it take to bring fresh food back?
(3) The council did not have money for a new supermarket, but one council member suggested a smaller first step. The city owned a vacant lot on Linden Avenue where the old supermarket's parking lot had been. If the parents could organize vendors, the city would let them use the lot for a weekly farmers market at no charge.
(4) The first market, in June 2019, had only four vendors and a borrowed tent. Attendance was low, partly because many residents relied on food assistance benefits and the vendors could not accept them. That problem shaped the organizers' next move. They applied for help from a regional nonprofit, which provided a card reader that allowed the market to accept benefit cards. Within two months, the number of shoppers nearly tripled.
(5) Growing crowds attracted more vendors, and more vendors attracted still more shoppers. By the end of the second summer, the market had twenty-two stalls. Its success also caught the attention of a small grocery cooperative from a nearby city that had been looking for a second location. The cooperative's leaders pointed to the market's sales records as proof that Linden Park residents would support a store.
(6) The cooperative opened a full-service grocery store on Linden Avenue in 2022, across the street from the lot where the market began. The farmers market still runs every Saturday from June through October. Many residents say the two now work together: the market brings people to the avenue, and the store keeps fresh food available the rest of the week.
According to paragraph 2, what led the parents to survey families in the neighborhood?
Hint
Find the sentence in paragraph 2 that begins with "The turning point came…" What did the parents notice?
Step-by-step solution
Where the answer comes from: paragraph 2 says, "The turning point came in the spring of 2019, when a group of parents at Linden Park Elementary noticed how many students arrived at school hungry. The parents surveyed families…" The noticing comes first and leads to the survey.
Step by step:
- The question asks for a cause: what made the parents act?
- The passage gives it directly: they noticed hungry students.
- Choice B is a result of the survey (what the survey found), not its cause. Choice C happened later — the vacant lot was offered after the council meeting. Choice D did happen (paragraph 1), but almost eight years earlier; the passage presents the hungry students, not the closing itself, as the "turning point."
The correct answer is A.
Tip: cause-and-effect questions often hide the answer near signal words like when, because, so, led to and the turning point. Also check the order: a cause must come before its effect.
Check yourself
From Empty Lot to Market Day
(1) For almost eight years, the closest full-service grocery store to the Linden Park neighborhood was a forty-minute bus ride away. The neighborhood's only supermarket had closed after its parent company went out of business, and no other chain moved in. Residents without cars did most of their shopping at two corner stores, where fresh fruit and vegetables were scarce and prices were high.
(2) The turning point came in the spring of 2019, when a group of parents at Linden Park Elementary noticed how many students arrived at school hungry. The parents surveyed families and found that more than half of them traveled outside the neighborhood for groceries at least once a week. They brought the survey results to a city council meeting and asked a simple question: what would it take to bring fresh food back?
(3) The council did not have money for a new supermarket, but one council member suggested a smaller first step. The city owned a vacant lot on Linden Avenue where the old supermarket's parking lot had been. If the parents could organize vendors, the city would let them use the lot for a weekly farmers market at no charge.
(4) The first market, in June 2019, had only four vendors and a borrowed tent. Attendance was low, partly because many residents relied on food assistance benefits and the vendors could not accept them. That problem shaped the organizers' next move. They applied for help from a regional nonprofit, which provided a card reader that allowed the market to accept benefit cards. Within two months, the number of shoppers nearly tripled.
(5) Growing crowds attracted more vendors, and more vendors attracted still more shoppers. By the end of the second summer, the market had twenty-two stalls. Its success also caught the attention of a small grocery cooperative from a nearby city that had been looking for a second location. The cooperative's leaders pointed to the market's sales records as proof that Linden Park residents would support a store.
(6) The cooperative opened a full-service grocery store on Linden Avenue in 2022, across the street from the lot where the market began. The farmers market still runs every Saturday from June through October. Many residents say the two now work together: the market brings people to the avenue, and the store keeps fresh food available the rest of the week.
Based on paragraph 4, why did the number of shoppers nearly triple within two months?
Hint
Look at what changed right before the number of shoppers grew.
Step-by-step solution
Where the answer comes from: paragraph 4 explains that attendance at first was low "partly because many residents relied on food assistance benefits and the vendors could not accept them." The organizers then got help from a nonprofit "which provided a card reader that allowed the market to accept benefit cards. Within two months, the number of shoppers nearly tripled."
Step by step:
- Identify the problem: residents could not use their benefits at the market.
- Identify the solution: a card reader that accepts benefit cards.
- Identify the effect: shoppers nearly tripled.
- Choice C links the cause to the effect. Choice A happened later (the twenty-two stalls are from "the end of the second summer"). Choice B is not in the text — the lot was always free. Choice D refers to the grocery store, which opened in 2022.
The correct answer is C.
Tip: in problem–solution passages, the effect usually follows the solution directly. Draw a quick arrow in your head: problem → action → result.
Remember
- The order a text tells events is not always the order they happened; use dates and signal words to build a timeline.
- A cause must make an effect happen — coming first is not enough.
- In a chain, the root cause is the first link and the immediate cause is the last; read which one the question wants.
- Characters are revealed through actions, dialogue, thoughts and others' reactions; motivations come from the text, not guesses.
- To describe character change, compare a detail from the beginning with a matching detail from the end.
- In informational texts, look for structures such as problem → solution and line up related sections piece by piece.