LR Drill Set 4, Question 10
It is often assumed that generous behavior is(35 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(15 more words not shown)
- AGenerous behavior tends(6 more words not shown)
- BWhatever is valued(9 more words not shown)
- CWhatever is derived(12 more words not shown)
- DEach instinct is(7 more words not shown)
- EDoing favors and(7 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Every culture values generosity. That still leaves the question: where does it come from?
The author rejects the view that people have to learn generosity despite their natural instincts. The evidence is that doing favors and giving gifts are valued everywhere. But couldn't every culture teach people to value those things? Universal approval doesn't, on its own, identify the source of the behavior.
I might wonder whether young children show generosity before anyone deliberately teaches it. That could be relevant evidence about its origin. But the argument hasn't given us that evidence. It has given us a fact about what cultures value, then used it to reach a conclusion about human nature.
What we’re looking for
For a principle that supports this reasoning, I'd look for a rule connecting those two ideas: if something is valued in every culture, it comes from human nature. That would make the author's actual evidence support the claim instead of leaving us to guess where the shared value originated.
Working the answers
- A
This is tempting. Generosity arising without deliberate teaching would push against one version of the view the author rejects. But “not deliberately taught” doesn't by itself mean “derived from human nature.” People might absorb cultural behavior indirectly by watching others.
A also bypasses the evidence the argument actually uses—that favors and gifts are valued in every culture. B supplies a rule connecting that fact to the author's conclusion. A offers a potentially helpful additional observation without making that connection.
- BCorrect
Whatever is valued in all cultures comes from human nature. Apply that rule to the generosity the author illustrates with favors and gifts. Because those behaviors are valued in every culture, the rule gives the author a basis for attributing them to human nature. It connects the stated evidence to the claim that the purely cultural explanation is mistaken.
- C
This starts with something already known to come from human nature and tells us it will be found in every culture. We are trying to establish the human-nature part in the first place. Knowing something is widespread doesn't let us use this rule backward to discover its origin. Every culture could share a learned practice too.
- D
Whether one instinct produces one kind of behavior doesn't tell us whether generosity comes from an instinct. The disputed point is the source of the behavior, not how many different behaviors a given instinct can produce. D leaves that source unresolved.
- E
Doing favors and giving gifts can express generosity, but that doesn't explain where generosity itself comes from. They could be generous acts learned through culture or generous acts rooted in human nature. E leaves both possibilities open and doesn't connect universal valuation with origin.
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