Jablonski, who owns a car dealership, has donated cars to driver education programs at area schools for over five years. She found the statistics on car accidents to be disturbing, and she wanted to do something to encourage better driving in young drivers. Some members of the community have shown their support for this action by purchasing cars from Jablonski’s dealership.
Which one of the following propositions is best illustrated by the passage?
(A) The only way to reduce traffic accidents is through driver education programs.
(B) Altruistic actions sometimes have positive consequences for those who perform them.
(C) Young drivers are the group most likely to benefit from driver education programs.
(D) It is usually in one’s best interest to perform actions that benefit others.
(E) An action must have broad community support if it is to be successful.
A. Incorrect. This is a weak answer. We aren’t told whether the driver education programs were effective, so we can’t draw any conclusions about them.
B. Correct. This is supported by the argument. Jablonski’s generous actions—donating cars—led to increased business at her dealership, showing that helping others can sometimes benefit the person helping.
C. Incorrect. The argument doesn’t compare school-based driver education with adult education programs, so this choice goes beyond the scope of the information provided.
D. Incorrect. This claim is too extreme. While Jablonski did gain extra sales, we don’t know if those fully offset her losses, and there’s no evidence to suggest that being generous always leads to personal gain in other contexts. Answer B’s use of “sometimes” makes it more reasonable.
E. Incorrect. This is clearly exaggerated. Taken literally, it suggests that you can’t even accomplish simple tasks without community support, which isn’t the kind of claim the passage supports at all.
