SAT #16 Reading (Questions 16 & 17)

Question

The author most strongly suggests that people who perform altruistic acts benefit partly because of [...]?

Answer 1

Answer Choices A and C are the correct answers because Lines 65-67 say, “On balance, though, being generous boosts your mood and health because it strengthens your sense that you’re really doing something significant.” These Lines most clearly tell us a reason why people who perform altruistic acts benefit from them, and most closely matches Answer Choice A which says that people benefit because of the “beliefs that they hold about the effects of such acts,” namely that they find them to be beneficial. For Question 17, Answer Choice A is incorrect because it comes early in the Passage and because it only introduces a study, without giving any evidence for why people benefit from performing acts of altruism. Answer Choice B is incorrect because it only talks about what kinds of altruistic acts confer well-being, but doesn’t explain why they produce well-being in people. Answer Choice D is incorrect because it doesn’t match with any of the answer choices for Question 16. For Question 16, Answer Choice B is incorrect because neither the Passage nor our Texts indicate that people benefit from altruistic acts because of the feedback they receive from others. Answer Choice C is incorrect because, while one of the Texts does talk about brain chemistry, the benefits of altruism aren’t said to be afforded merely through thinking about such acts. Answer Choice D is incorrect because neither the Passage nor our Texts talk about how people benefit from altruistic acts because of social approval. 

How to solve this? Question 16 asks, “The author most strongly suggests that people who perform altruistic acts benefit partly because of [...]?” Because this is a Paired Question, to solve it we should [...].