Question

everybody can appreciate acts of kindness. but when it comes to explaining why we do them, people often take one of two extreme positions. some think kindness is something completely selfless that we do out of love and care, while others believe it is just a tool that we cunningly use to become more popular and reap the benefits.
but research shows that being kind to others can actually make us genuinely happy in a number of different ways. we know that deciding to be generous or cooperating with others activates an area of the brain called the striatum. interestingly, this area responds to things we find rewarding, such as nice food and even addictive drugs. the feel - good emotion from helping has been termed \warm glow\ and the activity we see in the striatum is the likely biological basis of that feeling
of course, you dont have to scan brains to see that kindness has this kind of benefit. research in psychology shows a link between kindness and well - being throughout life, starting at a very young age. in fact, even just reflecting on having been kind in the past may be enough to improve teenagers mood. research has also shown that spending extra money on other people may be more powerful in increasing happiness than spending it on yourself.
but why and how does kindness make us so happy? there are a number of different mechanisms involved, and how powerful they are in making us feel good may depend on our personalities.

1. how does paragraph 1 contribute to the authors explanation of kindness in the text?

o a. it shows how people have conflicting opinions about why people are kind.
o b. it introduces the idea that being kind to others makes us feel good.
o c. it emphasizes the idea that people are kind more often than we realize.
o d. it highlights the darker motivations for why people are kind.

Explanation:

The first paragraph presents two opposing views on why people perform acts of kindness - one selfless (out of love and care) and one self - serving (a tool for popularity and benefits). This sets up a contrast which is a common way to introduce a topic. It shows that there is a diversity of opinions on the motivation behind kindness, which is relevant to understanding the overall explanation of kindness in the text.

Answer:

A. It shows how people have conflicting opinions about why people are kind.