Question

read the following excerpt from levitt and dubners freakonomics. the bagel data also reflect how much personal mood seems to affect honesty. weather, for instance, is a major factor. unseasonably pleasant weather inspires people to pay at a higher rate. unseasonably cold weather, meanwhile, makes people cheat prolifically; so do heavy rain and wind. worst are the holidays. the week of christmas produces a 2 percent drop in payment rates—again, a 15 percent increase in theft, an effect on the same magnitude, in reverse, as that of 9/11. thanksgiving is nearly as bad; the week of valentines day is also lousy, as is the week straddling april 15. there are, however, a few good holidays: the weeks that include the fourth of july, labor day, and columbus day. the difference in the two sets of holidays? the low - cheating holidays represent little more than an extra day off from work. the high - cheating holidays are fraught with miscellaneous anxieties and the high expectations of loved ones. which of the following best summarizes the main idea of this paragraph? different emotional states affect peoples honesty. some holidays cause people to be less honest. cold weather causes an increase in dishonesty.

Explanation:

The paragraph begins by stating that personal mood (which can be affected by various factors like weather and holidays) impacts honesty. It then gives examples of different weather conditions (pleasant, cold, rainy/windy) and holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.) and how they relate to payment rates (a measure of honesty in this context). The overall theme is about emotional states (influenced by these external factors) and their effect on honesty. The other options (about some holidays or cold weather) are too narrow as they only focus on subsets of the examples given, while the first option captures the broader idea of different emotional states (from various causes like weather and holidays) affecting honesty.

Answer:

Different emotional states affect people’s honesty