Read the paragraph from “The Limits of Empathy.” Some influences, which we think of as trivial, are much stronger—such as a temporary burst of positive emotion. In one experiment in the 1970s, researchers planted a dime in a phone booth. Eighty-seven percent of the people who found the dime offered to help a person who dropped some papers nearby, compared with only 4 percent who didn’t find a dime. Empathy doesn’t produce anything like this kind of effect.

How does the rhetorical technique used in this paragraph help readers understand the author’s purpose?

The author uses an anecdote to inform readers.

The author uses a rhetorical question to persuade readers.

The author uses a paradox to inform readers.

The author uses a paradox to inform readers.