The cost of bagels has gone up dramatically since the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, the number of bagels that disappear without being paid for has also gone up. Don’t let that continue. I don’t imagine that you would teach your children to cheat, so why do it yourselves? The excerpt serves as which type of support for the authors’ argument?

This question is missing the previous part of the excerpt and the answer options. I have found the complete question online. The part that you already posted will be omitted, replaced with . . .

Read the following excerpt from Levitt and Dubner's "Freakonomics":

In the real world, Feldman learned to settle for less than 95 percent. He came to consider a company as "honest" if its payment rate was above 90 percent. He considered a rate between 80 and 90 percent "annoying but tolerable." If a company habitually paid below 80 percent, Feldman might post a hectoring note, like this one:

. . .

A. a claim

B. an example

C. a conclusion

D. a counterclaim

The excerpt serves a:

B. an example

Explanation:

The excerpt in the question serves as an example for the passage posted above.

Feldman is a man who leaves baskets with bagels at companies for people to take them and pay for them. He does not stay at the company, however, to make sure people will pay. He would rather trust their honesty. But, if people begin to take the bagels without paying to the point where Feldman only makes between 80 to 90 percent of the money he should make, he leaves them a note.

When the authors talk about Feldman's note, the phrase "like this one" shows that the excerpt is an example of a type of note Feldman might use to increase payment by appealing to people's honesty.

is that the whole question?