What problem with emotional giving does the passage identify?
People give to charity with their hearts, and charities appeal to their hearts. A photograph of a single child moves us more than a statistic about thousands. This is understandable, but it has costs. Donations flow to causes that photograph well rather than to those that save the most lives per pound. Some thinkers conclude that we should give only where evidence shows the greatest effect. That goes too far in the other direction: it demands a standard of calculation that most generous people neither have the information nor the inclination to meet, and it risks neglecting local causes that matter to us for good reasons. A fair position is that evidence should inform giving without replacing the personal ties that motivate it.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: E. Money goes to causes that look appealing rather than to those that help most
- Step 1: The passage says donations flow to causes that photograph well instead of those that save the most lives per pound.
- Step 2: That is the problem.
Answer
Money goes to causes that look appealing rather than to those that help most.
Why not the others: The problem is that money follows the most moving appeals; the passage does not say donors give too much, charities advertise too little, donors fail to check charities or statistics are untrustworthy.
Practise more Charity.
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