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Consider these lines: "Think about how you feel when you have to stand up and give a presentation in front of a roomful of people, or right before taking a big test. You are in no real physical danger in those situations, and yet you have evolved to respond to any perceived threat with the fight or flight response." Why does the author mention giving a presentation?
ATo recommend public speaking as training for real danger
BTo show that tests are more stressful than presentations
CTo give an everyday example of a threat that is psychological, not physical
DTo prove that the stress response has disappeared in modern people
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. To give an everyday example of a threat that is psychological, not physical
1. The presentation is introduced right before the observation that no real physical danger exists in such moments.
2. Yet the body still mounts the fight or flight response to the perceived threat.
3. So the example serves to make a general claim concrete: modern threats are psychological, not physical, which is option C.
4. Option D contradicts the quoted lines, which show the response firing, not disappearing.
_Source: OpenStax Psychology 1e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 3 "Biopsychology", section 3.3 Parts of the Nervous System_
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